In this Sunday interview, Annika Brockschmidt talks with journalist and podcaster Michael Edison Hayden about his new book, Strange People on the Hill, which follows what happened when Peter and Lydia Brimelow, the couple behind the white nationalist site VDARE, bought a castle overlooking the tiny tourist town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Hayden explains who the Brimelows are and how VDARE helped push the "great replacement" narrative into mainstream American politics. He also explains why he made the town, not the Brimelows, the center of the book, and how the arrival of VDARE and the national tensions of 2020 fractured neighbors, businesses, and friendships. The two discuss the toll of covering the far right on journalists' health and relationships, the physical and psychological strain of the beat, and Hayden's argument that MAGA is now the dominant ideology in American culture even though it is unpopular. Subscribers get a bonus segment on what comes next for the Brimelows and VDARE, including the New York Attorney General litigation, the mystery of the donors behind the castle purchase, and whether the castle can be sold. You can find Hayden on the Posting Through It podcast with Jared Holt and on Bluesky, and Strange People on the Hill is out now.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/
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Books mentioned:
📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/
📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants
Live events:
🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi
Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour
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