In 1986, experimental musician and provocateur Boyd Rice wrote a fan letter that would have devastating consequences. The recipient wasn't a fellow artist, but James Mason — the author of an obscure neo-Nazi newsletter whose violent ideas would soon become known around the world.

This episode traces how Mason's newsletter Siege! evolved from fringe extremist literature into a modern blueprint for terrorism. We explore Mason's journey from teenage American Nazi Party member to Charles Manson devotee, and how his concept of “leaderless resistance” — advocating lone wolf terrorist attacks — became the strategic foundation for contemporary white supremacist violence.

GUEST: Spencer Sunshine, antifascist researcher and author of Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege

FURTHER INFORMATION

• PBS Frontline: Documenting Hate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XFBVAAzXjc

SOCIAL MEDIA

• https://www.instagram.com/paranoidhistory/
• https://twitter.com/paranoidhistory

HOSTED BY JOSEPH L. FLATLEY. For bonus content and to sign up for my newsletter, check out: http://lennyflatley.substack.com/