
Refuse Fascism
The Refuse Fascism podcast is an independent and all-volunteer show that produces weekly episodes that expose, analyze, and oppose the very real danger and threat of fascism coming to power in the United States.
Hosted by Sam Goldman, produced by volunteers with Refuse Fascism.
Latest episodes

Jul 29, 2024 • 56min
The GOP, Netanyahu & Jewish Safety
Biden's out of the race and many people are feeling more optimistic about Kamala Harris beating Trump in the election... Sam comments about the new situation, what dangers lie ahead and what we can rely on to stop fascism and build a better world.
Then, Sam talks with Graie Hagans, Chief Vision Officer with Bend the Arc: Jewish Action about the roots and origins of antisemitism, the current dangers and complex dynamics of the moment in the US and how Jewish communities and individuals can truly be kept safe in an era of rising antisemitism. Check out their guide on how to talk about antisemitism "like we believe we can end it together" at dismantlingantisemitism.org.
Extra relevant this week as the fascist president of Israel addressed a joint session of Congress this week, read the open letter to Biden:
Bend The Arc: Jewish Action Sounds The Alarm:
Continued U.S. Support for the Siege of Gaza is a Threat to Millions Abroad and Democracy at Home
Cheers to Jewish Voice for Peace and everyone who mobilized to protest Netanyahu this week! Read:
“Not in Our Name”: 400 Jewish Activists Arrested Protesting Netanyahu Address
A guide to the Jewish and Israeli groups that protested Netanyahu’s DC visit
*Note, there will be no new episodes for a couple weeks, but we will be back! Tune in August 18.
By popular demand! Get your Refuse Fascism T-Shirt here: bonfire.com/refuse-fascism-pod-shirt
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Find us on all the socials: @RefuseFascism. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support at patreon.com/RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jul 22, 2024 • 1h 5min
The Fascist Spectacle at the RNC + Resistance We Need
Karl Folk, researcher of authoritarianism and radicalization, discusses the fascist spectacle at the RNC and the resistance needed. Topics include threats to democracy, response to violence, opposition to fascism, J.D. Vance's transformation, and recognizing the subtle threat of fascism in society.

Jul 14, 2024 • 1h 6min
The War on Women & the Genocide in Gaza
This episode features interviews from the past two intense weeks... first Sam discusses recent events and updates from the intensifying situation in the US.
Then, we share two interviews: first with Aziza Ahmed to discuss the implications of two years without Roe and recent SCOTUS rulings on abortion rights. Aziza is a professor of law at Boston University where she also serves as the Co-Founder and Director of the BU Program on Reproductive Justice. Follow Aziza's work at bu.edu/law/profile/aziza-ahmed.
Then, Sam talks with returning guest and prolific commentator Wajahat Ali about Trump, the recent vile slate of SCOTUS decisions including the declaration that the president is a king, and the deteriorating situation in Gaza as the US-backed Israeli siege drags on with no end in sight. Follow Wajahat at thelefthook.substack.com and @wajahatali.
TOMORROW: The Coalition to March on the RNC is planning a major march and rally on the first day of the RNC in Milwaukee, WI on July 15, 2024. Rally at 11 AM CST in Red Arrow Park: marchonrnc2024.org
Recommended:
The breaking news consumer's handbook from On the Media
Abortion, Every Day by Jessica Valenti
Experts: Georgia GOP officials lay groundwork to "obstruct" and "subvert" election certification by Tatyana Tandanpolie
Trump v. United States episode of the 5-4 podcast
Special Coverage on NATCON 2024 by Annika Brockschmidt and Ben Lorber for Religion Dispatches
Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country by Andy Kroll, for ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, for Documented
By popular demand! Get your Refuse Fascism T-Shirt here: bonfire.com/refuse-fascism-pod-shirt
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Find us on all the socials: @RefuseFascism. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support at patreon.com/RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jul 7, 2024 • 1h 13min
The Fascist Führer Decision + Schedule F
Sam discusses the pivotal decision from the fascist-dominated Supreme Court to grant Trump permission to commit crimes through the immunity ruling this past year with historian Paul Street, along with the slew of other terrible rulings. Of course while this ruling would seem to green-light the current president to act as a king unbound by any rule over his “official acts,” the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats did not announce any action in response to this chilling marker on the slide towards fascism. Read and listen to more from Paul Street at https://paulstreet.substack.com/
Then, she talks with HuffPost reporter Matt Shuham about his latest article, “Schedule F: The 'Chilling' Trump Plan That Could Pave The Way For Authoritarianism.” Schedule F is the mechanism referenced in Project 2025 that will allow the widescale replacement of civll servants with Trump loyalists throughout government. Follow Matt on Twitter/Threads/BlueSky/Mastodon at @mattshuham and read more of his work at https://www.huffpost.com/author/matt-shuham and https://gatheringstring.substack.com/
*This episode was recorded and uploaded prior to the second round of French elections.
By popular demand! Get your Refuse Fascism T-Shirt here: https://www.bonfire.com/refuse-fascism-pod-shirt/
Mentioned In this episode:
The Supreme Court Puts Trump Above the Law by Adam Serwer
The Supreme Court Is Fully MAGA-Pilled. The Time for Action Is Now or Never. by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern
American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis
Illiberal America: A History by Steven Hahn
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Find us on all the socials: @RefuseFascism. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support at patreon.com/RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jun 30, 2024 • 1h 16min
The “Debate,” SCOTUS & the Constitutional Bind
Sam Goldman recaps the events of this past week including the totally illegitimate "debate" debacle between Trump and Biden, plus the slew of despotic rulings from the Trump's unelected "Supreme" Court.
Then, Sam interviews legal scholar and author Aziz Rana to take a deeper look at U.S. Constitution and its veneration to understand how it has supported the rise and preservation of Trump. He currently serves as Provost’s Distinguished Fellow and J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law and Government at Boston College Law School. His latest book, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document that Fails Them, explores the modern emergence of constitutional veneration in the twentieth century. You can connect with Aziz and find more of his work at azizrana.com.
Mentioned in this episode:
March on the RNC in Milwaukee, WI July 15
The Constitution Won’t Save Us From Trump by Aziz Rana
The Supreme Court Chooses to Throw January 6 Rioters a Bone by Madiba K. Dennie
The Supreme Court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agencies by Ian Millhiser
Why the Leaked SCOTUS Ruling Isn't a Victory by Jessica Valenti
The Originalism Trap With Madiba K. Dennie
The Freedom to Dominate with Jefferson Cowie
The Draft Proposal Constitution For The New Socialist Republic In North America
We Are Witnessing the Biggest Judicial Power Grab Since 1803 by Elie Mystal
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Find us on all the socials: @RefuseFascism. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support at patreon.com/RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jun 24, 2024 • 55min
The Originalism Trap With Madiba K. Dennie
This week Sam shares commentary on the second anniversary of the overturn of Roe & the stripping away of the federal protection of abortion rights. Then she welcomes Madiba K. Dennie back on the show to discuss originalism as the underlying theory behind some of the worst recent Supreme Court decisions. Madiba is the Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at Balls & Strikes and author of The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We The People Can Take It Back. You can follow Madiba on X-Twitter @AudreLawdAMercy (and audrelawdamercy on Bluesky).
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (@RefuseFascism) and other social platforms including Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:
· paypal.me/refusefascism
· donate.refusefascism.org
· http://patreon.com/RefuseFascism
· Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
· Cashapp: $RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Mentioned In This Episode:
Refuse Fascism episode 197 with Merle Hoffman: Choices: A Post-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto
Refuse Fascism episode 205: Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy
Anatomy of a Christian Nationalist Strategy: Ten Commandments in Louisiana by Sarah Posner
Supreme Court Rules Against Married Couple in Blow to Immigrant Families by Mike Ludwig, TruthoutThe US supreme court’s rightwing justices are fighting legal monsters of their making by Moira Donegan, The Guardian
Related Interviews:
The Court Is Wrong; Color-Blindness Serving White Supremacy
Andrew Seidel: American Crusades & the Supreme Court
The Freedom to Dominate with Jefferson Cowie

Jun 17, 2024 • 44min
Constructing MAGA Lore: Trump's Convictions, January 6 and American Political Violence
This week Mark Tinkleman guest hosts the pod, covering SCOTUS decisions on the abortion medication mifepristone as well as gun control, Trump’s support from powerful people, the Southern Baptist Convention's attack on IVF, and a listener’s feedback.
Then Sam welcomes researcher Teddy Wilson back on to discuss how the MAGA movement is weaving Trump's conviction and Jan. 6 into a lore of violence and victimization. They discuss the historical similarities between the events surrounding Jan. 6th and other episodes of political violence in American history and understanding the roots of the US fascist movement.
Follow Teddy's Substack, Radical Reports and listen to his new podcast “Insurrectionist Cookbook."
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (@RefuseFascism) and other social platforms including Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:
· paypal.me/refusefascism
· donate.refusefascism.org
· http://patreon.com/RefuseFascism
· Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
· Cashapp: $RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Mentioned In This Episode:
There’s a Time Bomb Hidden In the Supreme Court’s Abortion Pills Decision by Madiba Dennie on Balls and StrikesThe Right’s Politics of Revenge by Thomas Zimmer
Related Interviews:
Teddy Wilson on the Metastasizing Fascist Base
Teddy Wilson: Fascist Violence Accelerated
The Convicted Felon & “Day One” Dictator
Ian Millhiser on Trump’s Trials + Paul Street on Jan 6 Anniversary

Jun 9, 2024 • 59min
Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy
Sam interviews filmmaker Stephen Ujlaki about his latest film Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy. This feature-length documentary is available for streaming on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Google Play & YouTube. See trailer here. For information about the film, including a listing of screenings & how to organize a screening in your community visit badfaithdocumentary.com.
From the Variety review of the film:
"The Christian Nationalist movement was the driving force behind the January 6 insurrection, and what we saw there was a preview of their ideals and methods: a frothing hostility toward the U.S. government, coupled with the willingness to use violence. Russell Moore, the editor
of Christianity Today, talks about how the new wave of Christianity is “a church growth movement, but for angry people. A sense of theatrical anger feels, to some, like depth of conviction.” Yet even on Jan. 6, these “rebels,” participating in their own form of action-movie cosplay, were, like Trump himself, at least somewhat constrained. What “Bad Faith” captures is that Christian Nationalists now have the potential to be the shock troops in a second and far more threatening Trump presidency."
Plus, Sam discusses the increasingly dire situation for women across the country where abortion has been banned, the latest developments for immigrants, the perfidious US-Israeli war crime that just killed 200 Palestinian civilians, and more.
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (@RefuseFascism) and other social platforms including Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:
· paypal.me/refusefascism
· donate.refusefascism.org
· http://patreon.com/RefuseFascism
· Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
· Cashapp: $RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Mentioned In the Episode:
Post-Dobbs, Abortion Bans Have Given Abusers a New Power by Kylie Cheung for Jezebel
Implausible Deniability Republicans know exactly what abortion bans are doing by Jessica Valenti
Refuse Fascism Podcast Ep 197 - Choices: A Post-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto an interview with Merle Hoffman
Refuse Fascism Podcast Ep 193 - Rick Perlstein: The Infernal Triangle + Christian Nationalist Project 2025 (an interview with Jenny Cohn)
The Theocratic Blueprint for Trump’s Next Term by Chris Lehman for The Nation
Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation Podcast Series written by Matthew D. Taylor and produced by Bradley Onishi
Refuse Fascism Podcast Ep 98 Anne Nelson: Media, Money, & the Secret Hub of the Radical Right
Refuse Fascism Podcast Ep 93 Samuel Perry: Christian Nationalist Violence Post January 6
Related Episodes:
Combatting Disinformation
The Evangelical Prophets Anointing Trump
The Nightmare That Is House Speaker Mike Johnson

Jun 2, 2024 • 1h 9min
The Convicted Felon & “Day One” Dictator
Sam discusses the historic guilty verdict that was just rendered by a jury against Trump this past week (34 felonies for falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, all for the purposes of ensuring his illegitimate election in 2016), along with the slew of unhinged fascist threats and rants that have come in the aftermath of the verdict.
Then, as this guilty verdict has in no way stopped his campaign for power again, she talks with two contributors to the June issue of The New Republic titled What American Fascism Would Look Like. Emmanuel Guerisoli discusses his essay The “Day One” Dictatorship (co-authored by Federico Finchelstein). Emmanuel is postdoctoral fellow at the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at the New School. He can be followed at @emmaGuerisoli.
Then, Francisco Goldman discusses his essay From Texas to Massachusetts: On the border in a fascist America. Francisco is a novelist and journalist. His most recent novel is Monkey Boy, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He can be followed on ex-Twitter at @PacoGoldman or on Instagram @franciscogoldman.
Mentioned in this episode:
Escalator Redux by Jeff Sharlet (Scenes From a Slow Civil War)
The United States Looks Like a Sick Joke, The Paul Street Report
Trump’s Online MAGA Army Calls Guilty Verdict a Declaration of War by Tess Owen for Wired
Right-Wingers Are Already Promising Vengeance After The Trump Verdict by Matt Shuham and Christopher Mathias for HuffPost
“Make Them Pay”—The Far Right Responds to Trump’s Conviction By Kiera Butler for Mother Jones
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (@RefuseFascism) and other social platforms including Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:
· paypal.me/refusefascism
· donate.refusefascism.org
· http://patreon.com/RefuseFascism
· Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
· Cashapp: $RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Related Episodes:
This American Fascism: A Retrospective
The Wannabe Fascist
The Freedom to Dominate with Jefferson Cowie
The Nightmare Immigrants Face at the Texas Border
Perspectives on Stopping Fascism in the US in 2024

May 26, 2024 • 49min
The Freedom to Dominate with Jefferson Cowie
Sam interviews historian Dr. Jefferson Cowie, author of Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize). Jeff serves as the James G. Stahlman Chair in the Department of History at Vanderbilt University. He was recently honored with a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship - in part, in anticipation of his upcoming project, tentatively titled Crosswinds of a Common History. You can find more of Jeff's writing including information on his other three books here.
Find out more about Refuse Fascism and get involved at RefuseFascism.org. We're still on Twitter (@RefuseFascism) and other social platforms including Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky. Plus, Sam is on TikTok, check out @samgoldmanrf.
You can also send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman. Record a voice message for the show here. Connect with the movement at RefuseFascism.org and support:
· paypal.me/refusefascism
· donate.refusefascism.org
· http://patreon.com/RefuseFascism
· Venmo: Refuse-Fascism
· Cashapp: $RefuseFascism
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Mentioned in the episode:
The ‘Unified Reich’ Scandal is a Feature Not a Bug of Trump's Brand of American Fascism by Annika Brockschmidt for Religion Dispatches
Refuse Fascism episode 181: The Evangelical Prophets Anointing Trump with Matthew D. Taylor
Straight White American Jesus Special Episode: Justice Alito Let's His Appeal to Heaven Flag Fly
The Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering by Ian Millhiser for Vox
Refuse Fascism episode 197: Choices: A Post-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto
Fascism in America? (Part 1 of a deep dive into the "fascism debate") by Thomas Zimmer
The Anti-Liberal Left Has a Fascism Problem (Part 2 of a deep dive into the "fascism debate") by Thomas Zimmer