Recall This Book

92 Janet McIntosh on "Let's Go Brandon," QAnon and Alt-Right Language (EF, JP)

Listen Later

Elizabeth and John talk with Brandeis linguistic anthropologist Janet McIntosh about the language of US alt-right movements. Janet's current book project on language in the military has prompted thoughts about the "implausible deniability" of "Let's Go Brandon"--a phrase that "mocks the idea we have to mince words."

The three of them unpack the "regimentation" of the phrase, the way it rubs off on associated signs, and discusses what drill sergeants on Parris Island really do say. They speculates on the creepy, Dark Mirror-esque similarity between the deciphering of "Q-drops" and academic critique. Turning back to her work on basic training, Janet unpacks the power of "semiotic callousing."

Mentioned in this episode:

  • "Code Words and Crumbs," Brandeis Magazine
  • "Crybabies and Snowflakes," Download from Language in the Trump Era: Scandals and Emergencies, edited by Janet McIntosh and Norma Mendoza-Denton, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
  • Theodor Adorno, The Stars Down to Earth.
  • Hofstadter, Richard The paranoid style in American politics." 1964.
  • Lepselter, Susan, The Resonance of Unseen Things: Poetics, Power, Captivity, and UFOs in the American Uncanny. University of Michigan, 2016
  • Trollope, Anthony. Marion Fay: a Novel. Vol. 29. Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly, 1883.
  • Silverstein, Michael. "Language and the culture of gender: At the intersection of structure, usage, and ideology." In Semiotic mediation, pp. 219-259. Academic Press, 1985.


    • Listen to the episode here

    Read the transcript here.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    Recall This BookBy Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    29 ratings

    More shows like Recall This Book

    View all
    This American Life by This American Life

    This American Life

    91,174 Listeners

    Fresh Air by NPR

    Fresh Air

    38,525 Listeners

    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,956 Listeners

    The Book Review by The New York Times

    The Book Review

    3,923 Listeners

    On the Media by WNYC Studios

    On the Media

    9,209 Listeners

    Political Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

    Political Gabfest

    8,470 Listeners

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing

    10,726 Listeners

    New Books in Critical Theory by Marshall Poe

    New Books in Critical Theory

    148 Listeners

    The Dig by Daniel Denvir

    The Dig

    1,587 Listeners

    The Daily by The New York Times

    The Daily

    113,300 Listeners

    The Al Franken Podcast by The Al Franken Podcast

    The Al Franken Podcast

    8,594 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,494 Listeners

    Ones and Tooze by Foreign Policy

    Ones and Tooze

    370 Listeners

    Past Present Future by David Runciman

    Past Present Future

    355 Listeners

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker

    660 Listeners