Refuse Fascism

This week Sam shares commentary on the fascist spectacle that was the RNC along with other recent developments and how and why we must resolutely oppose fascism. Then, Sam talks with Karl Folk, a researcher of authoritarianism and radicalization and the founder of the Institute of Unreality . He writes for Splinter News on their authoritarianism and American politics team. Read his latest:  The Ne...

This episode features interviews from the past two intense weeks... first Sam discusses recent events and updates from the intensifying situation in the US. Then, we share two interviews: first with Aziza Ahmed to discuss the implications of two years without Roe and recent SCOTUS rulings on abortion rights. Aziza is a professor of law at Boston University where she also serves as the Co-Founder a...

Sam discusses the pivotal decision from the fascist-dominated Supreme Court to grant Trump permission to commit crimes through the immunity ruling this past year with historian Paul Street, along with the slew of other terrible rulings. Of course while this ruling would seem to green-light the current president to act as a king unbound by any rule over his “official acts,” the Biden administration...

Sam Goldman recaps the events of this past week including the totally illegitimate "debate" debacle between Trump and Biden, plus the slew of despotic rulings from the Trump's unelected "Supreme" Court. Then, Sam interviews legal scholar and author Aziz Rana to take a deeper look at U.S. Constitution and its veneration to understand how it has supported the rise and preserv...

This week Sam shares commentary on the second anniversary of the overturn of Roe & the stripping away of the federal protection of abortion rights. Then she welcomes Madiba K. Dennie back on the show to discuss originalism as the underlying theory behind some of the worst recent Supreme Court decisions. Madiba is the Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at Balls & Strikes and author of The...

This week Mark Tinkleman guest hosts the pod, covering SCOTUS decisions on the abortion medication mifepristone as well as gun control, Trump’s support from powerful people, the Southern Baptist Convention's attack on IVF, and a listener’s feedback. Then Sam welcomes researcher Teddy Wilson back on to discuss how the MAGA movement is weaving Trump's conviction and Jan. 6 into a lore of vio...

Sam interviews filmmaker Stephen Ujlaki about his latest film Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy . This feature-length documentary is available for streaming on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Google Play & YouTube. See trailer  here.  For information about the film, including a listing of screenings & how to organize a screening in your community visit badfaithdocumen...

Sam discusses the historic guilty verdict that was just rendered by a jury against Trump this past week (34 felonies for falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, all for the purposes of ensuring his illegitimate election in 2016), along with the slew of unhinged fascist threats and rants that have come in the aftermath of the verdict. Then, as this guilty verd...

Sam interviews historian Dr. Jefferson Cowie, author of  Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power  (winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize). Jeff serves as the James G. Stahlman Chair in the Department of History at Vanderbilt University. He was recently honored with a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship - in part, in anticipation of his upcoming project, tentatively titled Crosswinds of...

This week Sam Goldman (@SamBGoldman) and Coco Das (@Coco_Das)  have a wide ranging conversation with Dr. Clarence Lusane and Sunsara Taylor over what it will take to stop fascism in the United States.  We discuss the 2024 elections in the context of the prospect of civil war, the genocide in Gaza and the uprising to stop it, the threat of today's wars spiraling out of control, the nature of th...

Sam discusses the events of this past week including Trump's trials (including what's getting prosecuted and what's being postponed indefinitely), the escalating genocide in Gaza as the Israeli military started to invade Rafah and the ongoing bravery of students across the country who continue to demand an end to this genocide. Then, we share an interview with acclaimed historian and r...

We're sharing a round-up of excerpts from interviews over the past four years with 20 experts on fascism. If you want to know "what is US fascism in this century" or "who are the fascists in America" or "where did fascism in the US come from" - this is your crash course (and it's episode 200!). Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFasci...

It’s been one of those weeks… Sam shares commentary on the wildly fascist logic coming from the Supreme Court this past week (the president is likely immune from prosecution for the attempted coup in Jan 2021, and federal law will likely no longer require emergency rooms to provide life-saving abortions…), the wave of repression sweeping American universities against the courageous students and pr...

Sam talks with three experts on widespread local fascist organizing around the country including the so-called Constitutional Sheriffs movement, the embrace by local governments of right wing militias and fascist efforts to modify the constitution itself. Devin Burghart (@dburghart) is the  Executive Director, at the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights . Carolyn Gallaher is a pr...

Sam talks with Merle Hoffman, long-time abortion rights activist and founder of one of the largest abortion clinics in the country, who has just written a memoir chronicling her decades of experience fighting for abortion rights. Get the book here: Choices: A Post Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto merlehoffman.com  and  choicesmedical.com or on Twitter:  @MerleHoffman. For those looking for abortion c...

Sam welcomes back onto the show Anthony DiMaggio and Henry Giroux to discuss their latest book  Fascism on Trial: Education and the Possibility of Democracy.  Dr. Henry A. Giroux is a renowned educator and author of multiple books on fascism and pedagogy. He holds the Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, Canada. Follow Dr. Giroux on T...

Sam speaks to the Supreme Court facilitating the further erosion of civil rights & foreboding upcoming elections outside of the U.S.  Then, frequent guest and guest host of the show, Coco Das shares reflections on SB4 (Texas' "Show Me Your Papers" law) and talks with award-winning Turkish writer and political thinker Ece Temelkuran discussing her essay in Prospect Magazine,  Fasc...

Sam comments on the downward spiral of the legal cases against Trump and the further consolidation of the RNC and “conservative movement” around MAGA fascism. Then, we share two interviews with people who have been actively resisting the escalating genocide in Gaza. First, a conversation with Dr. Nicole Erin Morse, Associate Professor of Media Studies and former Director of the Center for Women, G...

Sam talks with historian Rick Perlstein, author of multiple books about the US conservative movement including Nixonland , about his latest work on the contemporary era and the nexus between the fascists, the media, and the Democratic Party; what he calls "the infernal triangle." Subscribe to his newsletter at prospect.org and follow him on Twitter at  @rickperlstein . Then, Sam talks to...

Sam comments on SCOTUS hearing Trump's presidential immunity claim and Trump and Biden visits to the Texas-Mexico border. Then, she talks with Dr. Clarence Lusane to discuss the catastrophe for humanity of a second Trump presidency & lessons from the international rise of fascism.  Dr. Lusane is a professor and Director of the International Affairs program at Howard University. He is an in...

Sam talks with Dr. Lee McIntyre, philosopher and author of numerous books including How to Talk to A Science Denier and his latest, On Disinformation : "Drawing on his twenty years of experience as a scholar of science denial, McIntyre explains how autocrats wield disinformation to manipulate a populace and deny obvious realities, why the best way to combat disinformation is to disrupt its sp...

Sam speaks to developments in Trump's trials, the "pendulum swing" of political power, Gaza and the 2024 election, and more. Then, she talks with Jared Holt, Senior Research Analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue . His writing can be found in various outlets including: The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Columbia Journalism Review, HuffPost and GEN Magazine and his Subst...

Sam talks with historian, activist and RefuseFascism.org editorial board member Paul Street about the coming year and his take on all the wild things happening as well as to come. Follow Paul's work on Substack at paulstreet.substack.com . Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@RefuseFascism⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and other social...

Sam talks with Dr. Manisha Sinha, historian of the US Civil War and Reconstruction and one of 25 historians who signed onto the amicus brief supporting Colorado's decision to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot according to the 14th amendment (which bars insurrectionists from public office). Read the brief here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-719/298895/20240126...

It's been quite the week! Sam recaps some of the stories we're watching most closely: the Texas + other fascist controlled states v. federal government confrontation in the wake of a SCOTUS decision the fascists actually don't like (shockingly, Roberts and Coney Barrett agreed that the federal government has the authority to remove the murder wire that the state of Texas is strewing al...