Refuse Fascism

Coco Das interviews Jonathan Friedman, PEN America, about their new report titled "Educational Gag Orders" about the onslaught of legislation restricting public education in the US about race, gender and American history ( pen.org/report/educational-gag-orders ). Friedman is the director of free expression and education at PEN America, where he oversees advocacy, analysis, and outreach to educatio...

Sam Goldman and Coco Das discuss the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in the proper context of the fascist movement he is a part of. Recommended reading: Coco’s recent article The Rittenhouse Trial and Two Sides in Contention: A Beautiful Rising or Rising Fascism and Reflections on Kenosha by Paul Street. Follow Coco Das on Twitter at @Coco_Das and Paul at @Streetwriter17 We’re continuing to pay special att...

Legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig discusses what we know about the January 6th insurrection and any chances for real accountability (hint: the DOJ/Merrick Garland would have to take action and there is zero indication that they are going to do so). In addition to watching him on CNN, you can follow on Twitter @eliehonig , read his book Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Brok...

Epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, discusses his recent piece for The Nation America as a “Shining City on a Hill”—and Other Myths to Die By with Sam Goldman. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gregggonsalves . More recommended listening on the politics of the pandemic: COVID: A Case Study with Life & Death Stakes: Science, Epistemology, Conspiracy & Fascism .  Send your comments about the Refu...

Valerie Elverton Dixon, Ph. D ., discusses her recent essay When It Is Time to Break the Law with Sam Goldman, along with the abortion rights emergency and the strategy and tactics that will meet the current crisis. Follow Dr. Dixon's writings at justpeacetheory.com . Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman . Or leave a voicemail at...

Coco Das ( @coco_das ) interviews Ana Ramón ( @ana_ramon89 ), Director of Advocacy for the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) about the new legislation that takes aim at anti-racist and truthful teaching of social studies and other subjects for students in Texas. Follow IDRA @IDRAedu and Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) at @txtleec . Send your comments about...

Walter Masterson is a comedian known for going deep into Trump territory. Follow him on Instagram: waltermasterson Twitter: @waltermasterson or TikTok: @waltermasterson and watch his YouTube videos . He talks with Sam Goldman about why the Trump movement is deadly serious. Then, Sam talks to Andy Zee, one of the initiators of Refuse Fascism and a host of The Revolution Nothing Less Sho w on YouTub...

Rafia Zakaria, attorney, political philosopher, and author of the new book Against White Feminism talks about abortion, Afghanistan, empire, individualism, white supremacy and more with Sam Goldman. Follow Rafia on Twitter at @rafiazakaria . Mentioned in the conversation: The Other Afghan Women by Anand Gopal. Rallies for abortion rights were held around the country yesterday in response to the ab...

The extreme Texas Abortion Ban caught most people by surprise. Next  month, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a direct challenge to the  1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. This round  table aims to sound the alarm on this assault on women’s fundamental  rights, deepen understanding of the stakes, arouse people’s fighting  spirit to not let thi...

Ankush Khardori talks about the Merrick Garland DOJ and the (dim) prospects of real accountability for the Trump regime. Articles discussed include Merrick Garland's Moderation to Excess and Who Will Answer For this Cruelty? Read more of his writings at khardori.com . Then, Tony Norman talks about his recent article Fugitive Slave Act Redux: On the run in Texas ... and America . Read more of his w...

Anthropologist Dr. Nazia Kazi recently wrote What We Forget , a piece commemorating the global aftermath of 9/11 illustrated by Anuj Shrestha; Sam Goldman interviews Dr. Kazi about the US empire and related root causes of the fascist stew that is politics today. Follow Dr. Kazi on Twitter at @NaziaKaziTweets and read her book Islamophobia, Race, and Global Politics . Send  your comments about...

A few days after the Supreme Court refused to block the extreme Texas abortion ban, Sam Goldman ( @SamBGoldman ), Coco Das ( @Coco_Das ) and Sunsara Taylor ( @SunsaraTaylor ) discuss the roots and ramifications of this dangerous new law. All abortions, without exception for rape or incest, are now illegal just two weeks after a first missed period; plus vigilantes are incentivized to hunt down not...

Sam Goldman interviews Khaled Beydoun, law professor and author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear . Order the book at khaledbeydoun.com and follow him on Twitter at @KhaledBeydoun . Then, Sam speaks to Coco Das about her latest article on RefuseFascism.org: Genocidal and Deadly Serious: Dan Patrick, Texas Fascist Lunatic Scapegoats Black People for the Pandemic .&n...

Sam Goldman interviews Matthew Hoh, former Marine and State Department official who served in and then was the first to resign over the unjust war in Afghanistan all the way back in 2009. Then, we're sharing an interview with educator Tamara Anderson about the upcoming Teach Truth Days of Action, a project of the Zinn Education Project happening August 27 - 29. Follow Matthew Hoh at matthewhoh.com...

Sam Goldman interviews writer Paul Mason about his new book: How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance . From the publisher:  The far right is on the rise across the world. From Modi's  India to Bolsonaro's Brazil and Erdogan's Turkey, fascism is not a  horror that we have left in the past; it is a recurring nightmare that  is happening again - and we need to find a be...

Coco Das ( @Coco_Das ) guest hosts; Sam Goldman interviews Wajahat Ali, author of the new book Go Back to Where You Came From . Pre-order the book at wajali.com . Read his columns for the Daily Beast here and follow him on Twitter at @WajahatAli . Mentioned by Coco Das at the start of the episode: The Big Money Behind the Big Lie and Andy Zee on The RNL Show . Send  your comments to samanthag...

Trigger warning: this episode contains Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn’s testimony regarding what he encountered as a Black officer defending the Capitol during the January 6 failed fascist coup attempt. His testimony contains racial slurs which he was subjected to that are disturbing/triggering. Sam Goldman interviews Tim Wise, anti-racism educator and author of Dispatches from the Race War . F...

Sam interviews Teri Kanefield, lawyer and author of multiple books and articles which you can read about at terikanefield.com . Follow Teri on Twitter at @Teri_Kanefield . Then, Sunsara Taylor interviews Derenda Hancock, abortion rights activist and defender of the one abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi (this interview originally aired on The RNL Show ).  Send  your comme...

Sam Goldman talks with Dr. Mia Bloom, member of the Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group, professor of communication and Middle East studies at Georgia State University and a fellow with New America’s International Security program. Her new book, co-authored with Sophia Moskalenko is Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of Qanon . Follow her on Twitter at @MiaMBloom . Send  your com...

David Atkins writes, "What will the institutions of liberal democracy do when Republican officials simply refuse to concede Democratic victories? The question isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem, and the reckoning may be coming far sooner than most expect." Sam Goldman interviews David about his recent article for Washington Monthly , talks about CPAC and Trump's inflammatory speech there, and int...

Sam Goldman interviews Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor at Rewire News and co-host of the podcast Boom! Lawyered . Follow her on Twitter at @Hegemommy . Then, The RNL Show’s Sunsara Taylor interviews long-time abortion provider Dr. Warren Hern. Follow Sunsara at @SunsaraTaylor and watch The RNL Show on YouTube .  Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refu...

Sam Goldman interviews Dahlia Lithwick, columnist for Slate.com and host of the podcast Amicus about the Supreme Court: https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus Read her recent piece The Price of No Consequences for Trump: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/no-consequences-for-trump-garland-biden.html Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voice...

Sam Goldman interviews Chanelle Wilson, assistant professor of education and the director of the Africana Studies program at Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Wilson has been vocally arguing for anti-racist approaches in education and uses critical race theory as a tool for identifying oppressive structures in the educational system and beyond. Read her profile in Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/chanelle-w...

Sam Goldman interviews Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, columnist for MSNBC  and author of a new book, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America . Order her book here and follow Dr. Butler via her website antheabutler.com or on Twitter at @AntheaButler . Send  your comments to samanthagoldm...

Sam Goldman talks to Caroline Duble, the Political Director of Avow Texas (https://avowtexas.org/) about the abortion ban set to go into effect September 1st and the larger fight for abortion rights. Avow Texas' slogan is "Unapologetic Abortion Advocacy" (cheers for that!). Then, we play the speech given by the valedictorian at Lake Highlands HS in Dallas. 18 yr. old Paxton Smith eloquently and co...