Patreon users get episodes always ad free at patreon.com/montemader

What does real, REAL resistance look like?

Tad Stoermer is a public historian, teacher, and author of the forthcoming book A Resistance History of the United States releasing June of 2026.

His work dismantles the mythologies that pass for American history. He removes the curated nostalgia, moral evasions, and institutional silences that have long protected abusive power. That continue to protect that abusive power.

From his website:

"A Resistance History of the United States is a record of repeated fights against abusive authority, carried out by people who refused the lies used to justify it. Those battles have taken different forms: the women and men in Salem who would not confess to witchcraft, the Black Loyalists who seized their own freedom during the Revolution, and the Anti-Federalists who forced a Bill of Rights to limit nationalist power. It’s a tradition carried forward by people like Ona Judge and Henry David Thoreau, by the clandestine networks of the Underground Railroad, and by the violent resolve of John Brown and the Secret Six—resistance so disruptive it helped push the nation into civil war, and so ambitious it took the focus and will of the Radical Republicans to begin building a new republic from the ruins. A Resistance History of the United States uncovers these moments not as steps toward inevitable progress, but as a set of hard-earned lessons—a usable playbook for confronting the abuse of power in our own time.

ad is one of the most widely followed public historians in the world here today to help us face what is to come.

He is a currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern Denmark’s Center for American Studies and a Lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He previously taught public history at Harvard, served as a public historian at Colonial Williamsburg, and was advisor for history content at C-SPAN.

Happy almost New Years Eve!!! Here on Flipping Tables we are going to end each year with an inspirational story. So here's one of my heroes.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident whose life continues to challenge how faith responds to power, violence, and injustice. Raised in an intellectually rigorous, non-religious household, Bonhoeffer came to believe that Christianity was not merely a system of beliefs, but a call to costly, lived obedience—especially when moral clarity comes at personal risk.

As Adolf Hitler rose to power, Bonhoeffer warned early that the church faced a defining test. When Christianity was fused with nationalism and racial ideology, he argued, the church had ceased to be the church. He became a key figure in the Confessing Church, opposing the Nazification of German Christianity and rejecting loyalty oaths to the Führer. His theological writings during this period—including reflections on “cheap grace” versus “costly grace”—confronted complacent faith that avoids sacrifice.

Eventually drawn into resistance circles connected to the German military intelligence service, Bonhoeffer wrestled deeply with ethical responsibility in a world where evil left no clean choices. Arrested in 1943, he continued writing from prison, leaving behind letters and reflections that would later shape modern Christian ethics and political theology. Executed by the Nazis in April 1945, just weeks before the war’s end, Bonhoeffer’s life stands as a haunting reminder: faith that refuses to act in the face of injustice is no faith at all.

Sources:

Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography. Fortress Press.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Act and Being. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 2. Fortress Press.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison. Fortress Press.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Sanctorum Communio. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 1. Fortress Press.
Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives).
Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives) – Bonhoeffer family records.
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education), Germany.
Cambridge University Press. The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. John W. de Gruchy, ed.
Chickering, Roger. Imperial Germany and the Great War. Cambridge University Press.
Christian History Institute. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Timeline & Biography.”
Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. Harper.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (DBWE), English Edition, Vols. 1–3. Fortress Press.
Evans, Richard J. The Coming of the Third Reich. Penguin.
Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich at War. Penguin.
Fischer, Fritz. Germany’s Aims in the First World War. W. W. Norton.
Fulbrook, Mary. A History of Germany 1918–2014. Wiley-Blackwell.
German Reichstag Records, 1918–1923.
Green, Clifford J. Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality. Eerdmans.
Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary. Arnold.
Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Empire: 1875–1914. Vintage.
Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. Penguin.
Keegan, John. The First World War. Vintage.
Keynes, John Maynard. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. Harcourt.
MacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World. Random House.
Marks, Sally. The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe 1918–1933. Palgrave.
Marsh, Charles. Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Knopf.
Metaxas, Eric. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Thomas Nelson.
National Archives (UK). World War I diplomatic records.
Overy, Richard. The Dictators. W. W. Norton.
PBS. Bonhoeffer Timeline.
Peukert, Detlev. The Weimar Republic. Hill and Wang.
Stevenson, David. Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy. Basic Books.
Strachan, Hew. The First World War. Oxford University Press.
Treaty of Versailles (1919), full text.
Union Theological Seminary Archives – Bonhoeffer Papers.

2025 has been a year of difficult conversations. It's been a year of angst, anger, and frustrating conversations. How do we continue to talk about the hard things, especially when we don't know how to get through to the other person?

You've seen Anna Connelly online with her cheeky conversations with her "conservative cousin" talking about history, immigration, politics, government. She uses these disarming conversations to help prep people to hear an opposing perspective and to arm people to have these conversations themselves. (If you're home now and trying to figure out how to talk to family, maybe open your phone and watch a few).

Anna shows us how to continue to show up with humanity, humor and humility. And she's brilliant at it.

These conversations are needed now more than ever and all of us have the power to have them.

This episode is brought to you by ground news. Subscribe for 40% off their vantage plan at groundnews.com/monte

Father Nathan Monk is a social justice advocate, author, and former Orthodox priest. He is the author of multiple non fiction books and novels including Russian Sleeper Cell and his 2015 hit Chasing the Mouse: A Memoir about Childhood Homelessness.

​Having experienced homelessness with his family during his teenage years, Nathan went on to become a priest in the orthodox church with a heart to serve the poor, the hungry and the outcast. Today we discuss his childhood, his call to ministry, why he eventually left and how he works and serves now.
He's now a comedian, a member of the LGBTQ community and an activist still advocating for "the least of these".

This episode is brought to you by Ground News. Subscribe at groundnews.com/tables for 40% off their vantage plan.

In this episode, we trace the extraordinary life of Malcolm X (1925–1965), born Malcolm Little in Omaha and shaped by racial terror, systemic oppression, and personal trauma. We explore his early years marked by the activism of his parents, the violent death of his father, and the institutional pressures that drove his mother into a mental hospital—forces that propelled him into a youth of hustling, street crime, and eventual imprisonment.

From there, we follow Malcolm’s dramatic transformation behind bars through his encounter with the teachings of the Nation of Islam, his rise as its most electrifying minister, and his break from the movement after disillusionment with its leadership. The episode covers his pilgrimage to Mecca, where he embraced Sunni Islam and broadened his philosophy on race and solidarity. We conclude with his increasing global activism, his deepening threat to U.S. authorities and the NOI, and the circumstances leading to his assassination in 1965.

This biographical journey highlights Malcolm X’s evolving worldview, his impact on the civil rights movement, and his enduring influence on Black liberation, human rights, and political thought in America.

“I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
― Malcolm X

Sources

• Malcolm X & Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)

• FBI Files on Malcolm X, declassified documents (FBI Records: The Vault)

• Papers of Elijah Muhammad, speeches and writings (Nation of Islam archival materials)

• Malcolm X Speeches: “Message to the Grassroots,” “The Ballot or the Bullet,” “Prospects for Freedom,” “Oxford Union Debate” (1964–1965)

• Manning Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (2011)

• Louis A. DeCaro Jr., On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X (1997)

• Michael Eric Dyson, Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X (1995)

• James Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare (1991)

• Peter Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X (2nd ed., 1979/2011)

• Bruce Perry, Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America (1991)

• George Breitman, The Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary (1967)

• Herbert Berg, Elijah Muhammad and Islam (2009)

• Zachary K. Williams, Racial Realism and Malcolm X (Journal of Black Studies)

• The Journal of African American History – articles on NOI, civil rights, and Malcolm’s political development

• The Muslim World – studies on Malcolm X’s Islamic theology and Hajj transformation

• The Journal of Social History – analyses of Black nationalism and mid-century urban conditions

• Black Scholar – essays on Malcolm X’s ideological evolution

• Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society – research on Black radicalism and Malcolm’s global politics

• Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters (1988) — for civil rights movement context

• Peniel Joseph, Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour (2006)

• Karl Evanzz, The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X (1992)

• Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad (1999)

• Clayborne Carson, Malcolm X: The FBI File (1991)

• C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America (1961; updated editions)

• Claude Andrew Clegg III, An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad (1997)

• Sohail Daulatzai, Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom Beyond America (2012)

• Gadiel R. Del Orbe, “Malcolm X’s Global Human Rights Activism”

• Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, podcast and archival work featured in Who Killed Malcolm X? (2019)

• Les Payne & Tamara Payne, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X (2020)

• NYC District Attorney’s Office, 2021 exoneration documents of Aziz and Islam

• COINTELPRO Records, U.S. Government declassified materials

When I was at the protests in DC a sweet girl came up to me and asked how to start talking when you're afraid and I worry I was too harsh. I said something along the lines of "you just have to start".
We are past the point of being complicit in silence- and that doesn't mean that these conversations especially with family aren't hard.

Starting can look like
"If you continue to use racist and dehumanizing language I'm going to leave" and walking out of the room when they continue. There's so much power in a walk out.
Starting can look like
"I believe in loving and supporting people of all faiths, genders, sexuality and races and I'm not going to compromise on this."

Starting can look like
"Didn't Jesus say that loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself were the most important commands? Since when has love been demonizing, name calling and belittling people?"

In this episode, which is by no means comprehensive, I talk about some of the big "trigger" issues we see with Christian nationalism and right wing movements. This will be one to save and re-listen to. It's a lot of information but on the first listen, just try to take one thing. This month will be a lot of calls, cards, family events. Take one thing at a time, one resistance at a time and one courageous push back at a time.
You won't always get it right and thats ok. When you know deep down what you truly believe it gets easier and as you practice, it will become safe and you will become a safe space.

This episode is brought to you by Ground News. Subscribe at groundnews.com/tables for 40% off their Vantage Plan

If you've seen the amazing ads on instagram from a soap company that is very openly ANTI fascist, yes the same ads I play the resistance fairy godmother, today you meet the owners. Trevor Silva and his wife Jennifer are the founders of My Cluck Hut, a no waste, inclusive, sustainable, "pay a freaking living wage" company. This is the story of how My Cluck Hut was born out of a desire to be the one who does better instead of waiting for everyone else to do it.
And the protest we mention here is the on that happened in DC last weekend - thank you so much to everyone who attended!

This episode is brought to you by ground news. Subscribe at groundnews.com/monte

This episode uncovers the hidden history and modern influence of The Family. A secretive religious–political network that has shaped American power since the 1930s. Founded by Abraham Vereide and built on the belief that God works through “key men,” The Family cultivated presidents, senators, foreign leaders, and global elites through private prayer circles, back-channel diplomacy, and the National Prayer Breakfast. We trace their role in anti-labor politics, Cold War foreign policy, international human-rights abuses, scandal cover-ups, and their deep connections to the Trump era, where “Jesus plus nothing” theology helped justify Christian nationalism and the erosion of church–state separation. Drawing from documented scholarship and investigative reporting, this episode reveals a movement that has remained influential precisely because it operates in the shadows.

As always ad free and thank you for your support.

Sources

1. Sharlet, Jeff. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. HarperCollins, 2008.
   

2. Sharlet, Jeff. C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy. Little, Brown and Company, 2010.
   

3. Kruse, Kevin M. One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America. Basic Books, 2015.
   

4. Williams, Daniel K. God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right. Oxford University Press, 2010.
   

5. Dochuk, Darren. From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism. W.W. Norton, 2011.
   

6. Gage, Beverly. The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror. Oxford University Press, 2009.
   

7. Martin, William. With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. Broadway Books, 1996.
   

8. Callahan, Richard J. Jr. “The Invention of Corporate America’s Invention of Christian America.” The Marginalia Review of Books, 2020.
   

9. Balmer, Randall. “The Religious Right and the Family Values Crusade.” Journal of Church and State, vol. 52, no. 3, 2010, pp. 370–394.

10. Butler, Anthea. “Race, Religion, and the American Presidency: The Faith Factor.” Journal of American History, vol. 99, no. 1, 2012.
    

11. Clark, Elizabeth A. “Invisible Hands and Divine Order: Theology and the Political Economy of American Fundamentalism.” Religion and American Culture, vol. 18, no. 2, 2008.
    

12. The Washington Post archives on the National Prayer Breakfast (1953-present).

13. The New York Times coverage of Doug Coe and Fellowship Foundation operations.

14. Religion Dispatches (University of Southern California Annenberg) – multiple investigations into The Family’s political network.

15. Guernica Magazine: “Christ Über Alles” interview with Jeff Sharlet.

16. The Humanist: “The Family: More Gilead than Godly.”

17. Encyclopaedia Britannica: “The Family (international religious movement).”

18. Library of Congress Congressional Records on the National Prayer Breakfast (1953-1970s).

19. Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College – correspondence and records on Vereide and early ICL initiatives.
    

William Randolph Hearst was one of the most powerful and controversial figures in American media history — a man whose newspapers didn’t just report the news, but created it. Rising from the son of a wealthy mining family to the head of a sprawling media empire, Hearst revolutionized journalism through bold headlines, emotional storytelling, and sensationalism that came to define “yellow journalism.” His rivalry with Joseph Pulitzer ignited a circulation war that prioritized scandal over substance, blurring the line between truth and spectacle and forever changing how the public consumed information.

But Hearst’s influence extended far beyond print. His newspapers helped fan the flames of the Spanish-American War, demonstrated the political might of mass media, and paved the way for today’s era of opinion-driven journalism. Though his empire eventually declined — and his life inspired Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane — Hearst’s legacy endures in every media outlet that trades outrage for engagement. His story is both a warning and a blueprint for the modern information age.

Sources

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OrdIlOeSdw3i7lKSJNaBM-YcGUMS9qIUzfIMJloGKTA/edit?usp=sharing

Last summer here in Nashville, there were 8 neo-Nazi marches. What is social media’s role in fueling — or even enabling — political violence? How do algorithmic echo chambers, disinformation loops, encrypted organizing platforms, and the erosion of trust in institutions converge to create real-world harm? And what can be done to hold systems and actors accountable before the spiral becomes irreversible?

To guide that conversation, we’re honored to have Timothy J. Heaphy with us. His vantage is rare: He’s been on the front lines of investigating two of the most consequential episodes of recent American unrest — Charlottesville in 2017 and the January 6, 2021 Capitol siege — and in his new book Harbingers: What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy, he tells both the story of how these events unfolded and the deeper dynamics behind them.

Timothy Heaphy’s career spans decades of legal, prosecutorial, and public service work, giving him deep institutional insight and investigative experience. A graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A. and J.D., 1991), he spent over a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., and later in the Western District of Virginia, handling a range of federal prosecutions. After moving into private practice, he was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009 to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, where he oversaw major investigations into corruption, fraud, civil rights, and national security.

Following his tenure, Heaphy returned to private practice and later became University Counsel at UVA. In 2017, he authored Charlottesville’s independent report on the “Unite the Right” rally, and in 2021, he was appointed chief investigative counsel for the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, directing its investigative and legal teams. He also founded The Fountain Fund, a nonprofit supporting reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. Throughout his career, Heaphy has combined legal expertise, public service, and investigative leadership in some of the most consequential inquiries of recent years.

In his book, Harbingers, Heaphy brings that rich background to bear on two momentous acts of political violence: the 2017 Charlottesville rally and the January 6 Capitol attack. He doesn’t just rehash the facts — he shows how he built investigative teams, how he sifted through communications, how he probed decision-making failures in law enforcement and government, and how social media and digital networks played roles in planning, mobilization, and escalation.

In today’s episode, we’ll use Harbingers not just as narrative backbone, but as a portal into deeper inquiry:

• How did social media architectures and incentives — content moderation policies, recommendation systems, coordinated groups — intersect with extremist organization and violence?
  

• Where did institutions (local government, law enforcement, federal agencies) fail to anticipate or respond — and why?
  

• What are the paths forward for accountability, reform, civic resilience, and prevention?
  

So let’s dive in, first by asking: when does online grievance cross the line toward violence — and what makes that line blur in 21st-century politics?