Audio From A Collapsing State | Jared Yates Sexton

In this episode of The Check-In, Danielle Moodie and I dove right into the farce of a spectacle on Tuesday in which Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth both embarrassed themselves in front of top military brass and also declared war on the American people. This was…a big, weird, disturbing event with a lot to unpack. We discussed the anger, the resentment, and the grief, what it feels like to know what this dictator wants, the insult of these incompetent fools carrying these abuses out, and the magical thinking of wishing the military will carry out a coup. From there, we get into what we can do in our lives as we try to both create collective action but, also, how we must reckon with the possibility that the better future we need to fight for might be a future we will not see ourselves.

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Another week and another conversation with my friend Danielle Moodie. In this episode of The Check-In, we discuss how the fascist regime has embraced a new and aggressive total-lie and manipulation structure in which we are never quite certain what is going on. We’ve lived through similar things, but it has ramped up considerably. We talk about the need to stay grounded but also how we can use our adaptive strategies when things get really really hard. From there, we dive into how fascism functions as a kind of soul murder (the author of the book Soul Murder: The Effects of Childhood Abuse and Deprivation is Dr. Leonard Shengold, which I blanked on during the discussion) and is meant to grind us down over time. We get into the cults of magical thinking, including the recent “rapture” craze and how it is necessary to keep track of what we are doing, what we believe, and how we are functioning.

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It’s been a few minutes, but I sat down with my friend Wajahat Ali of THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali and had a long discussion about what is happening with the Democratic Party’s failure to oppose fascism, what each and every one of us can do to both pressure them but also prepare on our own to fight, and a whole lot more.

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In this week’s The Check-In, Danielle Moodie and I discuss the emotional and psychological toll from the fall-out surrounding Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We are being gaslit and abused as the authoritarians take advantage of the situation. We talk about how we have experienced this past week, but also how much focus on grounding ourselves in the midst of chaos in order to weather the onslaught.

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Hey everyone. For those who have been there, I’ve been doing these Bourbon Talks since 2020, answering your questions while drinking some bourbon. It’s been an incredible honor and I’ve enjoyed every one of them. Tonight I felt compelled to revive the thing and it was an incredible experience. We got into the Charlie Kirk assassination, the different groups that make up MAGA, what it is that we can do, as individuals and as a collective, to fight fascism, what the future could look like, the role of loneliness and fear in creating this present authoritarian crisis, and much more.

Thank you for everyone who submitted questions and everyone that showed up. I’m going to do more of these and it felt so good getting back to it. I hope you’ll share this with friends, family, coworkers, and anyone who could use a dose of the hard truth.

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In this episode of The Check-In, I talk with my friend Danielle Moodie about the worsening capitalist state, but also the point at which the social contract is broken and we need to consider other options. The fascist / capitalist program is out of control and looking outside the country, particularly at the recent uprising in Nepal, tells us something incredibly important: if we can let go of our fear, we could fight back and have a better future.

Thank you, as always, to all the people tuning in and all the kindness.

Also, if you haven’t already, please check out Part II of the A Crisis of Meaning and Purpose series that gets into so much of what we’ve been talking about and how our present conditions have created the perfect environment for a fascistic takeover.

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In this episode of Audio From A Collapsing State, I dive deep into this weird moment where “resistance” to the fascist regime takes the form of mocking social media posts that “experts” and “analysts” tell us is starting to change the minds of the MAGA faithful. This lie, peddled by people like Tom Nichols, is part of a project that’s lasted over a deca…

Every week I log onto to record The Check-In with Danielle Moodie and it ends up better and going places more profound than I ever expected. In this episode, we discuss the need for Americans learn to live life, not only in opposition to authoritarianism but for basic joy and healthiness. This includes the necessity of self-care and grounding, but also shifting to a life where it comes automatically. This, of course, is the antithesis of fascism and capitalism, which makes it all the more important.

From there, we dive into how American life before Donald Trump was obscene. All around us were signs that our society was sick and failing, and, yet, so many of us were incentivized not to recognize it. If there are accurate histories written, and it should be noted fascists have no interest in accurate history because it undermines their plans, we will look back on one abomination after another: slavery, our treatment of the indigenous population, Jim Crow, the growth of the carceral state, intentional scarcity, for-profit healthcare, you name it, as something that deserves the utmost scrutiny and shame.

This was an incredible conversation and I feel so privileged to have had it. Thank you to everyone who tunes in and supports this project. I hope you find something here of value that helps you navigate your life.

And, in case you missed it, I published a new article this morning detailing what I believe should be the baseline requirements of any person seeking office in the future and what I believe is necessary should the Democratic Party right itself and become an actual force in defense of democracy and creating a better world. I’ve appreciated the feedback so far and if you have thoughts please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

Dispatches From A Collapsing State depends on your support. If this work has helped you or resonated with you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jaredyatessexton.substack.com/subscribe

Another good week of talk with my friend Danielle Moodie in which we discussed our opportunities to step outside of the day-to-day grind of living in modern America and the effect of disengaging (hint: it makes all of this seem even crazier). Over the course of the conversation we got into how this fascistic regime isn’t just abusive and destructive but how it cheapens everything from our institutions to the idea of human dignity. That led to a back-and-forth on how we must avoid internalizing the fall of America in order to maintain our own sense of worth and hope, all while continuing to disengage from the destructive incentives of capitalism that got us here.

Thank you again to the people out there tuning in and doing the work. As I said in the broadcast, I think that’s going to make the difference. Resistance begins as we heal and as we consider these things, as we become more thoughtful and aware and treat others better. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’ll be back with another episode next Wednesday at 12pm eastern. I’ll have the first article in a series of pieces breaking down our crisis of meaning and purpose within the next few days. I’ve appreciated peoples’ thoughts as I’ve started to work on this and feel very motivated and drawn to this work.

Dispatches From A Collapsing State depends on your support. If my work has resonated with you or helped you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jaredyatessexton.substack.com/subscribe