Podcasts about Why We Fight

Welcome to this week's episode of Not D&D, where host Jessica is joined by game designer Laurie Blake to discuss their innovative tabletop role-playing game, Why We Fight. Why We Fight is a solo+ narrative TTRPG where you play a crew of eco-punks fighting fascism to build a brighter, greener future. Using a designed-for-purpose, lightweight system (PbtA meets FATE) developed with new school revolution (NSR) attitude and perspective. Your Crew will journey through the remains of a post-civil war country to save lives, reclaim nature, create a community of compassion, and beat back the oppressive forces that threaten the chance for a new start.   https://www.instagram.com/sdrgames.studio  https://bsky.app/profile/sdrgames.bsky.social  https://www.sdrgames.studio/pages/why-we-fight

Nick talks to Mike Martin MP- soldier, author and Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge WellsNick Cohen and Mike Martin MP discuss the dramatic & disturbing shifts in international relations and diplomacy, thanks to Donald Trump's apparent volte-face on Ukraine and the United States' traditional allies, particularly in the context of the US and UK.Mike also talks domestic politics - are we witnessing the death of the Tory party as a major political force?The UK needs a political consensus on boosts to defence spendingAs Poland announces plans to make all men undergo military training, Mike Martin MP stresses the need for increased defence expenditure and improved military capabilities in the UK. Nick & Mike also explore the emergence of so-called "progressive patriotism" in Britain, the changing political landscape in traditionally Conservative areas, and the potential consequences of a war on national survival.War involving the UK now more than 50 per cent possible Mike said defence spending should be at least 3.5 per cent of government spending. He estimates that a war involving the UK was now more than 50 per cent possible. The UK & Europe must prepare for the worst.Are we witnessing the strange death of Tory England?Lastly, Mike and Nick discuss the UK's current politics - particularly the appalling state of the Conservative Party - woefully stuck in the No Man's Land between the Reformist Radical Right and the One Nation Tories who've abandoned them largely for the Liberal Democrats as well as Labour and the Greens. Mike says, "The Tories are being crushed between the pincer movement, between the Lib Dems and reform. And they don't know which way to face."Watch out for the County Council elections on May 1st 2025! This could be the key indicator of whether the Tories can recover to become a real party of opposition or could it continue its speedy descent into political oblivion.Mike says "It would be very interesting to see the results ... you might even see the Tory vote collapsing into to, into, into our pile and into the Reform pile."Read all about itMike Martin is the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells and a member of the Commons Defence Committee. A former British Army Office, Mike is a Senior Fellow at King's College London – an expert in geopolitics and conflict – and the author of several books on psychology, conflict and travel, including Why We Fight.Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been three years of Not DnD, the weekly podcast discussing tabletop roleplaying games. This month we are looking at Why We Fight, a solo+ narrative TTRPG where you play a crew of eco-punks fighting fascism to build a brighter, greener future. Fear Itself plunges ordinary people into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence —and inexorably draws them into confrontation with creatures of the Outer Dark, a realm of alien menace. Mappa Mundi is a TTRPG driven by exploration and ecology.  Players take on the role of Chroniclers, brave souls setting out from hearth and home to travel the wilds and tell the story of this world in flux.

In this episode, I'm joined by MAJ Jason Boswell to discuss Armor Doctrine development that will ultimately impact how the US Army's Armored Forces conduct themselves and their operations in 1944. This includes talk of the Interwar Period, between the First and Second World Wars, and the late 1930s through 1941, with talk of the 1941 GHQ Maneuvers which were the main event in the beginning of this series - before it was Why We Fight, the first year was called Building an American Army. Links From Horses to Horsepower: The Mechanization and Demise of the US Cavalry, 1916-1950 by Alexander Bielakowski (Amazon) Mobility, Shock, Firepower: The Emergence of the US Army's Armor Branch, 1917-1945 by Robert S. Cameron (https://www.history.army.mil/html/books/Mobility_Shock_and_Firepower/CMH_30-23-1.pdf) The US Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941 by Christopher Gable (https://www.history.army.mil/html/books/070/70-41-1/CMH_Pub_70-41-1.pdf) In the Presence of Soldiers: The 2nd Army Maneuvers & Other World War II Activity in Tennessee by Woody Cillin (Amazon) General Lesley J. McNair: Unsung Architect of the US Army by Dr. Mark Calhoun (Amazon) The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor by Paul Dickson (Amazon) Monschau's Lucky 38 by Jason Boswell (Amazon) Mother of Tanks website (http://www.motheroftanks.com/podcast/) Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/c/motheroftanks)  

70 MinutesPG 13Justin Stamm is a husband, father and Catholic. He is the host of Why We Fight.Justin joins Pete to talk about his Substack article in which he shows that political power in practice is no different than how the "Mafia" has always worked.The 4 Laws of Mafia PowerWhy We FightJustin on Twitter/XJustin's SubstackPete and Thomas777 'At the Movies'Support Pete on His WebsitePete's PatreonPete's SubstackPete's SubscribestarPete's GUMROADPete's VenmoPete's Buy Me a CoffeePete on FacebookPete on TwitterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-quinones-show--6071361/support.

By Brian Kerg Sasha Maggio, also known as ‘Mother of Tanks,' joins the program to discuss her one-of-a-kind series, “Why We Fight.” A podcast covering just about every aspect of World War II, including significant elements of naval and amphibious warfare, “Why We Fight” is a unique podcast on historical warfare. Sasha Maggio is a … Continue reading Sea Control 561 – Why We Fight with Sasha Maggio →

Links1. “Why We Fight” podcast series Spotify catalogue. 2. “Mother of Tanks” official site.3. “Mother of Tanks” Twitter account.

Do you ever wonder why some people fight and some people don't?  Do you ever question why some people get so worked up about things?  Today on Like It Matters Radio Mr. Black wants to talk about, “Why we fight”.  I know as a Christian many believers think that we shouldn't get into politics or get too wrapped up in the laws and governing of this world- since we are sojourners.  However, we are called to be SALT and LIGHT in this decaying world! Today Mr. Black will be joined by a spokesman for the Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America organization to talk about the victories that were experienced this last election. Today's show is NOT about abortion, it is about WHY WE FIGHT our battles! The battle for the unborn is the GOOD FIGHT for the SBA Pro Life America organization, and for many believers.  Tune into this HOUR OF POWER as Mr. Black and Guest talk about WHY WE FIGHT.  This is NOT a show about Abortion, it is about Encouragement! Be Inspired, be educated and be moved to action by today's auditory smorgasbord! Be sure to Like and Follow us on our facebook page!www.facebook.com/limradio Instagram @likeitmattersradioTwitter @likeitmatters Get daily inspiration from our blog www.wayofwarrior.blog Learn about our non profit work at www.givelikeitmatters.com Check out our training website www.LikeItMatters.Net Always available online at www.likeitmattersradio.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The lads get drafted and give Mussolini the ole One-Two as they once again remember Pearl Harbor by covering Frank Capra's series of WWII propaganda films: Why We Fight. Topics include the language of propaganda, the shittiness of fascist art, and what it means to watch your country become the thing it once stridently vowed to fight. Media Referenced in this Episode: Why We Fight. Dir. Frank Capra. 1942-1945. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Interstitial: “Too Big Roosevelt” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. A.J. Ditty as “Olde Timey Announcer” and Josh Boerman as “Too Big Roosevelt  

We continue our exploration of the fascinating and contentious topic of propaganda, using as our basis David Welch's 2013 book ‘Propaganda: Power & Persuasion.   In Part 2, we look at the propaganda of nationhood and leadership before taking a deep dive into the chapter of the book on war propaganda. Is propaganda good or bad? Or does it just depend on who's propagating the information? Part 3 will be out in December   We sincerely hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...   Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75   Twitter https://twitter.com/lifeonly75   Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com   Support the show at: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno OR https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno   Antony's website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com   Antony's John Lennon podcast https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com   If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com   Link to David Welch's book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17674209-propaganda   episode links What is propaganda? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda   25 powerful propaganda posters https://www.emlii.com/25-most-powerful-propaganda-posters-that-made-all-the-difference/   You're not immune to propaganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl2fnWIlDZg   How to Get a Country to Go to War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Ev1gM0nt8   Frank Capra's ‘Why We Fight' film series (war propaganda) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Fight   Country Joe & The Fish at Woodstock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0vkKCadgk   ‘Propaganda Watch' on the Corbett Report website/podcast (James Corbett) https://corbettreport.com/category/propagandawatch/   John Pilger on how to see through propaganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvF3d8hhoJo&t=213s   Noam Chomsky propaganda lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9shpeKIXCMc&t=1181s   Theaters of War (Hollywood propaganda) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theaters_of_War

The Index of U.S. Military Strength(Lt. Col. James Carafano) James Jay Carafano is Senior Counselor to the President and E.W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. A leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, Carafano previously served as the Vice President of Heritage's Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. Carafano is an accomplished historian and teacher as well as a prolific writer and researcher. His most recent publication is “Brutal War” (Lynne Reinner, 2021), a study of combat in the Southwest Pacific. He also authored “Wiki at War: Conflict in a Socially Networked World” (Texas A&M University Press, 2012), a survey of the revolutionary impact of the Internet age on national security. He was selected from thousands to speak on cyber warfare at the 2014 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas, the nation's premier tech and social media conference. Before assuming responsibility for Heritage's entire defense and foreign policy team in December 2012, Carafano had served as deputy director of the Davis Institute as well as director of its Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies since 2009. His recent research has focused on developing the national security required to secure the long-term interests of the United States—protecting the public, providing for economic growth and preserving civil liberties. (Many of his writings for Heritage appear below.) He is editor of a book series, The Changing Face of War, which examines how emerging political, social, economic and cultural trends will affect the nature of armed conflict. From 2012 to 2014 and 2020 to 2021, he served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council convened by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Carafano, a 25-year Army veteran with a master's and doctorate from Georgetown University, joined Heritage in 2003 as a senior research fellow in homeland security and missile defense. He worked with Kim R. Holmes, his predecessor as vice president and director of Davis Institute, to produce Heritage's groundbreaking documentary film “33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age.” Carafano now directs Heritage's team of foreign and defense policy experts in five centers on the front lines of international affairs: the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, the Asian Studies Center, the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, the Border Security and Immigration Center, and the Center for National Defense.  Carafano served as president of a nonprofit organization, Esprit de Corps, which educated the public about veteran affairs. In this capacity he co-produced and co-wrote the documentaries “Veteran Nation,” an official selection of the 2013 G.I. Film Festival, and “Why We Fight: 9/11 and America's Longest War” (2018).  Before coming to Heritage, Carafano was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington policy institute dedicated to defense issues. In his Army career, Carafano served in Europe, Korea and the United States. His assignments included head speechwriter for the Army Chief of Staff, the service's highest-ranking officer. Before retiring, Carafano was executive editor of Joint Force Quarterly, the Defense Department's premiere professional military journal. A graduate of West Point, Carafano holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Georgetown University as well as a master's degree in strategy from the U.S. Army War College.

Colonel Lawrence (Larry) Wilkerson is a retired US Army Colonel who served in the military for 31 years and was the former chief of staff to General Colin Powell in his role as Secretary of State and earlier as a General Powell's special assistant when he served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of  Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Col. Wilkerson was an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, the Bush and Cheney White House, and the Biden administration's fueling the current military engagements underway in Ukraine and Palestine at the expense of peaceful negotiations.  He is a frequent commentator on a variety of programs including Judge Napalitano's excellent Judging Freedom and Dialogue Works. He has also been featured in several important documentaries, including “Why We Fight”, “The Israel Lobby”, and “No End in Sight,”  and is the recipient of the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence.

Not an easy episode to talk about. Part Nine – Why We Fight. As the Allies move into Germany and the war comes closer to an end, disillusionment and anger set in for Easy Company – until they stumble onto a concentration camp abandoned by the German military. We are NOT experts, veterans or master...

Today, Theb and Tim discuss the National Divorce and how the military industrial complex keeps the world in a perpetual state of war.News Sources- Foreign Policy - How Sudan Became a Saudi-UAE Proxy War- Geneva Academy - Today's Armed Conflicts - Document ary - Why We Fight (2005) - Dwight D. Eisenhower - Farewell SpeechSUBSCRIBE HEREATP Presents - YOUTU BE CHANNELATP Presents - APPLE PODCASTS CHANNEL America! The Podcast - SPOTIFYOther ATP Presents ShowsRoad Trip! A Journey Across America - APPLE, SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE America! The Conversation - APPLE, SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE I Do Not Trust This Person - APPLE, SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE They're Not Sending Their Best - APPLE

83 MinutesPG 13Justin Stamm is a husband, father and Catholic. He is the host of Why We Fight.Justin joins Pete to talk about how Western man's neutrality has led to his downfall.Why We FightJustin on Twitter/XPete and Thomas777 'At the Movies'Antelope Hill - Promo code "peteq" for 5% off - https://antelopehillpublishing.com/FoxnSons Coffee - Promo code "peter" for 18% off - https://www.foxnsons.com/Support Pete on His WebsitePete's PatreonPete's Substack Pete's SubscribestarPete's GUMROADPete's VenmoPete's Buy Me a CoffeePete on FacebookPete on TwitterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-quinones-show--6071361/support.

PEG Podcast With Jeremy Norrie: Director/Producer Podcast/Radio/TV/Film/ClubHouse  Filmmaking  Coming from a non-traditional background, we make open minded films from a serious perspective about a wide variety of subjects.  These projects all have a common theme of overcoming adversity, empowerment, and recovery as well as being matter of fact & honest. Jeremy Norrie  Podcast/Radio/TV/Film/ClubHouse etc. Areas of Experience (Professional) • Director/Producer of Independent Documentary Films for Amazon, FOX & CBS streaming platforms  • Former Concert/Event Promoter from small private/public events internationally to large 30k person multiple day festivals in California  • Formerly in the Cannabis Industry doing growing, concentrate & hash making, international journalism and almost every other possible aspect of cannabis industry • Formerly a journalist for MMA websites (MMAWeekly, SherDog, MMA.tv and MMA-Fighter) discussing UFC and other combat sports Areas of Experience (Personal) • adversity, trauma, & dealing w/anxiety  • bullying, predators and being a victim • relationships, treating women better  • partying, drugs and balance vs recovery Other knowledge  • prowrestling • combat sports • movies (sci-fi action mystery thriller) • television (sitcom & above)  Awards (Cannabis)  * 1st : Best Concentrate - Dab City * 1st : Best Product - HTCC 2009 * 2nd : Best Product - HTCC Bay Area 2012 Awards (Filmmaking) “The Secret Cup” * 1st Place Best Documentary  - Poppy Film Festival (February 2022 - Sweden) “Aliens v.s BigFoot” “Don't Call Me BigFoot” “Other Side of the Ring”  “Why We Fight” & various others also are award winners previously  Most of my other films have been Official Selections at various other film festivals, some currently screening, and again official awards for numerous others. I lived a wild and crazy rockstar like life and love to share my unique experiences from being on the ground level during the rise of both MMA/UFC to the Cannabis Industry.  There were all kinds of close calls with danger but also big achievements as well as the wisdom learned from the negative and positive parts of that journey both personally and professionally. Now I am making films for Amazon, FOX & CBS among other streaming platforms where we get to tell stories about all kinds of topics.  All of our films are from a serious open minded perspective, and there is an ongoing theme of overcoming adversity, helping people and personal struggles.   No matter what the topic I am confident your audience will enjoy my appearance on your show.  I'm often asked to return & have various previous appearances on all kinds of show found on Spotify, ITunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Link: http://theskyisland.com/

In this emotionally charged episode of Cocktails & Classics, we dive deep into the harrowing realities of war through Band of Brothers Episode 9, "Why We Fight." From the shocking discovery of concentration camps to the personal struggles of our beloved characters, this episode is a raw and unflinching look at the human cost of conflict. The Human Side of War: We explore the pre-interview discussions about the commonalities between soldiers on both sides, highlighting the tragedy of conflict. Masterful Opening Shots: We discuss the powerful opening shot featuring Beethoven's music and its emotional impact. Nixon's Struggles: We delve into Nixon's character development, including his demotion, drinking problems, and the strain on his personal life. A Terrifying Discovery: We discuss the shocking discovery of a concentration camp and its impact on the Easy Company soldiers. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Nixon is dealt such a rough hand in this episode. 03:21 - Young Tom Hardy is only here to sleep with women and advance the story. 04:27 - This episode made us get emotional, and how much emotional toll this situation must have had on Liebgott. 08:35 - This episode does a lot of time-jumping 09:47 - Spiers is such an oddball character, and the book doesn't add a lot of supplement to this episode. 12:30 - Webster's breakdown and the German's ignorance of the Camp 16:28 - Are the intro interviews counterintuitive to the point of this episode? 21:38 - They do an amazing job of glossing over Hitler's death in this show. 23:20 - Perconte's freakout and The Zone of Interest 26:48 - The cinematography is SOO good. 28:38 - How do we move forward and help these people? 33:50 - Audible Ad 34:30 - Ben's takeaways from the episode 36:50 - Predicting and our hopes for the final episode 41:47 - Outro This week's sponsor is Audible, the leader in audiobooks and spoken word originals, if you'd like to get a 30-day free trial and check out all that Audible has to offer head to ⁠⁠⁠www.audibletrial.com/cocktailsandclassics⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our Letterboxd List⁠⁠

A warm welcome for the return of Dr. Sebastian Gorka, as he discusses the recent assassination attempt on President Trump, criticising the left's normalisation of violence and The Secret Service's diversity hires over security competence.  He delves into 'conspiracy' theories, border policies' impact on law enforcement morale, and praises President Trump's leadership during the attack.  The conversation extends to political implications, examining JD Vance as the VP pick, media reactions, and critiques of the January 6th committee and FBI tactics.  Dr. Gorka emphasizes resilience, core values, and the transformative power of adversity in shaping the political language and enforcing the MAGA message. Sebastian Gorka, PhD., served as Deputy Assistant for Strategy to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and is currently a presidential appointee to the National Security Education Board at the Department of Defense. He is the host of AMERICA First, a nationally-syndicated radio show on the Salem Radio Network, and The Gorka Reality Check, the newest show on the cable news network Newsmax TV. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book “Defeating Jihad,” and “Why We Fight.” His latest book is “The War for America's Soul.” Connect with Seb... LINKTREE            linktr.ee/sebgorka SUBSTACK          substack.com/@sebastiangorka X                           x.com/SebGorka WEBSITE              sebastiangorka.com/ Interview recorded  16.7.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... X/TWITTER          x.com/HeartsofOakUK WEBSITE              heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS          heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA    heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                   heartsofoak.org/shop/

In this first episode of the D-Day 80 part of the Why We Fight series, Dr. Roger Cirillo joins me to talk about the planning for Operation Overlord and the invasion of northwestern France, which was initially planned for May 1944, then scheduled for 5 June and postponed a day due to weather. Roger talks about how the planning actually began years before the Allies even committed to a timeline and date for the operation. Links Ardennes-Alsace: 16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945 by Roger Cirillo (https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-26/CMH_Pub_72-26(75th-Anniversary).pdf) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

Show notes and Transcript Dr. Sebastian Gorka returns to Hearts of Oak to offer his insights on the importance of personnel in politics, emphasizing the challenges faced by Trump supporters.  He discusses the evolving dynamics within the Republican Party towards a more MAGA-centered approach and the need for alignment with the American people.  We move onto populism in Europe, media landscape changes, challenges in education, and the significance of local politics for societal change.  Dr. Gorka highlights the importance of grassroots activism and community engagement in shaping the future political landscape. Sebastian Gorka, PhD., served as Deputy Assistant for Strategy to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and is currently a presidential appointee to the National Security Education Board at the Department of Defense. He is the host of AMERICA First, a nationally-syndicated radio show on the Salem Radio Network, and The Gorka Reality Check, the newest show on the cable news network Newsmax TV. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book “Defeating Jihad,” and “Why We Fight.” His latest book is “The War for America's Soul.” Connect with Seb... LINKTREE              linktr.ee/sebgorka SUBSTACK            substack.com/@sebastiangorka X                            x.com/SebGorka WEBSITE               www.sebastiangorka.com/ Interview recorded  8.4.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ TRANSCRIPT (Hearts of Oak) And I'm delighted to have Dr. Sebastian Gorka back with us again. Dr. Gorka, thank you for your time today. (Dr Sebastian Gorka) My pleasure. Thank you for having me. Great to have you on. And of course, former Deputy Assistant to President, nationally syndicated radio host of America First with Sebastian Gorka and best-selling author. And people can find you obviously @SebGorka. And we'll get into some of your thoughts on your Twitter page in a little bit. But, Dr. Gorka, if I can ask you, maybe first, looking at the GOP, back at the beginning of President Trump's first term in office, he trusts the GOP to fill those, I guess, 3,000-odd positions to keep the system running. And he seems to, I think everyone seems to have learned that there was a concerted effort to push back. But it seems to be that the President has realised he needs to fill those positions himself and there's a concerted effort to fill those positions with the brightest, the best patriots that America have, do you want to just let us know about that because he is going into this with his eyes wide open. Well, absolutely, after what they did to him and to his administration the first time round. And this is my greatest concern going forward, because it is clear the American people want him back. He's trouncing Biden in the polls. If you look at the primary results, we haven't even finished the primaries. He's already broken his record for 2016. So whether it's wars across the world, the state of the economy, 16 million illegals, President Trump, if there is a free and fair election, will be God willing, if we do our part, the next president. However, as Ronald Reagan taught us, politics, you know, personnel is politics. And I am very concerned that we not have what we had last time, which is even at the cabinet level, subversives in the Trump administration. So we can't make that mistake again. However, I give credit to the left. My friend Chris Plant, who has the morning show here in D.C., has made this point very eloquently over the years. Why would a decent person, especially a family man or a family woman, why would you work in a Republican administration, especially a Trump administration? You look at my example. Look, I don't mind getting attacked by the left because, of course, I'm a proxy for the president. But when they came after my wife, I had one journalist write 52 hit pieces on me in three months. And when one of the articles named my 18-year-old son and called him a traitor in the headline, what person wants to actually put up with that? I mean, I'm prepared to do it again. And there's a handful of us who served in the Trump administration who understand America First, who are loyal to the president, are loyal to the mandate he received already, are prepared to do it again. But there are 4,000 positions, 4,000 presidential appointees. What lunatic is prepared to have the inhuman treatment meted out against them from a quote-unquote elite in the media that just dehumanizes. I mean, from Hillary's deplorables comment to Biden last year standing in front of one of the most important buildings in the world for us when it comes to American history, which is Independence Hall, bathed in red light, flanked by two Marines in their dress blues, and he calls half the nation fascists, MAGA extremists. I mean, this is how radical the left has become and how they've dehumanized the others. So, yeah, I mean, you've hit upon my neuralgic point, which is the personnel policy, if we win, God willing, will be second Trump administration. We cannot get it wrong this time. We just cannot get it wrong. What does seem that the left are utterly vicious and ruthless in going after individuals and I had the privilege of watching the president speak twice when I was over last in Pennsylvania and then down South Carolina and it's an hour and 40 minutes of a political speech I've never seen before and I've been involved in politics in many years in the UK but it connects you at a heart level as opposed to the head level and he knocks off those attacks but the left are adamant that they will go after individuals. Let me give you one concrete example, lest, you know, your listeners and viewers think this is just, you know, Sebastian Gorka's axe that he's grinding. So I had a colleague, I was deputy assistant to the president. My colleague, Peter Navarro, was assistant to the president for trade policy. He was one of the key architects of our China policy. Peter was subpoenaed by the infamous January 6th Committee of Congress, which was illegally constituted. So an investigatory, I don't want to get into the weeds, but an investigatory committee of Congress has to have delegates from both parties. It can't just be the majority party. Nancy Pelosi refused the then speaker to accept nominations from the Republican Party. So she picked a couple of the worst Trump haters who are nominal Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. And as such, this was an illegally constituted committee. Peter Navarro receives a subpoena from this congressional committee, ordering him to come and testify. He says, A, it's an illegal committee, I'm not going to comply. B, I have it in writing from President Trump that my work for him is covered by the executive privilege, which is a constitutional statute in America that the discussions between the president and his aides are protected and they can't just be just willy-nilly divulged to anybody. Peter lives one block away from the FBI. When he was in contempt of this subpoena, which is a misdemeanor offense, not a felony, it's a misdemeanor. Instead of the FBI writing to Peter or writing to his lawyer, could your client come to our offices tomorrow morning and we'd like to present him with his breach of congressional subpoena documents. Instead, my colleague, a renowned economist, academic professor, was tracked by the FBI to Reagan Airport, which is the airport for Washington, D.C. And after he boarded a plane on a business trip, he was arrested in public, not only handcuffed. This is when you realize we are in a police state. And I say that with all sincerity. He was handcuffed and put in leg shackles, which meant he had to shuffle out of the airport like some slave on a chain gang. Then he was taken to the FBI headquarters where he was strip searched on a congressional misdemeanour charge. He is now sitting, as of two weeks ago, he is sitting in a federal prison in Florida, serving a four-month sentence for being in contempt of Congress. So, you know, this is the left. This is the left. They talk about President Trump and MAGA is a threat to democracy. Well, the only fascists I see right now are the Democrat Party, Biden's DOJ, and the FBI. A woman, I had her daughter literally text me on Friday, said, my 73-year-old grandmother, who spent 10 minutes inside Congress praying for the nation on January 6th, has just been charged with four charges that will lead her to spend a year in prison. A 73-year-old grandma who's going to be on my radio today has been charged with being inside of Congress and praying, Peter. Yeah, I've seen the praying grandma. I've seen a number of clips of her and Peter's book, Taking Back Trump's America, certainly was an eye opener for me. And I learned a lot reading that. And of course, we've had some of the anniversaries of the J6ers. There's no Jake Lang's now fourth anniversary of him in jail. I mean, what does that mean? How do you see, God willing, President Trump winning the election? Well, not winning, but allowed to win the election in November. What does that mean for, for instance, some of those J6ers in jail, hundreds of them in jail for years and years, simply for going and being part of that event? Well, the president has said this openly just last week. I was with him at Mar-a-Lago, and he said it the week before. All the J6ers who committed no violent crimes, who simply walked through the halls, through the velvet rope, every single one, all the cases will be reviewed, and the president will pardon them. Wow, wow. That's simple and decisive. What you'd expect from Trump as opposed to Biden, and it's like, here's the job, let's get this done. I mean, this is, we could talk about this for hours. This is how he functions. I mean, you don't get to be the most successful entrepreneur in the hardest market in the world, which is Manhattan real estate. You don't have the most successful TV show for 14 seasons in a row unless you're decisive. And I saw this in the White House. You know, when we made the argument, the Iran deal, Obama's Iran deal is bad for America, bad for Israel, bad for the Middle East and actually gives the Mullahs a bomb, he said, okay, we're canceling it. He didn't waffle. He didn't say, oh, let's create a task force or let's have a conference in Vienna. He said, no, we're going to kill it now. Absolutely. Can I ask you about the RNC? Because I've looked at this and the media have billed it as Trump taking charge, taking control of the RNC, which seemed to be one of the biggest pushbacks to his presidency, certainly at the beginning with all those appointments. It's now a very different situation with a lot of good people put in and what does that take over mean? And does that mean that actually moving past November and that he will be in a very different situation Well it's massively significant. I mean I said this when I was in The White House. I said it when I left The White House, Donald John Trump won the election despite the Republican Party, not thanks to the Republican Party. The Republican Party hates him. I mean, it's the same as, you know, Brexit and the Tories. It's the same as establishment politicians and Millei or Meloni. We have these establishment, look, I think Bannon popularized it here. We have the Uni-party. There's really not much difference between this amorphous blob that is the Democrats and the establishment Republicans. Why? Because the Democrats are lunatics who hate America, and the establishment Republicans, we call them RINOS, Republicans in name only, are cuckolds who just facilitate what the left does and never push back even when they're in majority. And they hate President Trump. To this day, the likes of Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney think that 64 million Americans, voting for a man who'd never run for political office before, and him becoming president, they think that's an anomaly. They think that's, oh, just a blip, and we'll get back to business and footsie under the table with the Democrats. They have no comprehension of the global phenomenon that is populism. From Brexit, to Modi, to Maloney, to Orban, to Millei, you know, to Bolsonaro, there is a wholehearted international rejection of what a friend of mine called on my show recently, and I literally just wrote an article on this for my Substack, the un-accountable's. It's, you know, it's not left and right anymore. We've got to ditch that taxonomy. It's not even conservative and liberal. It is the unaccountable elites who are completely cosseted and insulated from anything in the real world. The price of petrol doesn't affect them. They think a six-quid almond latte from Starbucks is a good deal, and they don't give a crap whether manufacturing jobs have been shipped over to China or Mexico. As long as the Wi-Fi signal in Starbucks is good, they can do their job as, you know, chief DEI officer or, you know, head of HR for some woke corporation. And then there's the rest of us, the accountables who, you know, the plumber who, when the price of petrol goes up 300% under Joe Biden, you can't put food on the table for your kids. Or you're the legal immigrants who came here from Mexico 10 years ago, got in line, took the exam, paid the money. And you're a waiter in Dallas, and along comes this Nigerian illegal, one of the 16 million let in by Biden, who tells the boss of that cafe, I'll do Jose's job. For cash, for 50% of what Jose's doing. I mean, these are the people who pay the price of the betrayal of the people who build America, betrayed by the Democrats and their enablers in the Republican Party. So yeah, that's where we are today. And the GOP, look, Lara Trump becoming the co-chair, the firing of Rona Romney McDaniel. OK, let's be clear here. The chair of the RNC, the National Committee, was Mitt Romney, one of the biggest rhino Trump haters, niece. And her loss of eight elections in a row had to have some consequences. Now Lara's in charge. They've hired Scott Press, a friend of mine who's one of the best grassroots activists in America. And finally, the choice of the people will be reflected in the party that is supposed to be his party. So to put it very briefly, the Republican Party will finally be a MAGA America First Party. I saw one of your shows recently, I think it was Scott saying maybe it should be renamed America First instead of the GOP. That was actually my associate producer talking in my ear. He wants me to shut up about that because he wants President Trump to drop that at the convention. I think it's right. Why should we be called the Grand Old Party? I mean, we're not in the 19th century, right? I mean, let's have something that reflects the will of the American people. And I watched that interview with Scott. And that's exciting to bring in a different generation, actually have different ideas. And someone who's done the groundwork for 10 years really should be rewarded with a position to roll out what he's doing in an area actually nationwide. So it's exciting to see that, I guess, the boldness that Trump changing the RNC now can have for going forward. Yeah, yeah. Look, the proof of the pudding will be the convention. The proof of the pudding will be the results. But we're seeing some incredible, I mean, look, it's a little bit arcane and only relevant to American politics. But we have this primary system where state by state you choose the candidate to lead the party for the election. And I know New Hampshire very, very well. New Hampshire is not an America First state. It used to be conservative. Now a lot of hippies and, you know, idiots have moved in. The record for primary votes, for the most votes ever cast in a primary, is held by Bernie Sanders. That tells you just how, you know, woke a state it has become. President Trump broke Bernie Sanders' standing primary record in New Hampshire this year. I mean, these things are unprecedented. The fact that he, as of last week, he's had more people vote for him in primaries than voted for him in the whole primary season in 2016. I think there's a grand awakening. And if just, if only 60, 70% of the reports are true about the Hispanic and black vote. According to the polls, the president now enjoys the majority of Hispanic votes in America. That's just mind-blowing. The man who we've been told by the establishment of media is the racist, bigoted, you know, yada, yada, yada. He's more popular with Hispanic Americans. And I don't want to, you know, tempt fate. He's getting upwards of 28, 30 percent of the black vote if that if that preference translates into actual ballots on November the 5th the democrat party will implode, I mean they've had a lock for absurd reasons, they've had a lock on the black vote for 70 years, the party that created the KKK, the party that was the party of southern segregation and plantations has had a lock on that vote forever and if 20, 30 percent of them leave that's it, there will be a crisis in the democrat party and it will be long overdue. Yeah I'm seeing that break away from the tribal politics, how your parents voted to actually voting with your gut and your conviction which could be a massive change. Does Trump actually need to do debates head-to-head? Obviously, he pulled out of the ones with the Republican field because he said, what's the point, and did his own. And that was genius, pure Trump. But actually, going head-to-head with Biden, what is the point? He's so far ahead in the polls. How do you think he will play it? Because then you fit into the CNN, MSNBC, you fit in the Fox News, you fit into their schedules, and he doesn't need to do that. Well, no, he doesn't need to because they're both known quantities. They've both been presidents, one the most successful president of the modern era, biggest economy we've ever had, no wars for four years, crushed ISIS, stock market rallies literally every other day. I had to watch the ticker tape in my studio because there was a new stock market rally, which isn't just for the fat cats. Your pension is tied to that stock market. So people's 401k pensions are like blossoming. And then we've had what? We've had Biden, record inflation. Petrol got up to $7 a gallon in California. You've got the invasion of Russia, the invasion of Ukraine, the surrender of Afghanistan, war in the Middle East. So it really should be a very stark binary option. So do you need a debate? Not really. But President Trump's great troll comment last week that, yeah, we should have a debate as long as Biden is drug tested, because they found a bag of cocaine in the White House, which the Secret Service, mystically couldn't find any fingerprints on, despite a bag of cocaine being the perfect thing to find fingerprints on, because it's not porous. It's absolutely like a sheet of glass that's plastic, right? And they definitely pumped him full of something for the State of the Union because this is a guy who is not compos mentis. This is a guy who doesn't function. And then, you know, he actually ranted like a lunatic, like on speed or something for an hour during the State of the Union. So it was a perfect troll. Will there be a debate? I doubt it. I doubt they'd let Biden debate with President Trump. But, you know, who knows? politics has been pretty weird for the last 10 years in America. And earlier you mentioned about some of the populism and across Europe, also in Bolsanaro and Brazil. And we're obviously having the European parliamentary elections coming up in June with a massive rise in populism. And you understand this as a Brit, as someone who's Hungarian roots and studied in Hungary and now you're an American citizen. You've got quite a unique perspective and view on this. And I'm wondering how, because with Trump going into the White House, having an open and possible very good relationship with Europe, which wasn't there in the first place, I'm kind of sitting back intrigued watching how this will play out. Because this could be a new, very strong relationship linking Europe and the US. Well, it could. It just depends who wins the elections in Europe, right? I mean, if it's the right people like Meloni in Italy, absolutely. If it's the wrong people like the socialists, the trounce, truth and justice in Poland, then it'll be a different kind of relationship. But people need to understand the president has a very strong soft spot in his heart for Europe because of his family background. But just go back to that video, if your viewers haven't seen it. Go back to the video when the president spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, long before Biden and the invasion of Ukraine. And he said, very declaratively said, by way of wanted to help, he said, Germany, Europe, why are you buying energy from Russia? It makes you dependent on a dictatorial regime that has military goals against NATO members or border countries. And then the camera panned from the president warning Europe not to do that to the German delegation. And the German delegation was tittering and giggling, saying, what does he know about geopolitics? Well, isn't it funny that when we leave the office? Vlad does what he did, puts a stranglehold on the energy of the Baltic states, Hungary, the Ukraine, and then Germany has to literally do a 180 and say, oh, we like nuclear energy now, and we're going to stop shutting down our nuclear energy plants. So, you know, which part of Europe are we talking about? The unaccountable asshole elites who are arrogant and don't give a fig for the people? Are we talking about politicians like Nigel Farage who understand that the political elite has been roundly rejected by the people of Europe? That's what will affect relations. Who's in charge? Are they the, what is it, the Klaus Schwab fanboys and fangirls? Or are they people who believe in the sovereignty of their own individual nations? Well, it could be rewritten with AFD in Germany and Freedom Party in Austria. Yeah, but look at the UK. Look at the UK. The UK's a disaster. I was with Steve Hilton yesterday in California, and I'm like, this is a guy who worked in 10 Downing Street, and I said to him, so what is it with the Tory party? And he said, he can't even explain it to me. How does, he said, Sunak is just so wet, so pathetic, and this is the best the UK can do. So Nigel, get busy. A hundred percent. It's depressing looking at every other green shoot across Europe and looking at the UK and having zero. But yeah, I know Nigel is seriously considering his political future. But he's involved in media. And I want to ask you about media. Nigel, of course, very involved in media and in GB News, probably the star on GB News. and in the States, I think it was an Axios article a few weeks ago talking about a MAGA media juggernaut that seems to eclipse, no pun intended for today, but eclipse any influence that Fox ever had. You're right in the centre of that, as is Bannon, Charlie Kirk. I mean, the list is wide of the names of individuals who have stepped up to the mark and helped the public understand. Tell us about that, because to me, that will be part of winning this war and getting the message out over the next six months. Well when it comes to the media there's only one mass media platform that conservatives control and that is of course talk radio, the left has tried talk radio and it's always recuperative and bile filled and nobody can listen to it for more than three minutes. I mean, my show's only five years old. I've got three and a half million daily listeners. You look at the Rush Limbaugh slot that is now divided between Dan Bongino and a couple of other hosts, Buck Sexton and his partner. And Rush was getting 20, 22, 23 million people listening. Fox doesn't even do that. I mean, before Tucker left, Tucker had the most popular show. And on a good night, that was 5 million, which tells you why television is kind of irrelevant. I mean, 5 million in a nation of 340 million, and radio is multiples of that. Now, since then, of course, we have what in the last few years, the rise of the Breitbarts, Newsmax doing incredibly successfully, pushing Fox out. But the hope, I don't know if you can can pull it off. The renaming was the dumbest thing ever. But Elon's buying of Twitter, I mean, he's been very open about he wants to make Twitter, the multimedia platform, he wants it to be the the Twitter, YouTube, Google, Spotify, all in one information platform. And we'll see what happens with you know, the next thing is going to be video long form videos on that platform. And God willing, power to his elbow, absolutely do it. And then President Trump, I don't know how the left failed to sabotage him, but with the SEC giving him permission to have that merger of the Truth Social and the SPAC on the stock exchange, President Trump just affected a, what was it, $8 billion deal. I mean, I don't try a lot. I mean, I put my segments from my radio show on Truth Social, and then I kind of cut and paste whatever I'm putting on Twitter on Truth Social. So I'm not, you know, really working on Trump's platform. And without trying, I got 900,000 followers. Now, that tells you, and this is a free speech platform that's not full of bots that are being generated for political purposes. This is a true free speech platform in accordance with the First Amendment. So I don't have a crystal ball, but the media environment is, it is being shook up something fabulous. You look at how wokeism, I mean, you look at what wokeism has done to the likes of Netflix and HBO, and along comes Angel Studios with the Call of Freedom and that mega series on Jesus, that reinterpretation of Jesus. Chosen? Chosen, yeah. This is like a boiling cauldron of things that are forming and shaping. And it's going to be, I mean, look, I'm not a fan of Tucker. Tucker's become a clickbait animal, in my opinion. But the figures he's getting for his videos, that presages something very interesting for the future. It's funny when the left think they've got rid of a problem like Trump, like Tucker, and they come back to haunt them. I love it. And I love it when they say, oh my gosh, President Trump's running out of money, and then the SPAC merger is approved, and he garners $4 billion himself from that deal. It's like, oh my gosh, Biden and Obama and Clinton, they're so cool. They had a fundraiser in Manhattan last weekend and they raised 25 million and president Trump had a fundraiser by himself, this weekend and raised 50 million, you just, you gotta laugh. You do, you read the headline, there was a guardian hippies think on the RNC takeover saying oh well you know it hasn't gone as planned, you're thinking, well actually he's really, he's taken over the apparatus, the party machine and actually, it's going to take a little bit of time to get smooth running when you're taking over. But it was the headline was anti. And then you read and you think, wow, that's bloody good. Well, it's at the tactical level. So my wife, who hates politics because she's sane, she, because it's a long story, but there was a drag queen story hour at our local community center that provoked her to run for the board of that community center. And then she became an election officer because she was worried about the integrity of the election. So she became the chief election officer for our part of Virginia. And then on Saturday, because she's fed up with the... We are in the richest county in Virginia. It's the second richest county in America. And it's run by... The RINO class at the RNC under Rona used us as a piggyback. They took all the money from Fairfax County. And then they never gave any money back to our candidates. So my wife was convinced to run for the chair of the GOP in Fairfax County. And I thought, oh my gosh. I mean, she'd never mentioned my name once. She didn't mention in any of her campaign promotional material. She trounced. It was a primary to other candidates. She defeated the second-placed loser by 40 points on Saturday. And then, the hit piece is, oh, my gosh, MAGA, wife of Trump, takes over GOP. It's like, you know that's how democracy works. When 68% of the delegates, 68% said, yeah, we want her. It's so weird how the left really hates the will of the American people now. But that's what it's about. It's about winning. And it's easy in some ways to say, let's all move to West Virginia and get an area of freedom. But actually to stay and fight, that's what's difficult. And that's what's required to win. Right, right. It's like, who's that guy who wrote Liberal Fascists, that conservative who went lunatic, anti-Trumper? There's this, I can't believe he actually said it live on television. He's become, you know, the quasi-Republican on CNN. And here it's, oh yeah, so it's Jonah Goldberg. Jonah Goldberg was bashing Trump again on CNN or whatever, and he actually said out loud, all these small donors that President Trump is getting, it's a real problem because they don't understand the world, and it should be the policies of the mega donors that shape the Republican Party. I say, Jonah, did these words just come out of your mouth that the plebs, the plebs are stupid? How dare the people's desires like wanting to have a border and jobs in manufacturing? How dare, leave it up to the billionaires because they really care about America. Jonah Goldberg actually said that live on television. And he didn't apologize. He didn't catch himself and say, oops, I said the quiet bit out loud. These people believe it, Peter. They believe it. How dare, how dare the American people vote for Donald Trump? How dare they? I've seen a number of your tweets and you've been pointing that out, Biden at war, not with America's enemies but with America itself and America last, you put war on common sense, war on Christians, it's war on our children war on free speech. Think of this I was speaking in front of about a thousand conservatives yesterday in California and I think, this is so, to diagnose the situation we live in the most perverse of ages because never before has a society or a civilization been run by those who hate their own country. I mean, Obama said it. He said, I wish to radically transform, fundamentally transform America. Well, you don't love anything that you wish to radically transform. And it sounds extreme, but look at what just happened. The federal government, the federal government, whose number one duty is the safety of our citizens, That's its number one thing, is now suing the governor of Texas because he deployed his National Guard elements to put container boxes along the border to stop it. The feds were letting in the illegals, 10,000 a day. And the governor, Abbott, said, OK, well, I've got to do something because I'm responsible for the citizens of my state of Texas. In the Texas Constitution, it says he must secure his state if there is an invasion. So he moved the Conex boxes to just put a barrier along the Texan border. Biden is suing Texas for trying to secure the territory of America. It's like that's when you realize these people truly hate their own country and hate their own people. 100% and that's what seems to be the big two issues are the border and the economy and there are many other issues but I guess those two are simple election but then when the election is won you've got a much, well you've got a whole litany of issues that then need to be sorted out. Well yes I mean here's the massive irony. I'm going to write a piece on this today or tomorrow that, this is the delightful thing about the left. They're evil bastards. They hate Judeo-Christian civilization, but they're really quite stupid. Why did Donald Trump win in 2016? If you have to boil it down to one univalent answer, he won because of illegal immigration. I mean, the most powerful mobilizing slogan of 2016 was build the wall. I mean, that really was, if you had to choose one, it was build the wall. What have they just done in the last three and a half years, if there's one issue if you know you're running against him again, what's the one issue Peter, you shouldn't give to Donald Trump a second time round, you probably shouldn't give him the issue he won on the first time, you probably shouldn't give immigration back to him as a weapon and they haven't given it back to him as a weapon. They've given it back to him as a nuclear bomb. When you let in 10,000 illegals a day, and there's this guy who actually sealed the border eight years ago, you're actually re-electing Donald Trump on the same issue that you helped him to get elected on the first time. These people are cretins. I mean, they really are cretins. Completely, can I just finish off on education because it was your wonderful Oxford Union speech, I think it was the beginning of this year and it was Sebastian Gorka explains why America and the world needs president Trump back in office and you realize this is a battle for education for the next generation for children to actually rediscover the American dream that their parents fought for and strived for. But let me just tell, what was that like going into an arena where you are hated because you stand up for the best of a country itself? And then what are your thoughts on, actually, it is about reclaiming the education system? Well, look, I thought twice about it, because it's got to be as, a heart of darkness when it comes to wokeism but I've got to give them full credit, I mean really, it's not part of the University but it's affiliated to it and it's run by the students of Oxford so, and look when the Oxford Union invites you to debate on any subject you have to go, when you see the photographs of Einstein, Maggie Thatcher, Ronald Reagan who've all debated in that beautiful building, you don't say well sorry, I'm not, I'm too good for that, And so they believe, you may not have it in the British system, but they believe in a First Amendment and freedom of speech. And I'm just absolutely stunned that I had 120, 130 students vote for President Trump after I gave my speech. But let me tell you a story. So it's run by this committee who, interestingly, are mostly classic scholars. So the dinner beforehand was, you know, debating the Pliny versus Tacitus. I felt like I'd arrived in some Evelyn Waugh novel. It was quite, quite funny. But one of them, because you can only go and listen if you're a member of the union. One of these students, after I gave my pitch, he stood up, took the microphone, and he was a perfect exemplar of what we face. And he said, in front of hundreds of people, I mean, it was a packed crowd, standing room only, and I've literally just given my speech and I've traveled, what, 8,000 miles on my own dime. And he says, I hate you and everything your former boss stood for. And I'm an American. He was like an exchange student or whatever. And he said, I would rather vote for a dead twig than to vote for President Trump. And I accosted him afterwards over the little, you know, cocktails we were having. And I said to him, you do realize how privileged you are, that you're an American at Oxford, and you really shouldn't dehumanize other people. And to say in public that you hate a man you've never met before, and you'd rather vote for a piece of wood than a human being, you're actually dehumanizing at the level that the Nazis dehumanized somebody they politically disagreed with. And then to his credit, he apologized. He said, yes, you're right. And then literally 40 seconds later, he did it again. And he made an ad hominem attack against me in front of witnesses as we're drinking. And he just, the level of indoctrination is stunning. And I had the president of the Heritage Foundation on my radio show the week he was appointed. And he's a former president of a college in Texas. He's a fourth-generation educator, PhD in history. And my wife, who worked for Heritage at the time, smuggled me a question to ask him at the end of the hour. And I said, so, Dr. Roberts, it's exciting to see Americans take back the schools, the mama bears rising up against the insane COVID mandates, the masks, the CRT, all this garbage. That's cool. But what about higher ed? What about the colleges? What about the universities? You've run one of these. Can we salvage them? Can we rebuild them? Live on air in front of three and a half million people, he said, it's brand newly minted president of the Heritage Foundation. No, we have to burn them to the ground. Now, when he says that, you think, you know, let me think about that. And then what happens? Three years later, the president of the most famous college in the world says, genocide of the Jews, that's a contextual statement and may not be hate-filled. Then he's right. I mean, I got in an argument about this with a fellow conservative who said, well, we've got to save the colleges. I said, you can't save that. I mean, when it's so ingrained that calling for genocide on Harvard campus is something the president thinks is OK, you can't change that unless you change everybody who works at Harvard, because they're all like that. I mean, maybe there's two professors left who aren't woke, but you can't build it with thousands of people who hate America. It's like, let me make an analogy that you're not supposed to say. It's impolitic. My thing is national security and people tell me, well, Israel has to do what it has to do and it has to crush Hamas and then it'll be okay. And they have to do whatever it takes. Civilian casualties, yes, we get it, but they just got to crush Hamas. And I say, You can't crush Hamas. The polls say 70% to 80% of Gazans support what Hamas did on October 7th. When 70% of a population says murdering beautiful young women at a rave in the desert is okay. Unless the population is removed somewhere else, and Egypt built their wall with God. You cannot fix that by killing the people who did October 7th because you'll just find more recruits. You can't fix these colleges. And that's why home-schooling is enormous, why Hillsdale and the like of Grove City, conservative colleges that don't take one cent from the feds. So the feds can't force their CRT and equal rights garbage on them are so thriving. But, my parents escaped communism. And it's the idea that we're in that situation where in every communist nation that had a semblance of resistance, the kids would come home from school and then the parents would put the radio up loud and then deprogram their kids at night. And say, okay, what did that commie teachers tell you about Stalin? Let me tell you what the truth is about the West and capitalism. And to think that we might be in a similar situation without a Berlin Wall, without bipolarity, but where we need to deprogram our kids. That's why I tell people it's cool to work in the White House. Don't get me wrong. As an immigrant, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool to be president. It's pretty cool to be a senator. But it's mostly irrelevant. I mean, the founding fathers were very clear. Federal government should be irrelevant. It should deal with two things, war and interstate trade. That's it. Alex de Tocqueville understood America better than anyone, of course, because he's a foreigner. And he said, where's the locus of power? Where's real America? It's locally. It's at the county commissioner. It's at the school board. That's why when you want to take back a country, that's where you take it back. Why is George Soros funding local school board races and local prosecutors at the county level? I mean, people like Fani Willis. What the hell is the billionaire who broke the Bank of London doing funding local prosecutor races? Well, because that's how you steal a country. And we kind of just snoozed past it for 40 years as bit by bit, the real locus of power at county, at a municipality level was taken over. I mean, Tip O'Neill famously had this phrase in the 90s, the Democrat speaker, he said, politics is local. And it became this kind of bumper sticker for the Democrats. Oh, oh, all politics is local. And we kind of laughed and said, oh, that's cute. Well, they actually meant it. They understood that you capture a nation not with a presidential election. You capture a nation. When I arrived to Virginia, I moved from Europe 2008. And we put our kids into the local schools. And we looked into the local school district, school board. There were nine members of the school board. Every single one of them was a raving left-wing loony. And here's the important thing. None of them had a child in the public schools of the county. And you go, what? Then why are they running the board? Because it's about controlling my children, right? This is what we have to wake up to. Dr Sebastian Gorka it's wonderful having you on, it's an honour and I know you are, what three hours a day is it? Three hours of live radio every day and then a weekly tv show on Newsmax. On Salem media group, on Rumble, on Spotify, any place you want to watch it, all the links are on Sebastian's twitter feed at the top, so I appreciate your time thank you so much, Dr. Gorka. Thank you. And check out my Substack, Sebastian Gorka, one word, sebastiangorka.substack.com We will put it in the description. Thank you so much.

It's been over 20 years since the HBO television series Band of Brothers appeared, but it continues to shape the popular understanding and conception of World War II.  The series is full of powerful episodes but one that viewers consistently single out as particularly moving is Episode 9: Why We Fight.  In this episode, the soldier of Easy Company stumble across a Nazi concentration camp.Ever since I started this podcast, I have wanted to talk with those involved about the choices made in this episode and what it was like to be involved.  I am incredibly grateful to John Orloff who wrote the episode and Ross McCall the actor who played Jewish soldier Joe Liebgott for taking the time to chat with me about this.For those interested in the camp depicted in the film was Kaufering IV, a subcamp of Dachau.  You can find a short film from the US National WWII Museum on the liberation of Kaufering here.  If you would like to see actual wartime photographs of the camp at liberation, you can find them here from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. John Orloff is a writer and producer.  He wrote two episodes of the Band Of Brothers series.  More recently, he is the creator, writer, and co-executive producer for Masters of the Air.Ross McCall is an actor. Beyond playing CPL Joseph Liebgott in the Band of Brothers series, Ross has appeared in numerous feature films and television series.Follow on Twitter @holocaustpod.Email the podcast at holocausthistorypod@gmail.comThe Holocaust History Podcast homepage is here

Coming up on the Men at the Movies podcast, we deal with the episode Why We Fight in our Band of Brothers series. We deal with the ongoing toll of battle and suffering. The temptation is to allow the struggle to cause us to fall away, hate each other, and for our love to grow cold. But when Jacob wrestled with God, he knew dawn was coming. And although he walked away with a limp, he also had a blessing and a new name. Join us as we discover God's truth in this story. Questions Where does your love feel cold? Where are you in danger of falling away? What things make you the most angry? Where have you wrestled with God? What was the result? How are you tempted to check out? Where have you been handed a grief or struggle that you don't have a compartment for? Why do you fight? Why do you get out of bed everyday? What keeps you from giving up hope? Check out our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@menatthemovies) for bonus content. To dive into this content even more, visit our website: www.menatthemovies.com/podcast. You will find resources mentioned on the podcast, plus quotes and themes discussed. Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@menatthemovies Facebook: www.facebook.com/menatthemovies Instagram: www.instagram.com/menatthemovies/ TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@menatthemovies Twitter: twitter.com/_menatthemovies If you would like to support our work (and get some behind-the-scenes perks), visit our Patreon page (www.patreon.com/menatthemovies). Get invites to livestreams, bonus episodes, even free merch. If you'd like to do a one-time contribution (a cameo appearance), visit www.menatthemovies.com/investors. Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster (graysonfoster.com) Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston (ianhjohnston.com) Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead). Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock Links: MATM website: www.menatthemovies.com/podcast YouTube: www.youtube.com/@menatthemovies Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/50DiGvjrHatOFUfHc0H2wQ Apple pods: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/men-at-the-movies-podcast/id1543799477 Google pods: podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80ODMwNThjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/menatthemovies/message

Eugene Jarecki is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning director of dramatic and documentary subjects. He has won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice — for Why We Fight in 2005 and The House I Live In in 2012. His other films include the Emmy-Award Winning Reagan, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Freakonomics, and The Cyclist. In 2010, Jarecki's online video, Move Your Money, spurred a nationwide initiative to support local banks over larger institutions. As the founder of The Eisenhower Project, Jarecki aims to demystify U.S. foreign and defense policies, a mission furthered by his book The American Way of War. His most recent film, The King—which explores the complex legacy of Elvis Presley against the backdrop of American society—was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music film of the Year and 2 News and Documentary Emmys, including Best Documentary. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: Squarespace https://squarespace.com/tetra ------ LMNT Electrolytes https://drinklmnt.com/tetra ------ House of Macadamias https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/tetra

In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 9: Why We Fight. While on patrol, some of the men of Easy Company stumble across a concentration camp near Landsberg and free the surviving prisoners. The sight of the victims leaves the soldiers horrified and disgusted, and Liebgott serves as a German interpreter for Winters as they learn from one of the survivors that the prisoners are Jews and noncombatants. The German locals deny knowing anything about the camp. The 101st Airborne's commander, General Taylor, imposes martial law and orders all able-bodied civilians from ages 14 to 80 to clean up the camp, including removing the bodies. Nixon informs Easy that Adolf Hitler has committed suicide.

The conclusion of the Battle of Ortona with Dr. Lee Windsor and Major Jayson Geroux, and also the conclusion of the Why We Fight ~ 1943 series :) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

How will Falk escape the Dungeon of Suspense? I mean, WILL he escape it? Who put him there and why? All this will be revealed when you listen to–Falk's Brain, episode 92 of This Gun in My Hand, was transplanted by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, information on how to subscribe, archives, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. What joke do I make every sixty seconds? This Gun in My Hand!Show Notes:1. Pete Larsen came up with the names Patch Work and Pat Schwerk. Thanks, Pete!2. S'Creature and The Screecher appeared in Episode 38, “Why We Fight.” https://archive.org/details/tgimh-38-why-we-fightCredits:The opening and middle transitional music clips were from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.Sound Effect Title: R16-33-Chains Dragging.wavLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/486285/Sound Effect Title: R26-19-Foley Chains.wavLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/481924/Sound Effect Title: alarm_clock.wavLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/eriklindmanmata/sounds/266668/Sound Effect Title: Sproing!!License: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/se2001/sounds/514429/Sound Effect Title: apple peeling device cranking soundLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/rubberduck9999/sounds/676318/Sound Effect Title: Hissing.m4aBy TheScarletWitch89License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0https://freesound.org/people/TheScarlettWitch89/sounds/415287/Sound effect title: Gun FireRecorded by GoodSoundForYouLicense: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.htmlSound Effect Title: Toy Gun 7 License: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/giddster/sounds/434720/Sound Effect Title: laser gunLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/Superglue28/sounds/499696/The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of a panel from the public domain comic book Nightmare, Number 3 (October 1953), artist unknown.

A new MP3 sermon from Tapestry Community Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Why We Fight Subtitle: The Book of James Speaker: James Covey Broadcaster: Tapestry Community Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 11/5/2023 Bible: James 4:1-12 Length: 36 min.

In Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the United States, 98% of teachers voted to authorize a strike. Filmmakers Yoni Golijob and Yael Bridge shadowed L.A. teachers for five months as they organize and strike, providing a unique first-hand account of collective democracy and labor action, and shedding light on the nationwide teacher strike upswell. Their film "Why We Fight" documents one of the largest educator strikes in modern U.S. history in real-time, highlighting the stories and leadership of some of the women who led it, from union leaders to classroom teachers. In our latest, we talk with Yoni and Yael, as well as LA teacher and labor leader Arlene Inouye about the 2019 and 2023 strikes, how they organized, the impacts they had on education and politics and how it fits in with the "Hot Labor Summer" we've been seeing this year. Bio// Yoni Golijov is a nonfiction filmmaker; his producing work has been nominated for the Academy Award and the BAFTA and has won an Independent Spirit Award. Yael Bridge is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. Her first feature, The Big Scary "S" Word, explores the history and resurgence of socialism in the United States Arlene Inouye was the chair of the bargaining committee in 2019 and the last contract, 2023, and was integral to leading the strike that the film documents and the incredible solidarity strike that UTLA took this year with their SEIU school co-workers. ------------------------------------------------ Outro- "There is Power in a Union." by Utah Phillips Links// +"Why We Fight": https://www.whenwefightmovie.com/ Follow Green and Red// +G&R Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast⁠ +Our rad website: ⁠https://greenandredpodcast.org/⁠ +We're part of the Labor Podcast Network: ⁠https://www.laborradionetwork.org/ Support the Green and Red Podcast// +Become a Patron at ⁠ patreon.com/greenredpodcast⁠ +Or make a one time donation here: ⁠https://bit.ly/DonateGandR⁠ This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Isaac.

About Col. Karen Kwiatkowski:Karen is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and a variety of roles for the National Security Agency. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S. government's involvement in Iraq. Kwiatkowski is primarily known for her insider essays which denounce a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In 2012, she challenged incumbent Bob Goodlatte, in the Republican primary for Virginia's 6th congressional district seat in the United States House of Representatives and garnered 34% of the Republican vote on a constitutional and limited government platform.While in the Air Force, she wrote two books about U.S. policy towards Africa: African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future (US Army Peacekeeping Institute, 2000) and Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions (Air University Press, 2001). She contributed to Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas, (Variant Press, 2008) and Why Liberty: Personal Journeys Toward Peace and Freedom, (Cobden Press, 2010). She has been featured in a number of documentaries, including "Why We Fight" in 2005.[2] She has written for LewRockwell.com since 2003See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Director Sam French graced us with is presence at the Official Studios in Atwater Village to talk some shop with hosts @rinestar, @tony_franklin, and @sultanavicci. An Oscar-nominated filmmaker and founding director of the documentary production company Development Pictures, Sam's work has appeared on HBO, BBC, CNN, Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, and other broadcast outlets. Sam spent five years in Afghanistan, where he directed the Oscar-nominated narrative short film Buzkashi Boys. His documentary With This Breath I Fly, about two Afghan women fighting for their freedom after being imprisoned for “moral crimes,” has won over a dozen awards at major film festivals. Sam has directed episodes of the Emmy-nominated documentary series Religion of Sports, the Emmy-nominated series Why We Fight, and the Red Bull series All In and Life of Kai. He is currently working on Dominion, a documentary about a new generation of evangelical climate activists, and Skinhead, a narrative feature film about former neo-Nazi Frank Meeink, exploring one man's fall to power and rise into grace.Sam believes that storytelling has the power to connect people across different cultures, and by sharing our stories, we can change the world. He lives in Los Angeles. 

We often suppose that wars are fought over things like resources, border disputes, and ideologies. My guest calls this "the spreadsheet approach to war" and argues that, in reality, such factors only come in as justifications for the much deeper drives at play.Mike Martin is a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of War Studies, King's College London and the author of Why We Fight. Today on the show, he draws on his background in biology and experience serving in the British army to offer an explanation as to why individuals and nation-states go to war. Mike argues that there are two fundamental impulses behind the drive to war: the drive for status and the drive for belonging. We discuss these motivations and how leaders and ideologies corral and amplify them. We end our conversation with how this view of war could prevent conflicts and allow them to be fought more successfully, and also be a lens for how to help men flourish in a healthy way.Resources Related to the PodcastAoM series on statusAoM series on honorAoM Podcast #756: How the Desire for Status Explains (Pretty Much) EverythingAoM Podcast #908: Would You Have Been a Patriot or a Loyalist?AoM Podcast #419: American Honor — Creating the Nation's Ideals During the RevolutionMike's latest book: How to Fight a WarConnect With Mike MartinMike on Twitter 

Christopher Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, where he co-leads the Development Economics Center and the Obama Foundation Scholars Program. Chris also has affiliations with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), MIT's Poverty Action Lab, the National Bureau for Economic Research, and the Center for Global Development. He has served as a consultant and adviser to the World Bank, the United Nations, and governments in Uganda, Liberia, Colombia, and the United States.This conversation was a lot of fun and we covered a lot of ground: from Sparta to Kiev, from the Peloponnesian War to the Iraq War, from Russia's attack on Ukraine to the prospects of war between China and Taiwan, and so much more! We start by talking about Chris's journey, from growing up in Ottawa to finding his way to international work and then eventually to conflict. We then shift to Chris's book, “Why We Fight”, and the concept of fragility. Chris highlights how fragility sets the stage upon which the five reasons why we fight push a society away from bargaining to using violence or as he puts it: “when killing an Archduke in some random Balkan city can send the world to war.” The five reasons for war that Chris identifies in his book are: unchecked interests, intangible incentives, uncertainty, commitment problems, and misperceptions. We discuss whether there is a potential hierarchy among then, how they are connected, which of the five reasons played a role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as how intangible incentives can be seen in the Ukrainians' resolution to protect their country. Chris also sums up decades of research and practical insights into 10 general principles that can set the world on the path to peace. We talk about how leaders are tempted by grand visions, but in reality, change happens incrementally – too bad 3% better doesn't make for a good slogan! Listen to the episode for so many more insights from Chris Blattman! *****Dr. Christopher BlattmanWebsite: https://chrisblattman.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/cblattsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisblattman*****Mihaela Carstei, Paul M. Bisca, and Johan Bjurman Bergman co-host F-World: The Fragility Podcast. Twitter: https://twitter.com/fworldpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fworldpodcast/Website: https://f-world.orgMusic: "Tornado" by Wintergatan. Many thanks to Wintergartan for allowing us to use their wonderful music! This track can be downloaded for free at www.wintergatan.net. Video editing by: Alex Mitran - find Alex on Facebook (facebook.com/alexmmitran), Twitter (twitter.com/alexmmitran), or LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/alexmmitran)EPISODE RESOURCES:Blattman, Christopher (2022). Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. New York: Viking PressThe prospects for war with China: Why I see a serious chance of World War III in the next decadehttps://chrisblattman.com/blog/2022/10/26/the-prospects-for-war-with-china-why-i-see-a-serious-chance-of-world-war-iii-in-the-next-decade/TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Introduction00:00:55 Chris's background – people, places, ideas that charted his path00:02:56 How Chris approaches risk and how to think about career moves  00:05:08 How culture enables risk taking and the role of failure in progress00:07:17 A potential correlation between risk taking and creativity00:10:50 What is fragility? 00:12:57 Dividing the pie and fragility00:15:32 Why we don't write books about wars that didn't happen OR Why enemies prefer to loathe one another in peace00:18:29 When do we actually fight00:22:41 The five reasons for wars00:26:49 How to think about uncertainty vs. commitment problems00:30:46 How do intangible incentives that evolve change the nature of commitment problems00:33:07 What is the interplay between uncertainty and technology00:38:16 How interdependence failed to stop Russia's attack on Ukraine00:44:58 Is there a threshold of violence that we should accept in order to avoid war? 00:47:56 Why the West missed the Ukrainian people's resolve - Most oppressed people don't revolt00:53:12 Bad guys and good guys support propaganda00:56:52 Can you change people's and leaders' misperceptions?01:01:19 Which leaders take their country to war - Leaders that have military training, but no battle experience, take their country to war01:05:06 Wicked problems – what are they and how to tell the difference between a simple and a wicked problem01:07:44 When misperceptions are desirable, aka politics01:11:29 Chris's 10 commandments as the anti-bureaucracy commandments

Karen Kwiatkowski grew up in western North Carolina. She was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in in 1983 and served tours in Alaska, Massachusetts, Spain, Italy and Fort Meade as a communications-electronics officer. She later served in political military analysis at the Pentagon, retiring after 20 years as a Lt Colonel. Since her retirement in 2003, she has spoken out against an interventionist foreign policy and written numerous essays and articles, most of which are available at lewrockwell.com. She has been featured in several documentaries including the award-winning, Why We Fight (2004). She was awarded the Sam Adams Award in 2018 and is a member of the Eisenhower Media Network. She holds advanced degrees from Harvard University, the University of Alaska and a Ph.D. from Catholic University in world politics. She and her husband of 41 years now raise cattle, sheep and horses in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.  

Today, I spoke with Dr Mike Martin who is one of the go-to voices for insights and analysis of the war in Ukraine. Mike has authored several books, amongst which is still one of my favourites on conflict titled ‘Why We Fight'. Mike also recently released a new book titled, ‘How to Fight a War', that details why wars are won and why they are lost. The book is getting released in Australia on the 1st of July and can be ordered here. Mike joins me today for an update on the war in Ukraine, especially on the events that transpired in Russia over the past week. Some of the themes we discussed are: Reasons for brittleness of autocratic regimes Sawing of dissent within Russian ranks The potential impact of the mutiny on the battlefield in Ukraine Discussion on the seeming purge of Prigozhin's allies The possible shift of position by China Potential future scenarios Recent previous episodes with Dr Mike Martin: https://thevoicesofwar.com/68-special-release-dr-mike-martin-and-john-spencer-an-update-on-ukraine/ https://thevoicesofwar.com/58-dr-mike-martin-and-ltgen-ret-arne-dalhaug-update-on-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/ https://thevoicesofwar.com/20-dr-mike-martin-update-on-unfolding-situation-in-afghanistan/

We continue our adventures aboard the Lost Light with some Big Name Cameos, history lessons, dramatic countdowns (and ups), an ill-advised night on the town and the monster in the basement finally gets loose. Next week: Dark of the Moon Two weeks: Issues 17-33 (Dark Cybertron entirely optional!) Outro music - 'This is Why We Fight' - Saskia Parks (The Decemberists Cover)

One of country music's most exciting young artists, Ella Langley, stops by the podcast for the first time to talk about her debut studio EP 'Excuse the Mess,' working with Koe Wetzel on "That's Why We Fight" and how it came to be, growing up in Alabama and some her musical influences, her writing process, playing college bars and moving to Nashville to pursue music, and so much more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why do we fight? It's a seemingly simple question, but it turns out the answers are surprising, deep and crucial to understanding our world. Considering how costly any conflict is in lives and money, why do wars happen at all? This is one of those episodes that will change how you view some of our most important issues, from the war in Ukraine, to understanding gang fights, and even a possible conflict with China.We're taking the week off to work on some truly special episodes coming out in the next few weeks, but thought this was a perfect opportunity to re-share one of our episodes that we think is an absolutely must listen. So please enjoy, and we'll see you next week for an all new Big Brains.

Oh yes: It's a D-Day episode for your V-Day episode. (This statement only really makes sense if you know when this Angel episode aired. And if you listen to this podcast episode. Then this joke absolutely kills. You'll get it.) And if you are a fan of the ensemble of this particular series... this is NOT the episode for you. So join your hosts LaToya Ferguson and Morgan Lutich (AKA Captain Forehead and AK William Bloody, AKA the Gunn Squad, and so much more) this week as they discuss the Angel Season 5 episode "Why We Fight." And fear not, Scoobies. Because with this, we are finally over the frustrating hump known as the first half of Angel Season 5. We'll really miss the sonar though.LOCATE YOUR HOSTS ON THE INTERNETLaToya Ferguson: @lafergs Read An Encyclopedia of Women's WrestlingMorgan Lutich: @lorganmutichListen to LaToya, Morgan, and their pal Jill discuss The Vampire Diaries on The AMPire Diaries podcast!ANGEL ON TOPAngel On Top: @angelontopcast on twitter and instagramSupport Angel On Top on Patreon: angelontop.comLearn more about us and our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com+++Producers: LaToya Ferguson, Morgan Lutich, and Kristin RussoEditor: Kristin RussoMusic + Jingles: Jenny Owen YoungsLogo: Kristine Thune

In this quick episode, I am joined by Andrew Woods, research historian at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park. Andrew shares an article he wrote 20 years ago for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of El Guettar, and he and others associated with the First Division Museums will be contributing several episodes to this series sharing 1st Infantry Division history as it relates to the Why We Fight ~ 1943 series timeline. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

Dr. Chris Blattman is a faculty member in The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Chris Blattman focuses on why some people and societies are poor, unequal and violent, and how to tackle these issues. His book, "Why We Fight", was released by Viking Press in April 2022. Most people think war is easy and peace is hard. Blattman synthesizes decades of social science and policymakers' practical experiences to argue the opposite: War is hard and finding peace is easier than you think. In his day-to-day research, Blattman works with governments and civil society to design and test approaches to reduce violence and poverty.

If you are into stories of success and what it takes to be the best, you will sometimes here someone quote a study about the importance of goal setting. The study happened at Yale University in 1953. You should NOT pay attention to that study and this episode begins with the reason why.. https://www.fastcompany.com/27953/if-your-goal-success-dont-consult-these-gurus  People may think they know what causes weight gain and weight loss – but what people think is often wrong according to my guest Herman Pontzer. He is one of the foremost researchers in the area of human metabolism and author of the book Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy (https://amzn.to/3cdjiOQ). Herman joins me to explain how body weight works and why some people really are naturally thin while others seem destined to struggle with weight. He also explains why the role of exercise is often misunderstood when it comes to losing weight.  Certainly, on the surface, it seems that war is totally cruel and senseless. Still, for centuries, humans have fought and killed each other in war. And for what? There is no country or civilization that has ever gone to war without doing great harm to itself. And yet war persists all over the world and throughout history. To get a better understanding of this, I invite you to listen to my guest Mike Martin, visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies, King's College in London and author of the book, Why We Fight (https://amzn.to/3cf17s2)  To be a champion at anything, you need to have talent and ability. However, it takes more than that. In fact, no champion in sports or music – or anything has made it to the top of their game without following two simple rules. Listen and I will tell you what they are. Source: Daniel Coyle author of The Talent Code (https://amzn.to/3smZBd6) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them and treat almost every condition under the sun! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Let's find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus We really like The Jordan Harbinger Show! Check out https://jordanharbinger.com/start OR search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen!  The Dell Technologies' Semi Annual Sale is on, with limited-quantity deals on top tech! Save today by calling 877-ASK-DELL Visit https://NJM.com/podcast for a quote to see how much you can save on your auto insurance! With With TurboTax, an expert will do your taxes from start to finish, ensuring your taxes are done right (guaranteed), so you can relax! Come to TurboTax and don't do your taxes. Visit https://TurboTax.com to learn more. Intuit TurboTax.  Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you've earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this first episode of the Why We Fight ~ 1943 podcast, Paul Sparrow joins me to talk about FDR, Churchill, and the Casablanca Conference. Paul Sparrow is a very successful documentarian and TV producer who, among other things, served as the Director of the FDR Library and Museum. You can read Paul's article on the Casablanca Conference and other fascinating stories on the FDR Library website. https://fdr.blogs.archives.gov/2017/01/10/the-casablanca-conference-unconditional-surrender/ For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check out www.motheroftanks.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

This is the Why We Fight ~ 1943 series podcast which features historians, experts, Army leaders, and other special guests as we present select stories to expand the written content of the series. In this introductory episode, Sasha ("Mother of Tanks") provides details on this new line of effort for the Why We Fight series, as well as other changes to the series structure for this year (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, changes to the Twitter content, podcast...) For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check out www.motheroftanks.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

This is a segment of episode 337 of Last Born In The Wilderness, “No Pasarán!: Inroads To Power & Antifascist Community Making w/ Shane Burley.” Listen to the full interview: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/shane-burley-4 Purchase a copy of ‘No Pasaran' from AK Press or from Bookshop: https://www.akpress.org/no-pasaran.html / https://bit.ly/3GwfqHP Author and journalist Shane Burley returns to the podcast to discuss the anthology ‘No Pasaran: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis,' published this fall through AK Press. Burley is the editor and a contributor to this collection. In catching up since our last interview, I ask Shane to clarify where the far-right stands in a "post-Trump" context. What inroads have far-right, and explicitly fascist, ideologues made in political discourse and policy in the United States over the past two years? How coherent is the far-right agenda and who are their targets? What are the paths to power? And most importantly, how can various subcultural spaces, as well as rural and urban communities, each build effective resistances to this threat? ‘No Pasaran,' with its broad collection of voices, provides some of the most comprehensive answers to these questions. Shane Burley is the author of ‘Why We Fight' and ‘Fascism Today.' His work has been featured in places such as NBC News, Al Jazeera, The Baffler, Jewish Currents, Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, and Haaretz. Burley lives in Portland, OR. WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast / https://venmo.com/LastBornPodcast BOOK LIST: https://bookshop.org/shop/lastbornpodcast EPISODE 300: https://lastborninthewilderness.bandcamp.com BOOK: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr ATTACK & DETHRONE: https://anchor.fm/adgodcast DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

Author and journalist Shane Burley returns to the podcast to discuss the anthology ‘No Pasaran: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis,' published this fall through AK Press. Burley is the editor and a contributor to this collection. In catching up since our last interview, I ask Shane to clarify where the far-right stands in a "post-Trump" context. What inroads have far-right, and explicitly fascist, ideologues made in political discourse and policy in the United States over the past two years? How coherent is the far-right agenda and who are their targets? What are the paths to power? And most importantly, how can various subcultural spaces, as well as rural and urban communities, each build effective resistances to this threat? ‘No Pasaran,' with its broad collection of voices, provides some of the most comprehensive answers to these questions. Shane Burley is the author of ‘Why We Fight' and ‘Fascism Today.' His work has been featured in places such as NBC News, Al Jazeera, The Baffler, Jewish Currents, Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, and Haaretz. Burley lives in Portland, OR. Episode Notes: - Purchase a copy of ‘No Pasaran' from AK Press or from Bookshop: https://www.akpress.org/no-pasaran.html / https://bit.ly/3GwfqHP - Follow Shane's work and upcoming events: https://linktr.ee/shaneburley - The music featured is by Eli Stonemets. WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast / https://venmo.com/LastBornPodcast BOOK LIST: https://bookshop.org/shop/lastbornpodcast EPISODE 300: https://lastborninthewilderness.bandcamp.com BOOK: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr ATTACK & DETHRONE: https://anchor.fm/adgodcast DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

We are rejoined by Nik Bhatia, author of Layered Money, to get his perspective on the bond market, the global economy, and bitcoin. Why did bonds have their worst year ever? Why is Nik convinced a recession is looming? How does he see the bond market developing in the medium and long term? Will bonds recover and yields fall? Will we see negative bond yields? Is there still more road for the Fed to can unto, or are we really at the end of the road?Resources (All links available on saifedean.com/podcast/147-bond-markets-with-nik-bhatia)Articles from The Bitcoin Layer: Rapid-fire Macro Reorientation - https://thebitcoinlayer.substack.com/p/rapid-fire-macro-reorientationPUBLIC: Hidden Leverage Reveals The Gargantuan Size of FX Swap Markets - https://thebitcoinlayer.substack.com/p/public-hidden-leverage-reveals-the Deflation Cometh & Production Cost Eclipses Bitcoin's Price By $10,000: TBL Weekly #22 - https://thebitcoinlayer.substack.com/p/deflation-cometh-and-production-cost The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Recession: Global Macro Update - https://thebitcoinlayer.substack.com/p/the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound Why We Fight movie by Eugene Jarcki - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/ Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean's courses – including his ongoing course ECO22: The Fiat Standard – and read chapters of his forthcoming book, Principles of Economics, by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

Episode Summary Brooke and Casandra talk with Why We Fight author, Shane Burley about conspiracy theories, false consciousness amongst the right, and how mythos get built to influence how people think. Guest Info Shane Burley can be found on Twitter @Shane_Burley1, on Instagram @ShaneBurley, on Mastodon @Shane_Burley, and on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ShaneBurley Host Info Casandra can be found on Twitter @hey_casandra or Instagram @House.Of.Hands. Brooke can be found at Strangers helping up keep our finances intact and on Twitter @ogemakweBrooke Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Next Episode This Year in the Apocalypse on 12/30/22 and every two weeks there after. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: Shane Burley on Conspiracy Theor Brooke 00:18 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcasts for what feels like the end times. I'm Brooke Jackson, one of your hosts today, along with Casandra. Today we have the honor of talking with the author, researcher, and journalist Shane Burley. We're going to discuss conspiracy theories or whatever rabbit holes that topic takes us into. But first we'd like to celebrate being a member of the Channel Zero network of anarchist podcasts by playing a little jingle for one of the other podcasts on the network. Here it goes. Brooke 01:29 And we're back. Shane, thanks for joining us today to talk about conspiracy theories. Would you tell us a little bit about yourself, including sharing your pronouns? Shane Burley 01:36 Sure. Thanks so much for having me on. My name is Shane Burley, my pronouns are he/him or they/them. I research the far right amongst other things. I've written a few books on it, Why We Fight from back in 2021 and Fascism Today from 2017. And most recently edited this big anti fascism anthology called an No Pasaran: Anti Fascist Dispatches From a World in Crisis. And right now I am working on a book with my co-author Ben Lorber for Melville House books, on anti semitism. Brooke 02:06 Nice, thank you. Yeah, the one you wrote back in 2017 - Casandra has a copy of that book. And when I realized that my beliefs align with anarchism, I was like, I should learn about what this is. And, you know, learn more about fascism, too. And I was like, Casandra, do you have a good, like, primer book on this for me? And she just went to the bookshelf and pulled that one out. It was yours! Handed it over. Shane Burley 02:33 Oh, awesome. That's what I was hoping for, when we wrote it because there wasn't a lot that was good and straightforward at the time, at least from our side. Casandra Johns 02:40 Spreading the good news about anti-fascism. Brooke 02:46 That was, it was a good piece for, for getting started and learning there. So thank you for writing that. And for your continued work. Shane Burley 02:53 Yeah, thanks so much for saying that, it's really kind. Brooke 02:56 So we wanted to talk today about conspiracy theories, and I'm just gonna start with a real basic question just to make sure we're all kind of on the same page as we're having this conversation, of what is a conspiracy theory? Shane Burley 03:08 And conspiracy theory is a theory about a conspiracy that is not true. More appropriately, it's one that could not be true. So I think it's distinguishing from actual conspiracies because there are conspiracies in the world. So, you know, a good comparison about this would be the killing of JFK. There's conspiracy theories that range from three people did it to 10,000 people did it. But no matter what one person had to engage in some kind of collaboration, so some kind of conspiracy is possible, which is separate from conspiracy theory. So I think we separate it from like the various kind of quote unquote "conspiracies" that lots of organizations and governments engage in just in day to day work, versus ones that basically come up against the basic laws of physics and how we understand the world to work, and specifically divert our understanding of how complex issues work by sort-of putting an element of fantasy into them. Brooke 04:03 So that kind of answers one of the questions that I've been pondering, maybe we can talk about it more? Casandra has been wondering about, you know, why conspiracy theories have become so mainstream. And my sort of corollary thought was, it seems like they're so appealing to people, you know? Those two things are kind of tied together - the mainstreaming and the fact that they seem to really appeal to people for some reason. Casandra Johns 04:28 Not even just mainstream, as in the rest of society mainstream, but mainstream on the Left. Shane Burley 04:37 I was interviewing a friend, Brendan O'Connor, who wrote a book, Blood Red Lines, about anti-immigrant kind of nativism and border politics. And he made a comment that I thought a lot about which was that he's kind of unsure about where the line between conspiracy theories and quote unquote, "false consciousness" lies. What's the difference between conspiracy theory, and what's the differencce between misunderstanding sources of oppression and how systems work, which is a common thing? Shane Burley 05:06 I think one of the realities about a conspiracy theory is that it is an attempt to liberate oneself; it is actually an attempt to do that. It's an attempt to explain people in power and explain your own disempowerment. And so in situations in which lots of instability or feelings of loss of status - whatever they are, real and imagined - when those things start to sort of percolate, conspiracy theories are the easier answer. They don't require a ton of political education they don't depend on a lot of shared reality, even. And our society depends really heavily both on false consciousness and conspiracy theories. Depending on how you put those lines. Shane Burley 05:48 Take the entire Republican Party: [it] has built a mythos on working class people, specifically, not elites, right? That's the language used. And their policy is entirely based around basically inculcating the rich and the people who own capital. So how do you explain both of those things? It has to be institutionalized false consciousness, which in itself engages a certain amount of conspiracy theories. How can you understand empowering the rich and empowering the working class at the same time? Those things don't comiserate. Except millions and of millions of people assume that they can. And so I think there's an institutionalization of that kind of thinking. Conspirarcy theories, the wild ones, actually aren't that far afield from that, you know? Because if you think about the way that things - just basic [things], like taxes and social services - versus the kind of benefits of the rich, it seems pretty obvious that when those who own capital are enriched that that money comes from us. I mean, it doesn't require a master's thesis to explain that. So you have to get millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people to basically avoid thinking about that, or to believe it's untrue. And so that, I think, is foundational to the way that we think about conspiracy theories because we all - not all of us, hopefully - but huge portions of us engage in some level of conspiracy thinking, Casandra Johns 07:03 You can tell me if you think this is accurate: it seems like conspiracy theories often try to blame individuals, rather than looking at systems for instance, it sort of frustrates me when people are like, you know, eat the rich. Which yeah, eat the rich. But like, "If Jeff Bezos would just, you know, redistribute his wealth, everything would be fine." But it wouldn't be because capitalism would still exist, and there would just be someone else super rich. You know what I mean? Shane Burley 07:32 Yeah, I think the kind of classic line on this is that conspiracy theories - and particularly anti semitic conspiracy theories, just as like the archetype for it - are one of the most effective defenders of capital because what it does is divert your attention away from a system and places it on supposedly corrupt individuals. And there's a couple of reasons I think this is really attractive to people. I think one is that it actually plays on bigotries really well, and validates them in a certain sense. So there's certain stories that people tell right? So one is that they're aggrieved and legitimately so. I would say that most members of the working class are having a problem, right? They're being exploited at work. They're not being paid, obviously, what they're worth; paying bills is hard. It's miserable. It's very upsetting, the things that we go through, even people who are reasonably affluent but not ruling class, it's actually quite difficult. And so that's a legitimate grievance. And I think that grievance has a lot of anger built up with it. And that anger inside people's bodies and minds is often indistinguishable from bigotry. I think it's actually those things intermix a lot. So it's the impulse that if someone is actually legitimately your oppresser in a dynamic, you know, your boss, there's an impulse to actually want to say something bigger to them. Shane Burley 08:45 There's a lot of research about people being pushed, and saying things and doing things they never thought they would in the direction of bigotry, simply as a way of harming those they think are harming them. And so what a lot of these conspiracy theories do - and populists conspiracy theories in general - is allow you to sort of indulge in that a bit. So it's not uncommon to focus on the effeminacy of the ruling class. So you'll see this a lot: "Jeff Bezos, look at his soft hands. He can never do the hard work like us." There's a certain kind of 'let's make them look effeminate. Let's make them look queer, code them as queer.' Casandra Johns 09:18 Also, the lizard thing, like talking about how they look like lizards Shane Burley 09:24 Very much about their appearance. I mean, if you look at... early 20th century socialist literature, the inordinate focus on making the capitalist class look fat, just absolutely rotund, as if they're consuming things that, you know, they're eating so much that you can't eat. You become small and they become big. So I think that allows, it gives us a twofer, right? That says, okay, yeah, they're the capitalist class, they're oppressing in that way. And also that discomfort you feel of fat people, those are now one and the same, and one actually mobilizes the other, like one becomes a weapon for the other. So I think that's an easy way to focus on that personalization. Shane Burley 10:01 And the other thing is, if getting rid of Jeff Bezos doesn't solve the problem, what the fuck would solve the problem? That's really scary. I think this idea that there are certainly targets in terms of the kind of super rich and stuff. But it's not, that's not enough. Like, what does it mean to go after a system of capital? What does that even mean? I think that's a really confusing prospect. And it's one that is really emotionally unsatisfying, when it gets right down to it. Casandra Johns 10:30 Yeah, cuz we haven't. We haven't imagined alternatives. Or, you know, the average person hasn't imagined alternatives to that. Shane Burley 10:37 Or how will you even get there? Like, what's the pathway to alternative? I think the idea of getting rid of Jeff Bezos, whether or not it's realistic, at least you kind of understand the physicality of what that would be. But what does it mean to communize the entire economy? I mean, what does it mean to actually look at your life and say, "How can I fix these really deeply laid traumas and undo them, and replace it?" That is just such a mammoth task that it's, I think, it's hard to build up a consciousness that's really easy, has a quick fix mentality that's easy to communicate to another person. It's a lot easier to say, you know - I've worked for unions, I've been a union organizer - to say like, "It's that boss, look what he's doing, look at what the car is driving, he couldn't do your job." Those things are easy. And they are true in most of those cases, but they're not the end of the story. And so I think we end up with that really foreshortened perspective because the other stuff is just so big. Casandra Johns 11:32 Yeah. And I wonder if... when we explore the big stuff we also have to look at the ways that we participated, which is difficult. Yeah. Shane Burley 11:42 Yeah. I mean... capital's really complicated now. And the way we, our lives, are intertwined in it is really difficult. Huge portions of the economy are made up of people that would have previously been considered petty bourgeois: freelancers, contract workers, you know. Is an Uber driver a business owner? I mean, there's these things that don't really make sense in the traditional kind of Marxist sense, are the ways we talk about activism and capitalism and wealth. And so it ends up being really complicated. And then when you add the dimensions of being, you know, white folks or in the Global North, that's sort of hyper exploited, under other countries, it's like, well, how does that relationship work? You know, does it? Do I see, am I doing that? Do I benefit from it? What does it mean to benefit from it? You know, I think that actually adds those layers of complexity to it. I think that's why this is the new story. I mean, that's why conspiracy theories are the story that we tell - it's a really important story. And like you said, it's not just the Right, it's the Left, too. Brooke 12:44 So why do you think that they have become so much more mainstream? Because they've always had that quality of being simpler explanation or an easy thing to point to, but now we're seeing them becoming more common. And as Casandra said, you know, more common on the Left as well. Like, what's the rise about? Why is that happening? Shane Burley 13:07 I think that it comes partially from the destabilization of kind of Western economies. The the center has collapsed out, so you're not having as much as moderate politics in general. The radical version of right wing politics is conspiratorial, it's necessarily conspiratorial, so the more radical it gets, the more conspiratorial it's gonna get. That's really, really important for how it builds up sort of an enthusiastic base of supporters, is built on conspiracy theories. Shane Burley 13:36 Again, the Left and the Right will build their energy on similar impulses, right? The impulse to liberate oneself. Well, if we're talking about, quote, unquote, "white working class" - which is a kind of an artificial category - but if we're going to talk about that in the kind of MAGA/Trump sense, they are people, like all people, who have diminishing 401ks and have, you know, rent they can't afford and stuff. Even though they're not disproportionately poor or anything, it's a general feeling of decline, right? So there is decline generally happening. And so that radicalization is going to be in the direction of conspiracy theories because if you were straightforward about right wing politics, no working class person would ever accept such a thing. I say, "So you're going to keep taxing me and then and then give tax breaks to rich people?" Which makes no sense when you think about it. "You're going to bust my union, I won't have as good of a pension?" You have to have conspiracy theories, and bigotries underlying that. So those simply just radicalized more. And they give a narrative, a mythology, to the real emotional turmoil people are living with. Stop the Steal makes a lot of sense if you feel like everyone's stealing everything from you. Like, you're always being stolen from, of course they can steal this election; "This election told me they were gonna fix problems and they stole it from me, just like they stole my pension, just like they stole my home in foreclosure." So I think those things are transpiring. Shane Burley 14:50 I think on the Left there is an increase in conspiracy theories because of the decline in political education and us talking things out. There's not a really good sense about systems. And there's also just a rapidly increasing sort of social network of sharing information that shortens it a lot. So instead of sort of talking about complex issues, it's a lot easier to package them in bite-sized bits. And those things become a lot more viral. Shane Burley 15:13 People also really enjoy thinking that they are participating in secret knowledge of some kind. Like they've been smart. They're ahead of the curve, they're ahead of the official information. I mean, Google search, you know, "Epstein didn't kill himself," and see all the people that have decided that they know something that the rest - everyone else - doesn't know... There's an effort to step past uncertainty, and confusion and complexity, and just kind of claim knowledge. And so that's, I think, an important part of how those discourses happen, and then they just happen so rapidly. Now, they just they progress so quickly. Casandra Johns 15:46 Yeah. I know deep down that conspiracy theories on the Right are ultimately more dangerous. But I get so much more frustrated when I see it on the Left because I feel like we should know better. You know, I was thinking about the, like, to the Right, Jews are dirty communists, and to the Left Jews are dirty capitalists. And one makes me more angry than the other. Shane Burley 16:14 It's interesting because we associate the Jew as the communist with the Right, and actually the Right use the "Jew as the capitalist" more. So for example, the second generation Klan would focus on Jewish capitalists. Part of it is that most likely a lot of the people in the Klan base hadn't met Jewish communists, and people in other countries might have met Jewish communists, you know? But this is one of the things I think is interesting is that there is just a rhetorical crossover that happens here, and actually, when you see - and this does happen, it's not it's not nearly the level that the Right or liberals want to make it sound - but there is moments of crossover when people from the Left take on really far-right ideas or can move to the far right, it has happened. And anti-semitic conspiracy theories is one of the primary ways that happens. Shane Burley 17:04 This sort of anti capitalism - I use the term fetishized anti capitalism, but you know, basically any enemies of capitalism are therefore my friends. And so even these kind of radical traditionalist forms of anti capitalism - these ultra conservative, nationalistic or fascistic forms anti capitalism - sort of start to feel like, well, they're opposed to the same systems, they must be the same thing. And that happens with with anti semitism. And I think we allow for this in all kinds of ways on the Left. Shane Burley 17:32 I mean, the amount of times I've been at international solidarity rallies where really despotic regimes are being - kind of like with signs and flags - simply because they're enemies of our enemy, either the US or the West, or Israel or something, or far right groups, are propped up because they supposedly are against the banksters... Their theory about it involves all kinds of like Rothschild conspiracy theories, and you know, they want a certain kind of Christian nationalism. So we overlook those really commonly when they are our enemies, or when they are ourselves. People are very soft on each other's conspiracy theories. Shane Burley 18:11 I mean, how many 911 Truth folks have you known in your life, you know? And those are fundamentally anti-semitic conspiracy theories, they depend on them. That's how they function. And this is true in the environmental movement. This is true, obviously, in feminist circles. It has different targets, different constituencies, but it's what we see with the kind of growth of turf-ism and that, these use of conspiracy theories to explain. So it's something that we're not prepared to sort of deal with. And we don't, I think, always communicate why it's a problem. I don't think there's a general consensus on the Left that it really is a problem. Shane Burley 18:51 I'll go back to the Epstein thing, you know, the Epstein case. It's really suspicious. People should probably look at that, but I don't know what happened. And I have no reason to believe it was conspiracy. I just don't, and the assumption by everyone jumping immediately into it sort of communicates to me that people feel totally fine, and engage in conspiracy theories when they have gaps of information, and everyone's pretty gentle on this. And that's not the most serious conspiracy theory. I'm not gonna put my stake in the wall in that. But I think we need to start talking to each other about that. Shane Burley 19:19 The other thing about this is that it's a losing strategy. You know, this, it's one of the worst ways of liberating yourself is to do it in accordance with a conspiracy theory because you will necessarily lose. We will always necessarily lose. There is no conspiracy theory that has ever led someone to an effective social movement to change anything. Casandra Johns 19:39 Ugh. Yeah. That's all I have to say. Amen. Brooke 19:49 Yeah, so you guys started getting into the the ties between conspiracy theories and anti-semitism. And there was a whole bunch that went on in that conversation that was just over my head here, that I did not pick up on. Casandra Johns 20:02 You can ask for clarifying statements. Brooke 20:08 I know, but you're on a roll, I don't want to interrupt. Casandra Johns 20:12 We try to make this digestible to someone who's not familiar with the topic. So you know. Brooke 20:22 But I am definitely curious to talk more about the ties between conspiracy theories and anti-semitism. I brought that up the other day and Casandra made the point of, I think you said something like, "All conspiracy theories eventually lead back to anti semitism" or something like that? If I'm totally misquoting you, please correct me. It is not a thing I've ever heard before. And I wanted to dive into that statement that you made and understand it. So I want to talk more about the links between conspiracy theories and anti semitism. Shane Burley 21:00 Anti-semitism has always held a conspiratorial element - a conspiratorial core even - before it engaged in what we would know as conspiracy theories today. So anti semitism, historic anti Judaism in Christianity - and when we say anti semitism, we're specifically talking about the type that was formed in Christianity, we're not talking about broad xenophobia against Jews. So for example, in the classical Muslim world, Jews were far from equal in Muslim dominated countries, but they [Muslims] didn't engage in the kind of like vicious, conspiratorial, genocidal anti semitism that you see in Europe. That's very much a European-Christian invention. But what they essentially did was, in the development of their theological differentiation they had to build on earlier libels around Jews as a sort of conspiratorial cabal of people that engage in really nefarious practices for misanthropic or even demonic reasons. And part of this has to do with the Jews' resistance to assimilation. Jews of 3000 years ago are not the same as Jews today, but there is a certain amount of, like, "We don't change according to societies that we're enbetted in or engaged with." There's a certain amount, for example, with Holika Jewish law things do have a certain continuity to them. And that's sort of threatening to people who want to remake entire populations of people. It's kind of inherently anti assimilationist. And it's very easy then to paint them as an outsider, ones who aren't playing by our rules and not part of our society. Christianity, in an effort to differentiate itself as a breakaway religion from the Jews, and focus really heavily on Jews sort of failing to understand the real spiritual message of their own scriptures, failing to live up to the promise that their religion. Like, "Christians are the new Israel" right? Then eventually develop that into open hostility, and then the suspicion that Jews are engaged in something really nefarious. Shane Burley 23:00 So the blood libel is an example of this: the idea that Jews are secretly kidnapping and killing Christian children to use their blood in different rituals. "Host desecration" is one; after the Catholic church decided that the the wafer - the host - is literally the body of Christ, they then started accusing Jews of stealing that host and stabbing it because they're so cruel. They have, you know, accused them of having pacts with the devil, engaging in all kinds of horrific things. And then at the same time: Jews, they weren't disproportionately moneylenders, but a number of Jews were involved in money lending because of their prohibitions in other industries. And then, of course, Christians used that as a propaganda tool, and basically kind of trumped up the charge. And so that populist anger was starting to intermix with the stories about Jews, and you get incredibly violent hostility. Shane Burley 23:46 I was talking with my co-author, Ben: I don't think at this point in history it's good to luxuriate in all the terrible stories of things that happened to Jews, I think that's almost, like, pornographic in a sense. But if you read pogroms that are kind of a mix of this theological anti Judaism and the reaction to the monarch, basically, they're targeting the Jews, instead of targeting the people who actually hold power. There's this kind of guttural rage, and the kind of cruelty that they're engaged in is totally off the map, it has no productive function other than just as much kind of creative violence as possible. And that's kind of a very particular impulse. And this is one, I think, is the flip side of the impulse to liberate yourself: to engage in oppression of others has some of that element to it. And it's very ephemeral. It's very kind of gut driven. Shane Burley 24:37 But those stories about Jews went through a lot of versions. A lot of ideas about Jews - Jews as moneylenders, Jews as people who steal from Christians, inherently dishonest people - those were secularized into what became known as anti semitism, opposition to Semitism. It was a kind of pseudo scientific idea that Jews had a particular ideology almost in their genes, and they were affecting society in particular ways. So the movement against them, the movement against semetic influence, was sort of productive movement to stop them from kind of degenerating society. The idea of how they're influencing society is that they're engaged in these cabals, either banking cabals, cabals involved in the media, you know, they're changing public perception, they're involved in legal professions, obviously, again, money lending, all forms of like banking and finance, in particular, all these kind of new industries and early capitalist environment. And so these are what we know as the most popular conspiracy theories - about secret societies, about Rothschild bankers, things like that - emerge out of that period. And that's the beginning of what we know today as a conspiracy theory. Shane Burley 25:39 A really coherent secular conspiracy theory, you know, it might have some religious overtones, certainly, but it doesn't argue itself necessarily in purely religious terms. All conspiracies that come later basically have the same format that was developed around this. They all have the same basic structure. And most conspiracy theories have lineages that you can trace back - one came from another one which came from an earlier one, and so on and so forth. They always come back to Jews. And most conspiracy theorists today hold that same anti semitic structure. So Q-Anon is a really great example of this. You know, Q-Anon rarely, quote unquote, "names the Jew." Names the Jew is something that open white nationalists do, right? They'll say, "Okay, this is typically the Jews." But instead, what Q-Anon does, is they'll use the figures of the cabal, they'll take all the structures of this earlier anti semitic conspiracy theory, they'll use verifiably Jewish names, or stereotypes associated with Jews, they'll take older pieces of those conspiracy theories, theologic pieces, and secularize them. So for example, they believe that a cabal of satanic Democrats with curious R last names are taking children and sacrificing their adrenal glands to extract this substance that they use then in rituals to intoxicate themselves. Right? It's familiar, uses a lot of sciency sounding words - Adrenochrome, which is not a real thing - but it sounds like... Casandra Johns 27:01 They were making the forbidden matzah or whatever, right? Shane Burley 27:04 Exactly. What they're doing is basically capturing Christian children and using them for their evil Hebraic rituals. But again, they don't always say - some of them do, increasingly, they do say Jews, but it takes just a tiny scratch on this. 911 Truth is a really good example, you know, where cabals of bankers - or you know, Israel, whatever it is, that's verifiably not involved - are accused of being involved. And the pattern for how this works has an earlier anti semitic conspiracy theory to it. So these are generally how those kinds of work. Casandra Johns 27:06 Can you can you really quickly explain what you mean by "ur" something? Shane Burley 28:40 Ur would mean the kind of universal base form. So the most origin point. So it's saying that ur conspiracy theory maybe means like the first conspiracy theory, or the kind of conspiracy theory that established the format for it, so you can look back and say, okay, it started here. What's the thing that these all hold in common? Then I think you'll see that in the blood libel is that they all hold those basic structural points in common layer. Shane Burley 28:48 In my book I interviewed David Newark, who wrote Alt America and other books about the far right and conspiracy theories. And he, you know, says that basically, the blood libel is the "ur" conspiracy theory. It's like the basic source of all conspiracy theories because the idea that small cabal of people are engaged in this really nefarious work of extracting goodness and turning it into something evil. So anytime you have a conspiracy theory, it's going to have this DNA. Is there any conspiracy theory that engages in a way that's not anti semitic? I think part of the problem is that we live in a globalized world. So other cultures have had conspiracy thinking in them, but the West has really exported anti semitism as a subtle cultural code. Shane Burley 28:48 So I mentioned earlier Muslim anti-semitism, obviously, there is anti semitism in Muslim-majority countries and some Muslim communities, but when you look at it, it actually looks much more like exported Christian anti semitism with some Islamic kind of branding, or like some opportunistic use of Muslim sources. It very much looks like a Western export. And I think that's what we're seeing now globally on conspiracy theories is that even if there was versions of these - and other cultures had conspiracy theories against diasporic people, you know, there's conspiracy theories about Chinese immigrants in Malaysia and there's conspiracy theories about Koreans in Japan, there are those - nowadays, the exporting and universalization of the anti semitic conspiracy theorists, the"ur" conspiracy theory, has affected all peoples sense of how they build those. So you're gonna find spray paint in Japan, that says, "The Jews did 911" in a place where those people likely had never met a Jew, and maybe no one in their ancestry line has ever met a Jew, right? So this isn't about Jews. So in that way, we globalized so effectively and exported our own bigotry so much that there is really no place in this conspiracy thinking that doesn't involve Jews. Brooke 30:06 You might say the genesis of conspiracy theories? (Laughter.) I learned so much in the last 10 minutes. I feel like when I go back and listen to this episode, I'm gonna play it at three-quarters speed and pause to ponder things. No, seriously, I really did. Thank you for the deep historical context there because a lot of that that was unknown to me, that I went, you know, "What, what?" Shane Burley 30:36 I also know it's a lot, too. And I think this is part of the problem is that in any given situation, particularly in situations of anger, how useful is it for me to explain to them what host desecration is, you know? I think it's actually hard to intervene in these spaces. And it's especially hard to intervene when there's really contentious stuff, like Israeli colonization of Palestine and stuff. So it's actually really hard with this very justified anger. And the targets of those angers are actually are coded as Jews. I think it's actually really hard to then intervene and say, "Hey, hold up, you're actually doing a thing. And it has a history and it's a problem." Casandra Johns 31:15 It also makes it difficult to talk about anti semitism in simple terms. I feel like sometimes when people ask me questions about it, that should be simple questions, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of information I'd have to transmit to give them proper context. You know what I mean? Brooke 31:32 I have literally been that person to Casandra. Casandra Johns 31:37 I was interviewing him and I was like, we should do an interview about this. Shane Burley 31:41 We transmute American racial taxonomies on to anti semitism that don't really fit, you know. The couple of interviewees that I had for the book that made this interesting point, they phrased it in an interesting way. And I think JFRCJ, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, had framed it this way, as well: Only sometimes does anti semitism make Jews poor. It doesn't make us poor all the time. And in fact sometimes it stabilizes Jewish income. So for example, in areas when Jews would have been a hyper exploited population, they're allowed to have certain amounts of wealth as a way of defecting anger from peasant classes away from the actual rich people and onto the Jews. So they might not actually interact with a noble person, but they would interact with a Jew, and they might see the Jew having stable money, and there might be nice things in their home, and that would communicate to them: "This is the person that's exploiting me, rather than the Noble who I've never come across." And there's a certain kind of positioning of Jews in a lot of those situations. Shane Burley 32:40 You know, one thing we talk about in the book is this phenomenon of Jews, and the relationship of white Jews to whiteness, is that when white Jews were very openly accepted as white folks in the US, particularly after the Second World War, there was a kind of class jumping that took place. But what happened was that a lot of Jews - particularly what we call a kind of second wave Jews moving here in the 1920s - were very poor, a lot of them socialists, a lot of working in garment factories, union organizers. But basically, in these dense urban areas, they started to leave those urban areas as they were kind of coded as white, became middle class, and in a lot of ways conservatized, right? Israel was formed in 1948. There's other things that kind of made more conservative. And who moved into those areas? It was a lot of black folks, it's a lot of Puerto Rican folks, lots of communities of color, where Jews now might be the business owner. They might be the landlord because they kind of class jump. They might own the grocery store that all the folks in the community use, and have maybe jacked up prices, or they work and they're not being treated really well. And so again, that dynamic is continued of them being sort of the middle agent, you know? The Jewish shop owner does not control capitalism, but they are the person you might see. And so again, you kind of repeat that dynamic. Shane Burley 33:55 So it's not always that Jews are going to experience anti semitism in the way that black folks experience anti blackness in the same kind of structural way. And also the US is not foundationally built on anti semitism in the way that it's built on anti blackness and colonialism. So it works fundamentally differently. There are some cases in which it looks more similar. So for the Orthodox Jews, they are more likely to be, you know, hurt by police, they are more likely to be poor. There's a recent study that came out that if someone is coded as Jewish in employment, they're much, much less likely to hire them. There's usually other things that kind of go along with it... There's limited data on this, but it's not with someone who's coded as a secular Jew, it's more like if they're coded as Orthodox, where someone's different, seems like it might cause you a problem, or it might make you uncomfortable. Or if it feels like they hold Jewish qualities that are associated with unsavory-ness, you know, like large noses or weird ways of speaking. Or maybe they bring weird food into the office, stuff like that. So those things do actually happen, but in general, it works differently. Shane Burley 35:04 And so there's a certain kind of structural unsafety for Jews, they're always kind of worrying about whether the other shoe was going to drop because anytime there's instability Jews often get targeted in that. But that doesn't mean in the day to day they usually, you know, can't find a job, or [get] pulled over at disproportionate rates. So it works differently. It's hard for people to identify that. Shane Burley 35:24 This is kind of true in general when we're talking about oppression outside of really narrow terms, people generally have learned to understand things in a certain way, and dominant hegemonic discourses, and then learning new ways is really, really tough. I think it really, it's really clear, for example, in the way that the Left just seemed totally unwilling to understand trends and issues for decades, just totally looked like they couldn't compute how little they understand sex work issues, or body issues, fat issues. It's an unwillingness to see that oppression is actually different for different folks, either individually or as groups, and to sort of accommodate for that, and to think through how these things are complicated. And so we can't assume that one thing tracks with another, that you can talk about oppression in one situation and have it be the same for another. So I think that creates that problem you're talking about. So what are you going to do, you know? Sit down and say, "Look, we need to have a conversation about, you know, second century Egypt, BC, and how Jews are coded as this." I mean, it's, it's a hard proposition. Casandra Johns 36:32 We have to talk, we have to go back to 1905. Talk about Czarist Russia. (laughter.) Yeah. I'm wondering, so I'm trying to remember exactly how you phrased it. But when there's, when there's instability, that's when people tend to target Jews. And when there's instability, that's when conspiracy theories also seem to, like, foment as well as fascism. And I'm wondering if you can talk about how those things are related, especially because you write books about fascism and anti semitism. Shane Burley 37:07 I mean, fascism is also an attempt to liberate oneself, right? It's to liberate oneself by inculcating more oppression, like an auto immune response, right? We're gonna attack the immune system, as if that's actually what's harming us. We're gonna attack, you know, the movement to undo white supremacy because that may be what's harming us, rather than, obviously, the reverse. So it's tenfold by two things: One is a sort of a centralized identity, and one is a sort of social stratification. So the idea is that your identity is fixed and must be preserved. And that's an essential piece, usually racial identity, but sometimes it's others. And then the other thing is that all of humanity has to be stratified in this hierarchy, you... are white, because you are not black, and that whiteness is above blackness, for example. And this is a way of taking a privileged part of the class and telling them that their oppression is the cause of the progress of other parts of the class. So it's specifically about splitting the class. So in a way, it's very clear what it's doing, it's disallowing you the ability to organize amongst working people or non-rich people, to change the society that is better for all of you. Right? So it's very specific in that way. Shane Burley 37:42 Anti semitism and conspiracy theories are a story about your oppression that never get to the structural roots, that are usually factually untrue, and are able to kind of break potential solidarity. So I think where the immediate hardships of actual organizing are onerous, confusing, and frightening: conspiracy theories actually disallow that. So for example, if I really want to change the world, it's going to require things of me, right? I'm going to need to figure out how I'm participating in white supremacy so that I can actually collaborate with non white folks. And once we do that, it actually changes the world for all of us, right? This makes it much better for us, like I personally benefit from that. But getting there, it's a little bit hard sometimes. It's also confusing, I don't quite see it, I've never seen it before, right? And I'm actually running into this movement. It's telling me that my whiteness is actually the thing that would make me happy, that whiteness is actually the thing that historically kept me safe, that whiteness is actually what I'm trying to protect. It's not all this class conflict stuff. That's the lies that they tell you, you know, those cabals that actually want to take from you, they're all socialist movements. And I think, so, people are out there and confused. Shane Burley 38:19 And remember, bigotry, it's really interesting because it speaks to people almost like their conscience, it's impulsive. It felt really emotionally... it feels true to people. I can tell you what doesn't feel true is Marxist jargon... That's what feels true. A lot of times when someone speaks of it they're trying, you're searching for a way to liberate yourself. You're looking for a revolutionary story about it. And then someone comes in and tells you something that actually tracks with a lot of the impulses you felt historically because being raised in the society we are that teaches people to understand the world in a certain way. So I think those movements come up in that way. Shane Burley 40:12 You know, fascism is just a particularly modern and revolutionary version of something that happens all the time. It has historically happened for centuries, you know, this kind of impulse to actually, to barrel down into a hierarchy, to basically reestablish tradition and immobile social roles, and to focus on identity at the cost of all others. So, instability simply radicalized this people to change their lot. And that is what's happening at such a systemic level. Now, because capitalism is imploding, the environment is collapsing, the stasis of the 20th century cannot continue any longer. And so that necessitates radicalism of all types. Which is also why, in a sense, stay anti fascism, because if you want any kind of revolutionary movement that's positive, you're gonna have to reckon with the revolutionary movement that's not positive. Casandra Johns 40:58 Right? Seems simple enough. Brooke 41:06 So you're working in some real toxic material, they're dealing with fascism with anti semitism with conspiracy theories, and that's got to, you know, take a toll on you on your mental health and well being. And I'm wondering what you do for yourself to help take care of yourself? And spoiler: this leads into, you know, a deeper question, which is what we always try to get to in Live Like the World is Dying, is talking about how we help others, and then we help our communities with this. But what do you do for yourself? Shane Burley 41:38 Having Andy Ngo sub tweet you, or whatever. Shane Burley 41:38 I don't, I think the reality is that I don't have a good, solid answer to that question. I don't, think that I formed health in my life in a very perfect way. But there's a couple of things I kind of thought about. I mean, I think one is that I think researching the far right is actually sort of empowering to people. I think, you know, if I kind of tried to figure out what it is I'm doing here, like, why am I here, it's not just for productive work, it's not just that I want to produce something that will stop it, I think, is productive. I mean, that's certainly a part of it. But there's also a certain part of it about looking at something that seems frightening and confusing, and sort of under the illusion that if I keep listening, and I keep reading it, it will somehow make sense to me. And that gives me sort of control over my life in a way. And I feel like I can sort of manage it, even though it actually brings instability into my life, you know, putting my name on an article about it, and you know, get threats from proud boys or white nationalists, that brings instability and - Shane Burley 41:49 Totally, I mean, that is actually unstable. But there is a sense that looking at stuff, I think, brings a certain stability. You know, in doing this book, I was interviewing a rabbi from Chabad-Lubavitch which is like a Hasidic. He's kind of particularly like, left leaning. Hot Seat. But, you know, I was talking to him about anti semitism, particularly in Orthodox communities, which often gets discussed as being the more, sort of facing it more frequently because of their visibility, you know, an Orthodox Jew is very visible. And a Herati, or ultra-orthodox view is even more visible than that, you know, black hats, suits, people kind of know what they're looking at. And he was telling me about, you know, "I don't really concern myself much with anti semitism." And I was like, "Well why not?" He's like, "Well, it's not very Jewish." And he was like, "I actually fill my life with Jewish things. And this is particularly not Jewish." And so, you know, part of me is sort of like, the opposite to this is to engage, is to deny engage with things that aren't Jewish, is to basically say, "Actually, I am going to be really purposely involved in the antithesis to these." You know? Casandra Johns 43:58 There's also something very Jewish about deconstructing something like down into its tiniest parts. Shane Burley 44:07 No, yeah, they had all the quotes from from the rabbi about this, which I thought was great... We forget, I think, what we're doing here all the time, being involved in organizing, being involved in work of any kind is meant to create a joyous life. It's meant to actually do something, perform something in your life. And I think we get so obsessed with functionality, and we don't actually live those lives. And the answer to that is actually living those lives. It's building strong relationships with other people. It's engauging art and spiritual life, the things that give your life meaning. I think engaging in that as openly and sort of like flagrantly as possible is is what you do there. And it's interesting because what the far right does is it sort of shows you the vulnerable empathetic parts of yourself, right? Because it it appears in those cracks, it appears in the things that they target. So those in a way are how you come to learn about what's meaningful about yourself, you know. Jewishness is targeted. That's exactly what I find meaningful. Those are the things that I bond with other people about. That's how I find a path forward in my life. And so I think all those sorts of things, engaging as much as possible with that. And I think it's perhaps on us to think less about what we can produce and give to people, as much as we can be with them. I mean, this happens all the time in organizing spaces. I used to be the worst offender about this, you know? "No, that's bad organizing. No, that's just cultural production. No, that's navel gazing." No, I think we should engage in cultural production and navel gazing, like, we should make us happy. I think that there needs to be a lot more of that. And any kind of organizing work that people are engaged in, or when any kind of work needs to be in the service of that, and that's how it should be measured. And not like reproducing the same metrics or bosses do about how productive we should be and what that's about. Casandra Johns 46:03 We shouldn't just reproduce capitalism in our anarchist spaces? Shane Burley 46:07 I mean, this happens all the time, right? It happens all the time. We are ritually unkind with each other, unloving, unwelcoming. It's the absolute worst. And I think it's interesting because we used to talk about, statistically for example, abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault are commiserate in activist spaces as they are in the rest of the world. There's no actual difference. So like, all the people that are doing these workshops on consent, and addressing abuse and stuff, tend to reproduce those dynamics as much as anywhere else. I would say that unkindness and a lack of community is even worse in active spaces; they are not particularly joyous places to be. I find them very hard in a lot of ways to be in those anymore. And I think that's sort of what we have to do, we have to look really carefully about how we build those relationships in authentic ways. That's how I think you survived doing hard, kind of trying work, putting yourself in vulnerability. Vulnerable spaces only works if you can live in a comfortable, vulnerable way. So I think when I say I'm not really there yet, I feel like I that's the direction I would like to go. That's how I would stay sort of healthy in a way, if that makes sense. Brooke 47:27 Yeah, so part of our community response to conspiracy theories and conspiracy theory thinking, and fascism and anti semitism, is kindness and compassion for others. And when they show up with their vulnerabilities, accepting those? Shane Burley 47:44 Absolutely. I mean, there's this old IWW poster, it says something like, "If you're not talking to your co workers, somebody else is," and it has a picture of the Klan. Brooke 47:57 Hardcore. Shane Burley 47:58 You know, like, if you're in rural America, we aren't talking to folks, but someone is talking to them. And they are validating their experiences. And they're saying, "Yeah, that's really fucking hard." They're not going to someone who's losing their farm and a foreclosure and saying, like, "Just to be real, have you checked your privilege, and like, you're not the most marginalized person in this situation." That's a hard thing to throw at people, people are actually having a really tough time most of the time. And we have to find a way to connect with them, and also not put up with their bullshit and actually talk to them about conditions of settler colonialism, white supremacy, but we need to actually invest in people. They will not care about us unless we care about them. And conspiracy theories very much are people's attempt to make sense of their lives. And so participating with them and making that sense, I think, is useful. You know, I'm Anti Fascist first, which means I'm defense first, defense always comes first. We protect communities before we do anything else. I don't think that's the same though is addressing cconspiracy theories all over the place, and figuring out how we address them with compassion with people. We care about how we address them institutionally. How we stop them when they need to be stopped, like how do we create barriers and borders, all those things are important. But I think in our communities, in general, a lot of conspiracy theories emerge out of dispossession. And we have to choose whether or not to possess those people basically, do we want to create that? Margaret says this too. I mean, the best way to confront conspiracy theories is to give someone a life that matters. I mean, that's what we're actually doing here. So I think focusing on that underlying fertile soil, figuring out how to change that dynamic, give people real tools, give them real relationships and friendship. I think that's really important. Casandra Johns 49:42 Do you have any favorite tools or resources? So my preface to this is that I've had people ask me this question and the reality is that my favorite resources on anti semitism and conspiracy theories are really dense, and most people will not read them. So I'm wondering if you have any favorite tools or resources that are more digestible? Shane Burley 50:03 Yeah, I think there's a few good pamphlets right now that exist that are useful on this. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which has been around for decades, it's this progressive left-leaning Jewish group, has a pamphlet on anti semitism that's particularly good. April Rosenbloom has a pamphlet called The Past Didn't Go Anywhere. That's also really good on this. There's a pamphlet put out by, I think it was a group called Unity and Struggle, called How to Overthrow the Illuminati. It's specifically about conspiracy theories and black communities. That's a really good resource. And there's a few others. Again, I think what, you know, one thing you're pointing out is that one of the issues around anti semitism is that the Right has sort of captured the rhetoric on it because they use it to defend Israel. They use accusations of anti semitism to defend Israel. And they over shoot the claims that the Left is anti semitic. So a lot of these groups just simply don't share a worldview with us enough that their analysis I find particularly compelling. But there are some versions of the Left that have done it, and they tend to be particularly academic. So Critical Theory, and Frankfurt School of Marxism, you know, there's a lot of that stuff, right. And that's good, but gobbly gook most of the time. There's a basically lost, forgotten world of Jewish feminism from the 70s and 80s that is actually quite interesting. But it's like next to impossible to find. So the anti fascist stuff, because anti fascists are kind of ahead of the curve on the anti semitism question. But I think those pamphlets are particularly good to hand someone, and hopefully Ben and my book will be will be like that. I'm hoping it will be. Casandra Johns 51:45 Yeah. Yeah. Maybe this is just part of anti semitism, and also conspiracy theorism, because critical thinking is difficult and can't always be, you know, handed to someone in a tiny package. But it just feels someone has to actually be invested in learning about it. It's difficult to explain. Shane Burley 52:13 David Renton, who's he's this great author and an attorney in Britain - and he writes a lot about the history of anti fascism - he wrote this book on the Labour Party's anti semitism, controversy. So people who don't know: the Labour Party in Britain has been embroiled in this big anti semitism controversy for the past several years. It has been cynically employed by the Tories as a way of attacking the party. And it's pretty obvious that that's what's happening. But it's also obvious that there has been some instances of anti semitism in the party. It's not nearly what the Right says of this, but it does happen. And, you know, David's sort of relitigated this and kind of pointed out that it's, you know, the party is turned towards populism and everyone's turned towards populism. A few years ago, populism became kind of the thing that had a weak point, and basically kind of didn't call out conspiracy theories, so they started making their way in, or kind of crude anti semitic ideas. And it's like the answer to that is actually if you look at the what works for the Labour Party, it's actually class war is the answer to that, actually talking to people about class ends up being the antidote to that and having political education. Daniel Randall, another friend of mine, from Britain, had talked about, wrote about this. And I get political education is something that feels really dorky, and not fun to do, and not what people want to do in a lot of spaces, but it was an essential piece of radical movements that aren't there anymore. So actually talking to people about these things, and getting involved people to read some things. I think, you know, people do this in really overblown ways. Lord knows there's a million Marxist groups that make you sit in reading groups all day, and no one wants to be a part of that. But like having some progress on stuff and explaining what kind of anti capitalism we actually mean, I think is a useful thing. And it's one of the better ways intervene on that. Casandra Johns 54:01 That book, Daniel's book, what is it? Confronting Anti Semitism on the Left? He's the one who wrote that, right? Shane Burley 54:10 Yeah, yeah. Casandra Johns 54:11 That sounds right? That book was incredible. Shane Burley 54:14 Yeah. He's really incredible. Yeah, I think I think, you know, one thing is when it comes to anti semitism, specifically, most people don't know Jews and don't know much about Judaism. So I think just letting people know. I mean, the amount of times I've heard things repeated that are just bombastically untrue - like, for example, I was a Student for Justice in Palestine, and we had this event and someone asked the speaker where Zionism came from, and he said, "It's in the Talmud." Just like bonkers stuff, you know? Casandra Johns 54:52 Which is a think that, like, a Zionist might say. Ironically. Shane Burley 54:58 I interviewed Sean Magee when doing my book, and he made a point that a lot of the worst corners of anti Zionism tend to agree with the settlers. And so I think it's just getting people that kind of understanding. I think if people understand conspiracy theories and why they're toxic and what the consequences of them are, I think that's more useful. And then again, getting people in verifiable forms of community that actually meet their needs, I think that actually is more useful. I think when people get involved, for example, in the labor union, that tends to actually decline because they're like, "Okay, I could actually do this thing, I improve my wages this way, I actually have all this tactile control over my life." And then when people are in community with others they have these vulnerable, caring relationships, and they don't... have the same impulse to build the kind of alienating, almost cosmic-level, theories about the world. You know, believing in Q Anon is a really lonely thing, breaks up families or breaks up relationships. So I think all that kind of stuff is really alienating for people. Shane Burley 56:02 But you know, there's this thing called the wave, and SEIU - SEIU is a big labor union - and they have this model of what they call a union conversation, they call it the wave. It's eight steps of how to have a conversation. It's very dorky. But in the conversation, you do a few things, right? You introduce yourself. You listen to what people are saying, you agitate on their issues, you call questions, you know, you do a number of stages to get someone thinking about their issue, why it upsets them and what they can do about it. But you do two things: One, you always plan that when you talk to them, how can we win on this issue? How can we fix it? Is it possible? And then you inoculate them against what the boss will say. What will the boss say when you try and do that? What do they say to you? How is that bullshit? And we don't 'plan the win' with people. And we certainly don't inoculate them. People need to see how they can win. They have to know how it's possible. If someone's having issues in their lives, they have to see how it can win. And if we don't have a sense of that, we're not gonna be able to help with that. And we need to work that out with folks. Shane Burley 57:08 And also talk to them about, like, people are gonna give you other messages about this. Like, what do you think about that? What would you say back to that? Because I think particularly conspiracy thinking, a lot of people get trapped in not understanding the systems and saying, "Well, fuck, I guess that's the deal. I guess the Rothschilds do own it, I don't know." And so I think planning the win and inoculation are really important in that. And that's true in general. There's this assumption that if such a situation gets so bad, that the working class will rise up and overthrow it, but there's no evidence to suggest that. None. What does statistically show people, or what simply pushes people to taking that kind of action, is seeing that they can win. So small victories in their life or in organizing leads to big victories. You have to show people they can win. The pathway to winning using multiracial, you know, community organizing of whatever it is that base building that's, I think, the most important piece because that will then totally push away the sort of false answers. Casandra Johns 58:08 That seems important in terms of motivating people to care as well. You know, like, no, strategically, this is very important in all of our best interests. Shane Burley 58:18 I had this conversation with a member of the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, which is an anti-fascist group from the 80s, and I was talking to them - I'll just withhold their name for the sake of this conversation - but I was asking him like, how do you commute? Because, you know, John Brown was essentially a white organization, it recruited white leftist folks in support of a kind of anti-white supremacy platform in support of black nationalism and some other things. In a lot of ways kind of divisive, a kind of divisive organization, their politics are a little divisive. And asked, like, "Well, how do you communicate to white working class people why eradicating white supremacy is in their interest?" And she said, she kind of paused and said, "I don't know that it is in their interest." She's like, "I don't communicate with him on that. I communicate with them about what kind of world do you want to live with?" And I told her, I was like, I just disagree with that entirely. I think it is in their interest, and you have to tell them why it's in their interest. And you have to plan out why it's in their interest. I do believe it's in my interest. And when it comes to conspiracy, there's anti semitism, it's super clear why it's in their interest because anti semitism will stop you from winning. It's just so point blank, right? Like George Soros is not the reason you can't pay your mortgage, it's simply not that... Casandra Johns 59:34 Anti semitism, however. Brooke 59:36 Is also not the reason, just to be clear. Not the reason. Shane Burley 59:40 Yeah, that's really great. So Shane, you've mentioned your books, you've got one that just came out right? No Pasaran. Shane Burley 59:40 There are people doing this and they have names and addresses, but... what you're saying is a false pathway. It's totally to direct you the wrong way. And we should talk to people about what happens when they don't just double down on privilege. They don't just double down on those sorts of things. What happens when they reach across communities and build large committees? They become infinitely more powerful. I mean, it's just so overwhelming the kind of change that you can have and not just in the long term, in the immediate term. You can see that with a labor movement. You see that with any social movemnet, that's one serious gain that happened by doing that. It never happened by doubling down on their privilege. So I think talking to people about their interests is essential. And that also shows that you actually give a shit about them because of their interests are your interests, that shows that there's an actual shared bond there, and you can build something. Shane Burley 1:00:38 It was a phrase used particularly during the Spanish Civil War, about blocking fascist access to space and movement into communities. So it's about blocking them, their ability to, to arrive. Brooke 1:00:51 Nice. Okay, so No Pasaran, that just came out. I've got a friend who picked it up at Powell's when you were there doing a book event or reading recently. He said it's really good, and is gonna loan me his copy. So I'm excited to get to read that too. I know you're working on another one - we've talked about it here - on anti semitism. Does that one have a name yet? Do you know when it's coming out? Shane Burley 1:01:11 Yeah, it's called Safety Through Solidarity. Casandra Johns 1:01:15 Nice. Brooke 1:01:15 Beautiful. Shane Burley 1:01:16 Yeah. And I think it'll come out like this time next year. I think that's what it is. So we're sort ofstarting to wrap it up now, like in the writing of it. Brooke 1:01:27 So in the meantime, people can pick up No Pasaran, and then look forward to that. Anything else that you want to plug today, Shane? Shane Burley 1:01:36 Actually, yes, I will be doing more book events in Jan

We welcome back Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute to discuss misuses of Catholic tithes and the shady groups that some Catholic charitable organizations are tied to. What is being funded, and do the Bishops know about it? Catholic-Funded Network Vows to Fight for “Right” to Abortion - The Lepanto Institute The Marxist Core of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development - The Lepanto Institute Brandworkers - The Lepanto Institute Charity Reports - The Lepanto Institute Speech: The Agents of the Devil and Why We Fight for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart Donate To The Station of the Cross Questions? Comments? Feedback? Ask Father!

Dylan Matthews interviews economist Chris Blattman (@cblatts) about his new book Why We Fight, which examines the root causes of war and what can be done to stop it. In a wide-ranging discussion that touches on conflict all over the world, Dylan and Chris discuss the role of the state, commonalities among historical conflicts, and the game theory of war. References: Chris Blattman's book, Why We Fight Chris's research work Research on how drug gangs govern in Colombia How therapy can reduce conflict Using summer vacations to study peace deal mediators The influence of royal mounties in the 19th century may make Canadian hockey less violent now Blattman on Ukraine before the war Civil war predictions in the US Hosts: Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox Credits: Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer Libby Nelson, editorial adviser Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weedsletter  Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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