The show PBS News Weekend is nearly at an end, but no one will miss it if they were looking for hard-hitting journalism.
As the start of New York City mayor-in waiting Zohran Mamdani’s term looms, there are plenty of stories to cover, with concerns about the viability of his left-wing policy promises and his propensity to surround himself with anti-semites, as well as his own related controversies. Sunday evening’s segment on PBS wasn’t one of those.
Attaining a level of journalistic integrity perhaps only previously reached by Teen Beat magazine, Sunday’s PBS News Weekend gushed over man-candy Mamdani’s “remarkable rise” to mayor with his campaign photographer, Kara McCurdy. It wasn’t exactly a segment designed to quiet the complaints of ideological bias at PBS or win its public funding back.
ANCHOR JOHN YANG: Few American politicians have come as far as fast as Zohran Mamdani. He began 2025 as a little-known state legislator, and in the first minutes of 2026, he'll be sworn in as the mayor of New York, often called the second toughest job in America. Photographer Kara McCurdy documented his remarkable rise as Mamdani's campaign photographer. She's been capturing images of Mamdani since before his first race for State Assembly in 2020. Ali Rogin spoke with her about her experience watching history unfold through her camera lens.
Rogin brought the gush, and also brought on a pro-Mamdani gusher of a guest.
ALI ROGIN: You have been photographing the mayor elect since even before his first campaign for state Assembly. What did you think of him when you first got to know Zohran Mamdani?
KARA McCURDY, Mamdani Campaign Photographer: I thought this guy is so charismatic. And we really connected initially on our shared politics. And so I really value that. This was somebody who felt such a deep conviction to what he believed in, that he was, you know, willing to talk to me, who was a complete stranger at the time when we met about his politics and even bring me into the fold and show me how we could kind of share this with so many more people, all of New York City and now all of the world, really.
ROGIN: Knowing now what he's achieved in such a short political lifetime. Did you ever think that he could reach these heights of his political career so quickly?
Ugh. McCurdy came off like the president of the Valley Girl branch of the Mamdani fanclub.
McCURDY: Zohran is somebody who, you know that what he's going to go after, he's going to get. He really, if he has a vision, he's going to see it through. I`m not sure that anybody could have predicted even the past 12 months, but I always believed that he was going to be somebody that was going to make a big splash in local politics.
ROGIN: Was there a moment where you realized that in his run for mayor that he was really going to transcend this kind of dark-horse candidate position in the race?
MCCURDY: I think I started to pick up on it in the mayoral campaign early, just seeing the voters and the supporters, engagement and enthusiasm, not just about Zohran himself, but about what he was running on.
I remember that I was out with him walking around in March, and people were stopping us from across the street in the dark, yelling his name because they saw him and they weren't just yelling, Zohran Mamdani, I'm voting for you. They were yelling, "I'm voting for universal childcare. I'm voting for fast and free buses." And I think it was around that time that I really started to realize this thing is much more widespread than I can really even grasp.
Finally, Rogin posed a real serious question: How cool are Zohran’s wedding photos?
MCCURDY: It has been absolutely surreal to see just how far these photos have gone. I feel very fortunate for that. And I think that people really cling to them because they're so relatable. They are truly just a couple that wants to go and get married and celebrate the core of their relationship, which is the simply two people being in love….
This journalism-free love letter to a leftist was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular.
A transcript is available, click “Expand.”
JOHN YANG: Few American politicians have come as far as fast as Zohran Mamdani. He began 2025 as a little known state legislator, and in the first minutes of 2026, he`ll be sworn in as the mayor of New York, often called the second toughest job in America.
Photographer Kara McCurdy documented his remarkable rise as Mamdani`s campaign photographer. She`s been capturing images of Mamdani since before his first race for State assembly in 2020. Ali Rogin spoke with her about her experience watching history unfold through her camera lens.
ALI ROGIN: Kara, thank you so much for being here. You have been photographing the mayor elect since even before his first campaign for state Assembly. What did you think of him when you first got to know so Zohran Mamdani?
KARA MCCURDY, Mamdani Campaign Photographer: I thought this guy is so charismatic. And we really connected initially on our shared politics. And so I really value that. This was somebody who felt such a deep conviction to what he believed in, that he was, you know, willing to talk to me, who was a complete stranger at the time when we met about his politics and even bring me into the fold and show me how we could kind of share this with so many more people, all of New York City and now all of the world, really.
ALI ROGIN: Knowing now what he`s achieved in such a short political lifetime. Did you ever think that he could reach these heights of his political career so quickly?
KARA MCCURDRY: Zohran is somebody who, you know that what he`s going to go after, he`s going to get. He really, if he has a vision, he`s going to see it through. I`m not sure that anybody could have predicted even the past 12 months, but I always believed that he was going to be somebody that was going to make a big splash in local politics.
ALI ROGIN: Was there a moment where you realized that in his run for mayor that he was really going to transcend this kind of dark horse candidate position in the race?
KARA MCCURDY: I think I started to pick up on it in the mayoral campaign early, just seeing the voters and the supporters, engagement and enthusiasm, not just about Zohran himself, but about what he was running on.
I remember that I was out with him walking around in March, and people were stopping us from across the street in the dark, yelling his name because they saw him and they weren`t just yelling, Zohran Mamdani, I`m voting for you. They were yelling, I`m voting for universal childcare. I`m voting for fast and free buses. And I think it was around that Time that I really started to realize this thing is much more widespread than I can really even grasp.
ALI ROGIN: So this sort of photography is not what you were typically doing. You do a lot of weddings and elopements, but when you started working with Zohran, you talked about creating his visual identity. And so I want to know, how did you approach this assignment?
KARA MCCURDY: What we were able to derive from those first few photos was this thread of storytelling, which is something that he and I are both drawn to. Every single photo that we take and every opportunity that we have to start a new shoot is an opportunity to tell a story, whether those are stories of working New Yorkers or the story of somebody running for state assembly.
And that`s something that translates the very easily back to wedding and elopement photography. When I`m shooting a wedding, I`m telling the whole story of an entire day. When I`m photographing Zohran Mamdani, I`m telling the full story, not just of him, but also of his policies and what that means for New Yorkers.
ALI ROGIN: I also have to ask you about these images of Zohran and his wife Rama Duwaji`s wedding at New York City Hall. They went absolutely viral. And I want to know, what does it mean to you to see these pictures get. Get shared so widely? And why do you think that was?
KARA MCCURDY: It has been absolutely surreal to see just how far these photos have gone. I feel very fortunate for that. And I think that people really cling to them because they`re so relatable. They are truly just a couple that wants to go and get married and celebrate the core of their relationship, which is the simply two people being in love.
It`s not a giant production. It costs $25 to get married at City Hall, so it is quite accessible to many people. And it`s something that a lot of people can see themselves in. You know, we took the subway there. We didn`t get into a private car, and once we got there, it was raining, and we had to deal with that just like any other normal person getting married at City Hall might do. It`s the most human photos that you`ll see of a wedding day.
ALI ROGIN: Kara, I want you to walk us through some of your favorite images and why they stick out to you.
KARA MCCURDY: One of my earliest favorites is from 2021, after the hunger strike, and we had won $450 million in debt relief for taxi cab medallion owners. And there`s a taxi driver whose liftings are into the air, and you can feel the relief and the joy. It`s very, very happy, and I love that. So some of my favorite, favorite images come from one of my favorite evenings on the mayoral campaign when we walked the length of Manhattan.
And that, for me, was a really special night because so many New Yorkers got to come out and randomly see Zohran Mamdani in the streets by surprise. But then they just started joining us and walking with us. And I have this gorgeous shot that`s in front of a supermarket, and you can see the walkers are taking up the entire block.
It was just a beautiful representation of how we`re not just bringing Zohran into City Hall, we`re bringing all New Yorkers in with us. This is a movement for all of us. And then I also -- I have a photo from primary election day before many people knew who he was, although he seemed like a celebrity most of the time to me at that point. And we are on an escalator, and he`s trying to hand out literature to anybody who will listen to him.
And you can see the face of a man who simply could not care less about Zohran Mamdani. He doesn`t know who he is. He doesn`t stop. He doesn`t turn. He doesn`t say anything. He just keeps going. And Zohran is opposite. He`s full of glee and joy, and that is really such a beautiful dynamic between himself and voters.
I think he`s willing to talk to anybody. He`s willing to share his beliefs with anybody. And this is a really beautiful moment from before. Too many people knew who he was, and we don`t get those anymore.
ALI ROGIN: Kara McCurdy, thank you so much for speaking with us.
KARA MCCURDY: Thank you for having me.
