Trump’s USA — is it fascism yet? Masha Gessen, Anna Funder, Jason Stanley

He’s been called a “hypercapitalist”, a “new authoritarian” and a “post fascist”. Twelve months into Donald Trump’s second term as United States President, he has certainly reshaped the country and the world in ways that have shocked and surprised. So how should we understand his political ideology? 

The conversation Is It Fascism Yet? was recorded at the Sydney Opera House on 28 September 2025. 

Speakers

Jason Stanley  Professor of Philosophy and Linguistics, Chair of American Studies at the University of Toronto Author, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, and more 

M. Gessen  Opinion writer for the New York Times Author, Surviving Autocracy, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia and more 

Anna Funder (host)  Author, Wifedom, Stasiland, All That I Am 

 Further information:

One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We Still Can. M.Gessen, The New York Times, 18 January 2026

Why I Fled Trump's AmericaJason Stanley, Zeteo, 26 July 2025