Know Your Enemy The Year the Clock Broke (w/ John Ganz)
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Mar 15, 2020 
John Ganz, an expert on paleoconservatism, discusses its influence on the Republican Party and conservative politics. They touch upon figures like David Duke, Pat Buchanan, and Sam Francis, and their enduring impact on the conservative movement. The podcast explores the evolution of the conservative movement, the intellectual justification of Trumpism, and the controversial history of American conservatism.
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Paleoconservatism's Core Identity
- Paleoconservatism roots American identity in a specific culture and ethnicity, focusing on Southern Confederate nostalgia.
- It opposes both American empire and federal government centralization, contrasting neoconservatism's universalist strain.
David Duke's Political Shift
- David Duke evolved from a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard into respectable politics, winning a Louisiana state representative seat.
- He made extremist ideas sound moderate enough for the mainstream, foreshadowing later political tactics.
Sam Francis and Middle America
- Sam Francis was a key right-wing intellectual blending Southern reactionary thought with populist appeals to working and middle-class whites.
- He interpreted Reagan as a tribune for 'middle American radicals' resentful of welfare for minorities.