M. Gessen, an opinion columnist for The New York Times and author of "Surviving Autocracy," offers insightful advice on navigating authoritarian regimes. They discuss the fallacies surrounding voter behavior and the crucial lessons from Viktor Orbán's tactics that could be influential in future U.S. politics. The conversation also highlights the power of modern podcasters, including Joe Rogan, in shaping political opinions and the importance of community engagement in preserving democracy amidst rising disillusionment.
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Manosphere Shout-outs
Dana White thanked Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys, Aiden Ross, and Theo Vaughn during Trump's election night speech.
These podcasters and internet personalities, once largely apolitical, actively supported Trump's campaign.
insights INSIGHT
Rogan's Rise
Joe Rogan's rise as a political influencer stems from his early adoption of podcasting and his appeal to those seeking alternative media.
His long-form discussions, free from traditional media constraints, resonated with a broad audience.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Rogan's Evolution
Rogan's podcast initially featured comedians and MMA fighters, later expanding to include academics and tech figures like Elon Musk.
The 2018 interview where Rogan and Musk smoked a blunt on air marked a turning point in Musk's public image.
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In this book, Masha Gessen provides an incisive overview of the calamitous trajectory of the past few years under the Trump presidency. Gessen highlights the corrosion of the media, the judiciary, and cultural norms, and tells the story of how a short few years have changed the American identity. The book is both an inventory of the ravages caused by autocratic tendencies and a beacon to recovery or enduring and resisting these assaults. Gessen's unique cross-cultural fluency, derived from her Soviet childhood and decades covering totalitarianism in Russia, offers essential insights into the signs of autocracy and its impact on American society.
Surviving Autocracy
Masha Gessen
This incisive book provides an essential guide to understanding and recovering from the calamitous corrosion of American democracy over the past few years. Thanks to the special perspective that is the legacy of a Soviet childhood and two decades covering the resurgence of totalitarianism in Russia, Masha Gessen has a sixth sense for the manifestations of autocracy—and the unique cross-cultural fluency to delineate their emergence to Americans. Gessen not only anatomizes the corrosion of the institutions and cultural norms we hoped would save us but also tells us the story of how a short few years changed us from a people who saw ourselves as a nation of immigrants to a populace haggling over a border wall, heirs to a degraded sense of truth, meaning, and possibility. 'Surviving Autocracy' is an inventory of ravages and a call to account but also a beacon to recovery—and to the hope of what comes next.
Since Donald J. Trump won the election, journalists have been retreading his path to victory, and discussing how the press should cover his next presidency. On this week’s On the Media, hear how a group of powerful podcasters helped boost Trump to his second term. Plus, an exiled Russian journalist shares rules for surviving an autocracy.
[01:00] Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger and Executive Producer Katya Rogers discuss the day after the election. We also hear from OTM listeners about how they’re feeling post-election, and what they want to see covered in the next Trump presidency.
[14:13] Host Micah Loewinger muses on the influence of Joe Rogan in this election, and looks at how Rogan, who previously said he held progressive views, ended up endorsing Trump.
[28:13] Host Brooke Gladstone interviews M. Gessen, opinion columnist at The New York Times, about their rules for surviving autocracy. They discuss the fallacy of Americans “voting against their interests”; what the path of Viktor Orbán suggests about Trump’s next steps; and how to keep the dream of democracy alive.
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