Monday Morning Politics: Epstein Files; NYC Health Commish on Flu Season; Mohsen Mahdawi's Case; Best Photo on Your Phone 2025

On today's show: 

• Philip Bump, MSNOW contributor, author of the How to Read this Chart newsletter and the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America (Viking, 2023), talks about the latest national political news, including the release of the Epstein files, and more.

• The flu season has hit and cases are still rising. Michelle Morse, M.D., interim commissioner of health at the NYC Department of Health and an internal medicine and public health doctor, talks about how to stay healthy this holiday season.

• As he awaits a court ruling on the Trump administration's attempt to deport him, Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian activist, co-founder of the Columbia Palestinian Student Union and former president of the Columbia University Buddhist Association, and his attorney, Nate Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, talk about his studies, the state of the pro-Palestinian movement and the prospects of a peaceful solution in the region and worldwide.

• Dave Shelley, co-founder and creative producer of Photoville, and David Gonzalez, journalist, photographer and co-founder of the photo collective Seis del Sur, talk about the winners of our annual "best photo sitting on your phone" contest, plus the winners call in to talk about their photos.

Here are this year's Best Photo contest winners:

Click here to see the full gallery of submissions.

When Education Needs Fire Not Wires: Hooghly, West Bengal, India:

This photo was taken in a rural village in Asansol, India, where the school has no electricity. In the absence of lights, children gather after dusk and study by candlelight, turning the mud walls of their lane into makeshift blackboards. This moment reflects their resilience and their determination to learn, even when the most basic resources are missing.

(Photo by Soumayan Biswas)

 

Love in the afternoon: It was taken when my long distance boyfriend came over to see me for the first time. I was living in Brooklyn, and he lives in the U.K. He slept so soundly after the long flight

(Esther Xiang)

 

Los Angeles, CA:

Taken at the Superchief Gallery’s 'Contagious Culture' group show in Los Angeles (June 2025), this photo catches an intimate moment: a young woman tipping her head back as her friend helps her put in eye drops, with her eyes rolled back and mouth open. Her friend’s fancy nails looked great next to her facial tattoos and piercings. All set in front of a wall of graffiti.

(Photo by Lisa Guerriero)

Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.