We share voices from activists with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights who traveled to Kentucky, the scene of the latest state-level showdown against abortion rights. Then: Trump is shoring up support in local legislatures in preparation for his 2024 run for the presidency while revelations of the continuing domination of the GOP continue (including Kevin McCarthy’s lies and craven subservience to Trump in the face of recordings of himself acknowledging Trump’s role in leading the coup attempt). We share...
Apr 25, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Sunsara Taylor interviews young activists from around the country who helped organize #RiseUp4AbortionRights protests this past weekend about what fuels their determination to stand up for the right to abortion and how in fact, it's not too late to turn the tide. Find out more about the national week of action May 18 - 15 at riseup4abortionrights.org . Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org. Send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or...
Apr 17, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Sam Goldman interviews Juniper Porter, an activist with Trans Resistance of Texas (TROT) - an organization that recently held a die-in on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in support of trans rights ( see press coverage ). Follow @TRoT on Twitter and find more actions against the tsunami of anti-trans laws in states across the country at tearitup.org . One correction from Juniper on the number of anti-trans bills in Texas last session: the actual figures include 30 anti-LGBT bills, 13 of whic...
Apr 11, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Sunsara Taylor ( The RNL Show , We Only Want the World on WPFW and WBAI ) interviews feminist, novelist, playwright and director Sikivu Hutchinson about the abortion crisis and more. Follow her work at sikivuhutchinson.com and on Twitter: @sikivuhutch . If the US Supreme Court overturns or guts Roe v. Wade, 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion. April 8: Wear #Green4Abortion April 9: March & Rally for Abortion Rights Find out where to be: riseup4abortionrights.org Also mentioned in...
Apr 03, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 14
We share the presentation from a recent webinar held with historian and writer Paul Street, member of the Refuse Fascism editorial board. Paul's most recent book is This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoliberals, and the Trumping of America . Follow his work at paulstreet.org and @Streetwriter17 . Read his recent article On Putin, the Ukraine War, the United States and Fascism on Counterpunch. If the US Supreme Court overturns or guts Roe v. Wade, 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion. A...
Mar 28, 2022•36 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Sam Goldman interviews Annika Brockschmidt, German freelance journalist and podcast host, author of America's Holy Warriors: How the Religious Rights Endangers Democracy . Follow Annika on Twitter at @ardenthistorian . If you speak German you will want to check out her podcast (co-hosted with recent Refuse Fascism podcast guest Thomas Zimmer), Kreuz und Flagge (Cross and Flag). Read her recent piece on Religion Dispatches: Don’t Laugh at Rick Scott’s ‘Plan to Rescue America’ or Be Fooled by Repo...
Mar 20, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Sam Goldman interviews student organizers of recent walk-outs in Florida against the new law excluding LGBTQ people from primary school curricula. Then, voices from the International Women's Day march for abortion on demand and without apology including: Michelle Xai, Merle Hoffman, Lori Sokol, Kathy Najimy, Dr. Bruce Price, Beila, Betty, Araceli Herrera, Sunsara Taylor, Rev. Jacqui Lewis, and V (formerly Eve Ensler). Translated remarks from Araceli Herrera: "I was raped. I suffered for years. I...
Mar 13, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Sam Goldman interviews Marc Eliot Stein with World Beyond War about Russia's attack on Ukraine and what comes next. Follow Marc on Twitter at @asheresque and listen to the World Beyond War podcast here: worldbeyondwar.org/podcast . Recommended reading: A Hellish War in Ukraine: Where the Hell Did This Come From? Then, we share voices from the abortion rights speakout Feb. 27th in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City hosted by RiseUp4AbortionRights.org, calling on people to take to the...
Mar 07, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Sam Goldman shares thoughts and commentary on the latest fascist developments domestic and international. Then we share Sunsara Taylor's remarks from an event Feb. 16 at Revolution Books in Harlem on the abortion rights emergency in the US and a powerful call to action now - before Roe is overturned. Original video of Sunsara Taylor's remarks Recommended reading on the crisis with Russia and Ukraine: The antisemitism animating Putin’s claim to ‘denazify’ Ukraine by Jason Stanley Shameless Americ...
Feb 27, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Coco Das interviews Steven Mesaros on the fascist trucker convoys that have been harassing and terrorizing residents of Ottawa for several weeks. Mesaros is a Canadian political science Ph.D student studying emerging far-right authoritarian movements. Follow him on Twitter at @RestoreTheReal . Then, Coco talks to some of the activists who mobilized in Ottawa against the convoys after the authorities refused to act to stop them, successfully shutting them down and even persuading some of them to ...
Feb 20, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Sam Goldman interviews Anne Nelson, author of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right (get your paperback copy, updated after January 6th) and Research Scholar at Columbia University. Find more of her work at anne-nelson.com and follow her on Twitter at @anelsona . Her work investigating the Council for National Policy (CNP), which includes many well-known and not-so-well-known actors is essential for understanding the fascist movement in the US. Also see: " Religio...
Feb 13, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Sam Goldman interviews Tony Wolf, actor and artist (view his diverse resume at tonywolfactor.com ) about fascism, culture, and cultivating a variety of forms of pushback against the fascists. His comic essay “Where is Evil?” can be seen at brokenfrontier.com where he writes, “I sought to share my personal reflections as I grappled with how to process the acts of the Trump administration and the GOP / conservative supporters who have backed this utterly vile man.” Follow him on Twitter at @tonywo...
Feb 06, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Coco Das interviews Dr. Anthony DiMaggio, author of the new book, Rising Fascism in America ( o rder from Routledge here ). Dr. DiMaggio is Associate Professor of Political Science at Lehigh University. His research emphasizes the interactions between politics, social movements, the news media, and the American right. He is the author of 9 books, including Political Power in America (2019), Rebellion in America (Routledge 2020) and Unequal America (Routledge 2021). He has been an active particip...
Jan 30, 2022•52 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Refuse Fascism helped kick off Rise Up For Abortion Rights ( riseup4abortionrights.org ) yesterday in Washington, D.C. ( Common Dreams coverage ). Get involved in this initiative and help plan protests around the country starting immediately and growing into this spring - register for the Zoom organizing conference January 30, 2 - 4pm Eastern here . This week, Sam interviews author and investigative reporter Kathryn Joyce on the power of ideology in the fascist movement; especially how and why H...
Jan 23, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Mark interviews Sam Goldman about the new project aiming to mobilize and actually defeat the assault on abortion rights, riseup4abortionrights.org . Read and sign the new statement to Rise Up for Abortion Rights here . Share it on social media. Join us at noon on Jan 22, at the Supreme Court in DC, and going forward nationwide — fighting to WIN! Refuse Fascism is more than just a podcast! You can get involved at RefuseFascism.org . Send your comments to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamB...
Jan 16, 2022•38 min•Season 3Ep. 3
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 t...
Jan 09, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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...
Jan 03, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 th...
Dec 26, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 2Ep. 54
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 mil...
Dec 19, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 53
"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...
Dec 12, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 52
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 ...
Dec 05, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 51
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 episod...
Nov 28, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 50
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 . R...
Nov 21, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 50
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 t...
Nov 14, 2021•54 min•Season 2Ep. 49
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 th...
Nov 07, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 48
Epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, discusses his recent piece for The Nation America as a “Shining City on a Hill”—and Other Myths to Die By with Sam Goldman. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gregggonsalves . More recommended listening on the politics of the pandemic: COVID: A Case Study with Life & Death Stakes: Science, Epistemology, Conspiracy & Fascism . Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman . Or leave a voicemail at 917-426-...
Oct 31, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Valerie Elverton Dixon, Ph.D ., discusses her recent essay When It Is Time to Break the Law with Sam Goldman, along with the abortion rights emergency and the strategy and tactics that will meet the current crisis. Follow Dr. Dixon's writings at justpeacetheory.com . 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 RefuseFasc...
Oct 24, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Coco Das ( @coco_das ) interviews Ana Ramón ( @ana_ramon89 ), Director of Advocacy for the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) about the new legislation that takes aim at anti-racist and truthful teaching of social studies and other subjects for students in Texas. Follow IDRA @IDRAedu and Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) at @txtleec . Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast to samanthagoldman@refusefascism.org or @SamBGoldman . Or leave a voicema...
Oct 18, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Walter Masterson is a comedian known for going deep into Trump territory. Follow him on Instagram: waltermasterson Twitter: @waltermasterson or TikTok: @waltermasterson and watch his YouTube videos . He talks with Sam Goldman about why the Trump movement is deadly serious. Then, Sam talks to Andy Zee, one of the initiators of Refuse Fascism and a host of The Revolution Nothing Less Sho w on YouTube about the movement against fascism in the US. Send your comments about the Refuse Fascism podcast ...
Oct 10, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Rafia Zakaria, attorney, political philosopher, and author of the new book Against White Feminism talks about abortion, Afghanistan, empire, individualism, white supremacy and more with Sam Goldman. Follow Rafia on Twitter at @rafiazakaria . Mentioned in the conversation: The Other Afghan Women by Anand Gopal. Rallies for abortion rights were held around the country yesterday in response to the abortion ban in Texas and the plans for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe this year. Continued and spr...
Oct 03, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 43
