Reaction

The 1960s and 70s were the height of The John Birch Society’s power. But just as their ideological beliefs were becoming increasingly mainstream, financial woes and internal division eroded the Society’s standing. But far from disappearing, the organization's legacy can be found everywhere in modern politics.   

What would be the shape of the John Birch Society? And how would they be received by the public? When Robert Welch’s inflammatory remarks go mainstream, the Society receives a barrage of criticism, causing a schism in the conservative movement.  

The Eisenhower administration, second Red Scare, and loss of Korea further radicalized Robert Welch, and the John Birch Society was born. But a scandal rocked the early days of the Society and created a rift in the conservative movement.  

Conspiracy is deeply rooted in the human psyche. This series examines one of the most conspiratorial organizations of the 20th century. Starting with the early life and philosophy of its founder, Robert Welch, let's dive into the turbulent world that gave rise to The John Birch Society.   

The Wobblies get their day in court, but the odds are stacked against them. Elmer Smith devotes his life to the cause of labor and justice, at great expense to his health and his family. The legacy of the Centralia Tragedy is debated to this very day.  Support the show on Patreon

Centralia was a powder keg, the union hall a fuse, and the Armistice Day Parade a lit match. An attorney’s advice and the resolve of a few loggers to not back down leads to spectacular violence that sends shock waves throughout the region. Support Reaction on Patreon

Hostilities between the working class and business class of Centralia have been brewing for years. Wobblies have been run out of town several times, but they are nothing if not persistent. The establishment of a new union hall in the summer of 1919 has the elites of Centralia determined to stomp out IWWism once and for all.  Support Reaction on Patreon

The Pacific Northwest is a lumber magnate’s dream: high-quality wood in quantities one can only imagine and cheap, easily exploited labor to harvest it. But a pesky bunch calling themselves Wobblies has taken root in the region, and their presence is creating a disobedient and un-American workforce. 

After Reagan, Phyllis had a tough time finding the right leader to champion the conservative cause. The Republican establishment handed them loser after loser, elites who were totally out of touch with the grassroots of the party. After eight years of Obama, during which atheistic socialism threatened the American way of life, Phyllis Schlafly knew it was time to bring real change to the presidenc...

The election of Ronald Reagan may have been a huge victory for conservatives, but that doesn’t mean Phyllis got comfortable. She continued to push for an increasingly conservative agenda on everything from prayer in schools to judicial activism to abortion. All the while, her Eagle Forum grew and her activist network widened its purview from the ERA to all things family values. Reagan broke the mo...

The battle Phyllis Schlafly is most famous for has finally arrived. The Equal Rights Amendment was considered as good as law once it neared ratification. And while it seemed that nothing could drag Phyllis away from bombs and communism, when she found out that women’s libbers wanted to turn us all gay and give our kids to government, she stepped into the ring. Here is Schlafly at her peak performa...

Richard Nixon seemed poised to heal the divisions in the Republican Party after the landslide defeat of Goldwater. He said all the right things to win his party’s nomination, but once in office he proved himself to be a snake in more ways than one. Support the show on Patreon for episode scripts and supplementary content!

Perhaps it was inevitable that Phyllis Schlafly got into Republican Party politics, but her earliest forays were rough going. Nevertheless, she takes the hits like a champ, dusting herself off and setting her sights on new conservative horizons. And with every defeat, she gathers a few more devoted followers. Nobody was able to turn a loss into a win quite like Phyllis, much to the future chagrin...

A child of the Depression Era, Phyllis Stewart grew up believing that anyone could accomplish anything, so long as they put their mind to it. Intelligent, charming, and determined, it was clear from a young age that she would go far. When she met Fred Schlafly, she was ready to settle down and make a big family she could spend her days taking care of. But would her political ambitions get in the w...

In the conclusion to the Business Plot, the McCormack Dickstein Committee hears testimony from Butler and MacGuire, but some fish appear to be too big to fry. The newspapers paint Butler as a publicity hound and a fool, but what are the true motivations at play? And what did the committee chairs make of the plot?  Get the full scripts to every episode and bonus audio content by supporting the show...

Like gum on the bottom of a shoe, Smedley Butler just can’t seem to get rid of Jerry MacGuire. His incessant requests for Smedley to write the gold standard into his speeches are one thing, but when MacGuire comes back from Europe with a plan for organizing veterans in America, Butler decides that something has to be done.  Get the full scripts to the episodes and bonus audio content by supporting...

It’s the 1930s. Everyone is broke. A lot of them are angry. Fascism is in the air. For some, President Roosevelt represents hope for a better tomorrow. For others, he is an existential threat to their way of life (and their bank ledgers). A Congressional inquest into American Nazi propaganda yields a very alarming discovery.  Get the full scripts to the episodes and bonus audio content by supporti...

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler is a hero to rank-and-file soldiers and a menace to the top brass. Disgusted by his past service as a "racketeer for capitalism,” he has devoted his retirement to speaking out against the misuse of the American military to further business interests. But when he is approached by two veterans who want him to speak at the upcoming American Legion convention, h...

In the final installment of Terror on Screen I look at two films about operations in the Middle East. Zero Dark Thirty follows the story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, with the writer claiming it is "based on actual events" and has no political agenda. American Sniper is a biopic about the deadliest marksman in US military history who grapples with the trauma of his service. But neither film tel...

The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatizing event, and fear became a normal part of American life afterward. Two films, Reign Over Me and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, offer a compelling glimpse into the post-9/11 trauma frame. But what has that trauma given us permission to do? And how has our response to it made the world less just, and less safe? Support the show by going to www.patreon....

Counter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer is a man above men, the kind of guy who will get the job done, whatever the cost. Season one of Fox's television drama 24 was released just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, and was hugely popular throughout its nine seasons. But despite claims that it was "just a TV show," 24 had a direct impact on military operations in the Middle East, and was written by people wi...

This is the first in a four-part series on post-9/11 depictions of terrorism and the War on Terror. Here I introduce the topic and give an overview of the content of the rest of the series.  Get the scripts to every episode and supplementary audio content by supporting the show at www.patreon.com/reactionpodcast and follow on Twitter @reactionpodcast.

With their newly seized territory in southern California, the Organization plans an all-out assault on the System. Forty years after its publication, The Turner Diaries continues to have a lasting effect on the far right, inspiring the murders of more than 200 people and living on in corners of the internet.  Get the scripts to every episode and supplementary audio content by supporting the show a...

William Luther Pierce's white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries has been called the Bible of the racist right. The protagonist Earl Turner lives in a cartoonishly "equal" world, and joins a violent underground resistance movement that seeks to overthrow "The System."  Get the scripts to every episode and supplementary audio content by supporting the show at www.patreon.com/reactionpodcast and f...

In the final installment of the Pinkertons, a combination of Congressional hearings and tell-all books deals a final blow to the Pinkertons' reputation. But where are they now, and what is their legacy?  Get the scripts to every episode and supplementary audio content by supporting the show at www.patreon.com/reactionpodcast and follow on Twitter @reactionpodcast.