2381 - Faux Populism and How to Hear A Fascist w/ Rick Perlstein

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Rick Perlstein, historian, writer at The American Prospect, and author of his most recent book Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980. But first, they run through updates on Joe Biden’s pardoning of Hunter, Trump’s developing cabinet, Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza and developing annexation, Pete Hegseth’s history of abuse, US arms to Ukraine, German VW workers strike, and the DNC chair race, before watching Kash Patel preview what he’ll bring to the Trump administration live with Steve Bannon. Rick Perlstein then joins, as he, Sam, and Emma dive right into making sense of the social welfare promises made by vitriolic far-right populist regimes, be it Bismark’s invention of unemployment, a KKK that supports single-payer healthcare, or an RFK healthcare regime that could reign in Big Pharma, assessing the actual value of these promises and the limited impact they have as fascist carrots, and emphasizing why these administrations focus on destroying institutions and systems, not building them. After expanding on the particular threat of an RFK-led world of public “health”, Perlstein dives into the unfortunate necessity of relying on experts for a well-functioning democracy, before turning fully toward the future of a new Trump Administration, unpacking why the failure of their fear-mongering policies – particularly when it comes to their insane deportation scheme – won’t undermine the administration or its support, and why we need to rebuild our society’s trust in the government’s ability to help.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss Trump’s administration of “deep-state disruptors,” unpack Biden’s pardoning of Hunter, and parse through a former Israeli Defense Minister’s statements on Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza. They also talk with Clover from Central Valley about moving away from fascism and with Tammy from Illinois about academic paths under fascism, also watching Michael Knowles take a dip back into his acting career. Ali from Wisconsin asks about the potential of denaturalization under a new Trump administration, plus, your calls and IMs!

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