Refuse Fascism

Sam Goldman interviews Anne Nelson, author of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right (get your paperback copy, updated after January 6th) and Research Scholar at Columbia University. Find more of her work at anne-nelson.com and follow her on Twitter at @anelsona. Her work investigating the Council for National Policy (CNP), which includes many well-known and not-so-well-known actors is essential for understanding the fascist movement in the US. Also see: "Religious Right Fuels National Attack On School Boards, Exploiting Parental Frustration Over Covid Restraints" in the Washington Spectator. 

The conversation was rich with agreement as well as some disagreements, and we always appreciate the opportunity to dig into these substantive issues and the paths forward to solve the continuing crisis. Also mentioned in this episode: Inside Patriot Front: The Masked White Supremacists On A Nationwide Hate Crime Spree.

Right now: help organize for mobilizations this spring to demand abortion rights at riseup4abortionrights.org.

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Sam Goldman interviews Tony Wolf, actor and artist (view his diverse resume at tonywolfactor.com) about fascism, culture, and cultivating a variety of forms of pushback against the fascists. His comic essay “Where is Evil?” can be seen at brokenfrontier.com where he writes, “I sought to share my personal reflections as I grappled with how to process the acts of the Trump administration and the GOP / conservative supporters who have backed this utterly vile man.” Follow him on Twitter at @tonywolfness.

Right now: help organize for mobilizations this spring to demand abortion rights at riseup4abortionrights.org.

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Coco Das interviews Dr. Anthony DiMaggio, author of the new book, Rising Fascism in America (order from Routledge here). Dr. DiMaggio is Associate Professor of Political Science at Lehigh University. His research emphasizes the interactions between politics, social movements, the news media, and the American right. He is the author of 9 books, including Political Power in America (2019), Rebellion in America (Routledge 2020) and Unequal America (Routledge 2021). He has been an active participant in social movement politics for the last two decades, and is an avid social commentator. Follow his writings at Counterpunch.org. Dr. DiMaggio previously appeared on episode 27: Our System is Not Equipped to Deal With a Bad Actor Like Trump.

Plus voices from the launch of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights on the 49th anniversary of Roe V. Wade January 2: Sunsara Taylor, Lori Sokol, Merle Hoffman and Katea Stitt.

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Refuse Fascism helped kick off Rise Up For Abortion Rights (riseup4abortionrights.org) yesterday in Washington, D.C. (Common Dreams coverage). Get involved in this initiative and help plan protests around the country starting immediately and growing into this spring - register for the Zoom organizing conference January 30, 2 - 4pm Eastern here.

This week, Sam interviews author and investigative reporter Kathryn Joyce on the power of ideology in the fascist movement; especially how and why Hungary is a model for the GOP. Follow Joyce on Twitter at @kathrynajoyce and find more of her work at kathrynjoyce.com. Read her recent piece for Salon: "Parental rights" started on the Christian fringe — now it's the GOP's winning issue and for The New Republic: The New Right’s Grim, Increasingly Popular Fantasies of an International Nationalism.

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Mark interviews Sam Goldman about the new project aiming to mobilize and actually defeat the assault on abortion rights, riseup4abortionrights.org.

Read and sign the new statement to Rise Up for Abortion Rights here. Share it on social media. Join us at noon on Jan 22, at the Supreme Court in DC, and going forward nationwide — fighting to WIN!

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Sam Goldman talks to Samuel Perry, associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma, about his research into the American Christian Nationalist movement. Follow him on Twitter at @socofthesacred. Read his two recent articles in Time magazine: January 6th May Have Been Only the First Wave of Christian Nationalist Violence and How Trump Stole Christmas—And Why Evangelicals Rally to Their Savior. Order his new book The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy.

From the Refuse Fascism Statement on First Anniversary of January 6 Fascist Coup Attempt: 

The January 6 coup attempt demonstrated that fascism is not just the worst of a pendulum swing. It is an all-out assault on the rule of law aiming to strip democratic rights from whole groups of people they see as sub-human. Trump and his fascist movement have torn up the norms and thrown out the rule book, yet the outrage and hopes of people on the side of justice keep getting diverted into the very channels that are being eviscerated, and away from the kind of deep, mass, society-wide struggle that is needed.

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Coco Das (@Coco_Das) interviews historian Thomas Zimmer (@tzimmer_history) about “polarization” in American politics and the shared agenda of white Christian domination across a spectrum of right-wing political forces. 

At this time last year, January 6th was on the horizon. Trump’s big lie was already taking hold among millions of people. And for months, Refuse Fascism had been sounding the alarm and organizing ongoing, sustained, non-violent protests to change the trajectory of Trump’s base marauding through the streets while the decent people hid in their “safe spaces.” This is a situation that still needs to be transformed. As long as the fascist threat looms, it is up to all of us to understand and act to stop fascism from consolidating in this country, and Refuse Fascism will continue to bring you these conversations and our analysis of things as they develop.

Show where you stand by wearing it on your head… there are new Refuse Fascism beanies available! Keep your head warm this winter and support and spread the movement for $18 here. 

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Refuse Fascism exposes, analyzes, and stands against the very real danger and threat of fascism coming to power in this country. Through this show Refuse Fascism has engaged, dialogued, and debated with a broad array of writers, scholars, legal experts, and people from different walks of life on the roots, nature, and trajectory of fascism in this country. Through our engagement and networking with people and social movements, we are forging understanding and relationships aimed at preventing the consolidation of fascism. Here's a sampling of the impressive range of voices that have participated in this show over the past year:

Listen to the past episodes that these clips are from at anchor.fm/refuse-fascism or your listening platform of choice. 

Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Two interviews this week about the fascist assault on the right to abortion and the re-assertion of violent misogyny that it is a part of: Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her (@schemaly, sorayachemaly.com) and Chelsea Ebin, co-founder and fellow at the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism (@crrebin, malesupremacism.org). 

Plus: commentary about the latest developments from the January 6 commission. 

Referenced in this episode:

For the 90th episode: 

It would be so beautiful to get 90 donations to celebrate! Please hit the donate button at refusefascism.org donate $9 if you have it... $90 if you really love us or really hate fascism. As an independent weekly podcast, we rely solely on your support so please chip in if you’re able.

Let people know you support Refuse Fascism by posting on social media, share our emails or literally put it on your forehead with the new Refuse Fascism beanie available at RefuseFascism.org 

Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582.

Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

"Highlights" from this week in fascism and future coup attempts (recommended reading: Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun) including the “options for January 6” PowerPoint uncovered by the January 6 commission and Matt Gaetz on Steve Bannon's podcast this past Thursday. Gaetz said an "army of patriots" should get ready now to "fight" for the US - Bannon said "shock troops" divided into teams could take over some 4,000 government positions. This is three things: a threat, a strategy, and also an exposure of what happened the first time around.

Then, Sunsara Taylor (The RNL Show) on the moves to overturn Roe v. Wade and a conversation with an Ann Arbor based activist who traveled to the Michigan State Capitol on Dec 1 to shut down the State Legislature and sound the alarm on the emergency for abortion rights. Read Jessica Prozinski's piece Michigan Activists Shut Down Legislature to Read Statement on Abortion.

Much is made of the fact that the majority of Americans support Roe v Wade. But it’s meaningless to simply state that without backing it up. The history of fascism has shown us that dominating the public square and the public discourse – whether or not they have majority opinion on their side, goes a long way in determining whether fascism prevails or not.

Send  your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582.

Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:

Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.