Refuse Fascism

Sam Goldman talks to Samuel Perry, associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma, about his research into the American Christian Nationalist movement. Follow him on Twitter at @socofthesacred. Read his two recent articles in Time magazine: January 6th May Have Been Only the First Wave of Christian Nationalist Violence and How Trump Stole Christmas—And Why Evangelicals Rally to Their Savior. Order his new book The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy. From the Refuse Fascism Statement on First Anniversary of January 6 Fascist Coup Attempt:  The January 6 coup attempt demonstrated that fascism is not just the worst of a pendulum swing. It is an all-out assault on the rule of law aiming to strip democratic rights from whole groups of people they see as sub-human. Trump and his fascist movement have torn up the norms and thrown out the rule book, yet the outrage and hopes of people on the side of justice keep getting diverted into the very channels that are being eviscerated, and away from the kind of deep, mass, society-wide struggle that is needed. Continue reading.... Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Coco Das (@Coco_Das) interviews historian Thomas Zimmer (@tzimmer_history) about “polarization” in American politics and the shared agenda of white Christian domination across a spectrum of right-wing political forces.  At this time last year, January 6th was on the horizon. Trump’s big lie was already taking hold among millions of people. And for months, Refuse Fascism had been sounding the alarm and organizing ongoing, sustained, non-violent protests to change the trajectory of Trump’s base marauding through the streets while the decent people hid in their “safe spaces.” This is a situation that still needs to be transformed. As long as the fascist threat looms, it is up to all of us to understand and act to stop fascism from consolidating in this country, and Refuse Fascism will continue to bring you these conversations and our analysis of things as they develop. Show where you stand by wearing it on your head… there are new Refuse Fascism beanies available! Keep your head warm this winter and support and spread the movement for $18 here.  Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Refuse Fascism exposes, analyzes, and stands against the very real danger and threat of fascism coming to power in this country. Through this show Refuse Fascism has engaged, dialogued, and debated with a broad array of writers, scholars, legal experts, and people from different walks of life on the roots, nature, and trajectory of fascism in this country. Through our engagement and networking with people and social movements, we are forging understanding and relationships aimed at preventing the consolidation of fascism. Here's a sampling of the impressive range of voices that have participated in this show over the past year: Andy Zee Rosanna Arquette Rev. William Lamar, IV Cornel West Ruth Ben-Ghiat Federico Finchelstein Rosie O’Donnell Jason Stanley Anthea Butler Sarah Posner Jared Yates Sexton Bandy Lee Paul Street Dahlia Lithwick Eric Boehlert Walden Bello Brynn Tannehill Wajahat Ali David Atkins Tony Norman Carol Anderson Listen to the past episodes that these clips are from at anchor.fm/refuse-fascism or your listening platform of choice.  Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Two interviews this week about the fascist assault on the right to abortion and the re-assertion of violent misogyny that it is a part of: Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her (@schemaly, sorayachemaly.com) and Chelsea Ebin, co-founder and fellow at the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism (@crrebin, malesupremacism.org).  Plus: commentary about the latest developments from the January 6 commission.  Referenced in this episode: Washington Post Opinion: 3 retired generals: The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection by Paul D. Eaton, Antonio M. Taguba and Steven M. Anderson For the 90th episode:  It would be so beautiful to get 90 donations to celebrate! Please hit the donate button at refusefascism.org donate $9 if you have it... $90 if you really love us or really hate fascism. As an independent weekly podcast, we rely solely on your support so please chip in if you’re able. Let people know you support Refuse Fascism by posting on social media, share our emails or literally put it on your forehead with the new Refuse Fascism beanie available at RefuseFascism.org  Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

"Highlights" from this week in fascism and future coup attempts (recommended reading: Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun) including the “options for January 6” PowerPoint uncovered by the January 6 commission and Matt Gaetz on Steve Bannon's podcast this past Thursday. Gaetz said an "army of patriots" should get ready now to "fight" for the US - Bannon said "shock troops" divided into teams could take over some 4,000 government positions. This is three things: a threat, a strategy, and also an exposure of what happened the first time around. Then, Sunsara Taylor (The RNL Show) on the moves to overturn Roe v. Wade and a conversation with an Ann Arbor based activist who traveled to the Michigan State Capitol on Dec 1 to shut down the State Legislature and sound the alarm on the emergency for abortion rights. Read Jessica Prozinski's piece Michigan Activists Shut Down Legislature to Read Statement on Abortion. Much is made of the fact that the majority of Americans support Roe v Wade. But it’s meaningless to simply state that without backing it up. The history of fascism has shown us that dominating the public square and the public discourse – whether or not they have majority opinion on their side, goes a long way in determining whether fascism prevails or not. A majority of obedient Americans are no obstacle to these Christian fascists. But even a portion of that majority of people in the streets – waging a sustained, non-violent struggle to say hell no, you’re not slamming women back to the days of back alley abortions and forced pregnancy, this makes it known to the whole world who the majority is and what they’re willing to put on the line. Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism  Cashapp: @RefuseFascism  paypal.me/refusefascism  donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Coco Das (@Coco_Das) speaks to an activist who traveled to Washington DC this week to protest for abortion rights as the Supreme Court heard opening arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization - the case which is primed to overturn Roe v. Wade and enable abortion bans in more than half the states in the US. Mentioned in this conversation: Will Supreme Court conservatives overturn Roe? Their casual contempt for women is not a good sign by Amanda Marcotte on Salon. Then, Coco talks to Paul Street about the state of fascism and the state of fascism denial as we near the close of 2021. Paul Street is the author of ten books including his latest, This Happened Here: Neoliberals, Amerikaners, and the Trumping of America, which is about to be published. Follow his work at paulstreet.org. We really can’t overstate the importance of having a presence in the streets – in the public square – over the next few months. Much is made of the 8/10 Americans who support Roe v Wade. But it’s meaningless to simply state that without backing it up. The history of fascism has shown us that dominating the public square and the public discourse – whether or not they have majority opinion on their side, goes a long way in determining whether fascism prevails or not. 8/10 obedient Americans are no obstacle to these Christian fascists. But 8/10 people in the streets – even 5/10 waging a sustained, non-violent struggle to say hell no, you’re not slamming women back to the days of back alley abortions and forced pregnancy, this makes it known to the whole world who the majority is and what they’re willing to put on the line. Send  your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown.

Sam Goldman interviews Dr. Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University and the author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy, and her latest book The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America which was the focus of this conversation. Follow Dr. Anderson at professorcarolanderson.org and @ProfCAnderson. Topics covered in this episode: the shameful Rittenhouse acquittal, the complicity of local police in the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery, and the defeat of the federal charges against the Unite the Right rally organizers… where does this all come from and how does this relate to a fascist offensive that involves a whole fascist movement that attempted a violent coup on January 6 to overturn an election? How does it relate to the GOP which has since purged itself of anyone disagrees, and the deepened and hardened belief of millions in their fascist base that this violence was righteous and may be necessary in the future? How does all this fit together? Where is all this going? Where does it come from? And where do we go from here?  * * *  On Wednesday December 1, the Supreme Court will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, where the state of Mississippi had specifically asked the Court to overrule Roe v. Wade. What needs to be heard outside SCOTUS & nationwide: Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!  In the Name of Humanity We Refuse To Accept a Fascist America! The future of abortion access hangs in the balance! For more background on this case, what is at stake, and it’s connection the whole fascist onslaught go back and check out two episodes from earlier this fall: Episode 82 When Is It Time to Break the Law? and Episode 78 on the Abortion Rights Emergency. Wednesday Dec 1 Abortion Rights Actions (see StrikeforChoice.org for more): Chicago: Rally at Federal Plaza, 5pm to 6:30pm Seattle: Rally at West Lake Ave N and Denny Way, 12 noon D.C.: Rally with the Center for Reproductive Rights outside SCOTUS at 8am Rally with the NYC Revolution Club outside SCOTUS at 11am Rally with Women’s March at Columbus Circle at 1pm then marching over to SCOTUS Visit RefuseFascism.org to get signs, banners, and flyers to bring into these actions. Donate $15 this Giving Tuesday and we’ll send you 100 Abortion on Demand Without Apology stickers. Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582 or on https://anchor.fm/refuse-fascism/message. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Coco Das interviews Jonathan Friedman, PEN America, about their new report titled "Educational Gag Orders" about the onslaught of legislation restricting public education in the US about race, gender and American history (pen.org/report/educational-gag-orders). Friedman is the director of free expression and education at PEN America, where he oversees advocacy, analysis, and outreach to educational communities and academic institutions. Follow Friedman at @jzfriedman and PEN at @PENAmerica. Refuse Fascism Statement on the Acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse: We Need a Beautiful Rising to Stop Rising Fascism – No Fascist Vigilantes in Our Streets! Audio included from interviews with Justin Blake and Bishop Tavis Grant of the Rainbow Push Coalition was excerpted from NBC Chicago. Also mentioned in this episode: The Fight Against the White Supremacist Whitewash and Fascist Suppression of Historical Truth by Rafael Kadaris. Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582 or on https://anchor.fm/refuse-fascism/message. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism   Cashapp: @RefuseFascism    paypal.me/refusefascism  donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Sam Goldman and Coco Das discuss the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in the proper context of the fascist movement he is a part of. Recommended reading: Coco’s recent article The Rittenhouse Trial and Two Sides in Contention: A Beautiful Rising or Rising Fascism and Reflections on Kenosha by Paul Street. Follow Coco Das on Twitter at @Coco_Das and Paul at @Streetwriter17 We’re continuing to pay special attention to the three trials with tremendous stakes:  In Charlottesville, Virginia: The federal civil trial of 24 white supremacist groups and individuals who came to Charlottesville in August 2017 and unleashed fascist violence that led to the murder of Heather Heyer.  In Brunswick, Georgia: the case against Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan who are on trial for hunting down and murdering Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old Black man who was out on a jog.   And in Kenosha, Wisconsin: The criminal murder trial for Kyle Rittenhouse who traveled with an AR-15 to a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha where he shot and killed two protesters and wounded another.  All three concentrate the fascist mobs and threats of violence that are being unleashed to build the fascist movement and consolidate power & it reflects the ways in which there is an assault on the rule of law in this country and the most vicious overt white supremacy that threads it all together.  ALSO: Penn America released a report this week exposing what they are calling educational gag orders that outline how lawmakers in nearly half the country this year have tried to muzzle educators in regards to topics that include racism, sexism, and American history. As detailed in the report from January to September, a total of 54 bills concerning K-12 schools, higher education institutions and state agencies were introduced, the report says. Eleven of those bills have become laws in nine states, including Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Read more here: pen.org/report/educational-gag-orders * * * After the discussion with Coco Das, Sam interviews Vara Ramakrishnan with Strike for Choice on their plans to take action on Dec 1 and how you can join. Dec 1 is the day the Supreme Court will hear Dobbs vs Whole Womens Health, the case which poses an imminent threat to abortion rights and the possible wholesale gutting of Roe v Wade. You can take action wherever you are to refuse to go along with the evisceration of this essential right with the hashtag #StrikeForChoice. Find out more at www.strikeforchoice.org * * * Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582 or on https://anchor.fm/refuse-fascism/message. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism  Cashapp: @RefuseFascism   paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig discusses what we know about the January 6th insurrection and any chances for real accountability (hint: the DOJ/Merrick Garland would have to take action and there is zero indication that they are going to do so). In addition to watching him on CNN, you can follow on Twitter @eliehonig, read his book Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department and listen to his podcast Up Against the Mob. Mentioned in this episode Andy Zee in Conversation with Paul Street on The Revolution Nothing Less Show: Two Separate Nations: Developments in the State of Fascism and How That Is Shaping the Political Situation Gregg Gonsalves: COVID, Public Health & U.S. Mythology Fascist Mobs: 1850 to Today Wajahat Ali: The Death March of White Supremacy Holocaust Survivor: It Could Happen Here Meanwhile After the Virginia election, everyone who’s not a fascist seems to be playing the blame game over electoral strategy. But fascism’s advance runs deeper. As this week's elections in VA show, Republicans don't have to cheat to win. The danger is real that Republican legislatures in states like Arizona, Georgia, Texas erect enough barriers to the ballot and destroy enough democratic norms their party simply cannot lose a close race. Freespeechforthepeople.org is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to resign from his post after nine months of inaction to hold Trump and his allies accountable for inciting the January 6th insurrection and other federal crimes they may have committed. It’s good that people are refusing to accept this accommodation to fascism. That said, it’s time for people to recognize that it isn’t just one or another individual doing this - but that ‘democratic’ norms, institutions, and the Democratic Party can’t be relied on to handle this threat. As revolutionary leader Bob Avakian has aptly stated, “The Democrats are committed to 'playing by the rules' and 'relying on the norms' of 'democratic' capitalist dictatorship, while the Republicans are moving to tear up those norms and rule through an open, undisguised capitalist dictatorship.” Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-7582 or on https://anchor.fm/refuse-fascism/message. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support: Venmo: @Refuse-Fascism Cashapp: @RefuseFascism paypal.me/refusefascism donate.refusefascism.org Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown