Unpacking the Reactionary Spirit in America

For more than a decade, global politics have been rocked by the rise of right-wing nationalist governments. Similar to Donald Trump’s rise in the United States, countries like India, Hungary, Brazil, and Italy have seen the emergence of far-right governments who’ve channeled popular anger into support for nativist and anti-immigrant platforms. It turns out we’re largely to blame for it.

Today on Lever Time, Arjun Singh sits down with Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp to discuss his new book The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept The World, in which Beauchamp traces the roots of modern right-wing regimes to an antidemocratic tradition that began in the United States.