Episode description

The 2024 US election is the People vs. the autocrats. Trump is supported by Putin and Netanyahu. They would love to see him back in power. As part of the dictator’s playbook, they want to divide and conquer, including weaponizing social movements so that we’re fighting each other rather than building power together. How can we tell fact from fiction if progressive social movements are infiltrated by bad actors? 

For more on that, this week’s bonus show is a continuation of the inspiring conversation with Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, authors of Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea. Hunt-Hendrix, who holds a PhD in Religion, Ethics, and Politics from Princeton University, and is a founder of the progressive organizations Solidaire and Way to Win, met Taylor, a co-founder of the Debt Collective (a union of debtors), a filmmaker, and the author of The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart, Democracy May Not Exist But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, and The People’s Platform (winner of an American Book Award), among other works, at Occupy Wall Street. They share what they’ve learned since then on how to stay hopeful while building collective power.

To our subscribers at the Democracy Defender ($10/month) and higher, get your questions in by July 11th for our next Q&A bonus show, publishing Saturday July 13th. And be sure to tune into our next live-taping featuring cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich, author of the books Take Back Your Life and Bounded Choice. She is the founder of the nonprofit, the Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion. To get your ticket to the live-taping, be sure to subscribe at the Truth-teller level or higher. Thank you to everyone who supports the show! 

Cult Expert Dr. Janja Lalich Live-Taping - July 11 8pm ET

• July 15th kicks off the Republican National Convention/Hitler rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To help us cope with the mainstream media, especially the New York Times, continuing to normalize Trump and his MAGA cult, we’re producing a live taping with cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich. Bring your questions about how to navitage this perilous time of rampant disinformation and manipulation, learn the signs of cult grooming, and how to help loved ones who have fallen victim. This will be Dr. Lalich’s second time on the show. You can listen to the interview with her from April 2022 here. 

In the Shadow of Stalin Book Launch - September 4 7pm ET

• Gaslit Nation will host a live taping at a book launch in New York City for In the Shadow of Stalin, the graphic novel adaptation of Mr. Jones. It includes scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film, or it would have been three hours long! The evening will include a special meet-up just for Patreon supporters. We look forward to sharing more details as we get closer. If you want a book event/live taping of Gaslit Nation in your town or city, let us know! 

Indivisible x Gaslit Nation Phonebank Party! - July 18 at 7pm ET

• Open to all, Gaslit Nation and Indivisible are kicking things off early this year, really early! When there’s such a thing as Project 2025, there’s no time to waste. Come join us for our first phone bank party of the season, as we make calls to our fellow citizens in Republican hostage states, to refuse to abandon those on the frontlines of American authoritarianism, and to plant seeds of change. We’re going in! RSVP here to join us! https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/628701/

Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!