The Panic of the Intellectuals: From Ezra Pound to the Trumpagies of Today

Oct 25, 2025

David Mayers, a Boston University historian and author of 'Seekers and Partisans,' explores the lives of American intellectuals exiled during the 1935-1941 crisis years. He draws parallels between historical figures like Ezra Pound and today’s 'Trumpagies,' shedding light on the cultural panic that often exists more in the minds of intellectuals than in reality. Mayers discusses the varied motives behind these exiles, from moral clarity to activism, and emphasizes that, while history doesn't repeat, it certainly rhymes with contemporary disillusionment.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Americans Flee For Changing Reasons

Americans have long gone abroad when disillusioned, but motives shift across eras from artistic to political reasons.
David Mayers argues the 1935–1941 exodus echoes today's Trumpages but does not directly repeat earlier migrations.

INSIGHT

Crisis Was Mostly Perceived, Not Paralleled

Mayers frames 1935–1941 as 'crisis years' linking economic failure and collapsing international order.
He stresses American crises were milder than Europe's totalitarian catastrophes, often imagined by intellectuals.

ANECDOTE

Ezra Pound’s Fascist Advocacy

Ezra Pound became America's foremost apologist for Mussolini and broadcast pro-fascist messages on Rome radio.
He remained faithful to Mussolini and admired Hitler, including expressing antisemitic views publicly.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

American intellectuals always seem to believe they are living through the end times. From the fascist poet Ezra Pound in the 1930s to the historian of fascism Timothy Snyder today, they flee America in despair. In Seekers and Partisans,, Boston University historian David Mayers tells the story of these exiled thinkers between 1935 and 1941 — what he calls “the crisis years.” But crisis… what crisis? Compared to Germany, Russia, or even Western Europe, America’s troubles were relatively modest. So is history repeating itself nearly a century later? Are today’s “Trumpagies” — intellectuals disillusioned with Trump’s America — the second coming of Ezra Pound and his fellow seekers and partisans of the interwar years?

1. History doesn’t repeat — but it rhymes.

Mayers argues that the wave of “Trumpagies” today — intellectuals leaving America out of despair — echoes but doesn’t duplicate the 1930s exodus. Americans have long fled home in search of moral or political clarity abroad, though their motives shift with each crisis.

2. The 1930s “crisis years” were more imagined than real.

While Mayers’ book Seekers and Partisans frames 1935–1941 as “the crisis years,” he notes that America’s troubles then were mild compared to the totalitarian catastrophes of Europe. The panic, he suggests, often existed more in the minds of intellectuals than in the republic itself.

3. Idealism and delusion often go hand in hand.

Figures like Ezra Pound, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Anna Louise Strong reveal how moral passion can curdle into political blindness — from fascist sympathies to uncritical faith in communism or empire. Smart people, Mayers observes, can “get things dreadfully wrong.”

4. The duty isn’t to flee — it’s to stay.

Asked what lessons apply to Trump-era exiles, Mayers insists the responsible act is not flight but persistence: to “stay here and salvage the situation.” The illusion, he says, is that “things are all that brilliant elsewhere.”

5. The American Dream includes its disillusionments.

From the 1930s “seekers and partisans” to today’s disenchanted academics, the impulse to escape America reveals as much about its promise as its failures. The intellectual’s panic, Mayers suggests, is part of America’s enduring struggle to understand itself.

Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe