It’s Thursday, December 18. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Richard Dawkins on P.G. Wodehouse. How Iranian women are defying the regime. Olivia Reingold on how Zohran Mamdani’s win has fractured Jewish families. Plus: Our new history newsletter, Abigail Shrier’s Tough Love, and much more.

But first: Which way, Democrats?

In a televised address from the White House last night, President Donald Trump made his case for why wavering supporters should stand behind him and the GOP ahead of next year’s midterms. And while most political prognosticators expect next November to be a bruising one for Republicans, the Democrats are a party with some internal fights to resolve before they take on the GOP. Today, we take a look at two Democratic primaries in deep-blue cities—and what they say about the divides on the American left.

First, Peter Savodnik reports from San Francisco on the fight to replace Nancy Pelosi. It’s a clash, he says, between “the Angry and Disaffected.” In the angry corner is Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy progressive activist and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff. He’s painting his main opponent, Scott Wiener, as a centrist member of the Democratic establishment. But this is San Francisco. The state senator and Pelosi loyalist is undoubtedly a progressive, and notorious on the right for his embrace of “gender-affirming care.” Read Peter’s dispatch on this West Coast clash between “staid progressivism” and the “new radicalism.”

Meanwhile, in New York City, I preview the Democratic primary in New York’s Twelfth district, located in the heart of Manhattan. Longtime congressman Jerry Nadler’s retirement has opened the door to the many ambitious Democrats who hope to replace him in Washington, including his heir apparent Micah Lasher and John Bouvier Kennedy “Jack” Schlossberg, JFK’s only grandson.

Schlossberg, 32, has made a name for himself with his wild social media antics, but will that be a benefit or a hindrance as he looks to land himself one of the most coveted seats in Congress?

—Will Rahn

The Jewish Parents Who Raised Mamdani Voters

Olivia Reingold

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory has fractured Jewish families across New York City, Olivia Reingold reports. Parents, many who view Mamdani as an antisemite and a threat to Jewish safety, were horrified to learn their children supported him. They wonder if they “failed” their kids, who were drawn to the mayor-elect’s socialist promises and anti-Israel postures. Read how the generational divide within American Jewry is playing out in New York City. Read full story

Iran’s Silent Revolution

Roya Hakakian

In Iran, the regime is retreating from its mandatory veil laws. Women aren’t just discarding their hijabs, writes Roya Hakakian. They are reviving a Persian tradition of democracy that dates back nearly 200 years. She explains why this quiet revolution is a signal that the government has already begun losing its ideological hold on the Iranian people. Read full story

This Week in American History: A New Prophet of War

Jonathan Horn

A century after Billy Mitchell was court-martialed for sounding the alarm over the U.S. military falling behind its rivals, his warnings still seem eerily prescient. And in the second installment of our new history newsletter, historian Jonathan Horn revisits the prophet of air power and asks whether America is once again punishing foresight instead of preparing for the next war. Read full story

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The next installment of Tough Love with Abigail Shrier drops this afternoon! This week, Abigail answers a mother who really doesn’t want her 22-year-old daughter to get married. Sign up here to receive her column directly in your inbox.

On Old School with Shilo Brooks: The Funniest Writer in the English Language

Richard Dawkins is best known as a formidable evolutionary biologist and biting critic of organized religion. But when he wants a break from polemics and proofs, he turns to P.G. Wodehouse for a belly laugh. Wodehouse’s satire skewered British aristocrats, Hollywood phonies, and self-important moralists with surgical precision. In this episode, Shilo Brooks sits down with Dawkins to find out why the British humorist remains one of the sharpest writers in the English language.