Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, last month I spoke to journalist Jeffrey Sharlet, known for his books on the Christian Nationalist movement (The Family and C Street; the former has been made into hit Netflix documentary miniseries), to discuss his latest work The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. The book is a series of essays exploring the chaotic moment that Sharlet calls the "Trumpocene" and delves into everything from the January 6th insurrection and death of Ashli Babbitt to the Men's Rights Movement. Given he New Hampshire primary on January 23rd, I felt that now was the perfect time to release this prescient conversation.
In this conversation we cover a number of topics including:
- The "F Word"; or fascism
- The rise of the far-right in the U.S. and its global ascendancy
- Trump and Gnosticism; Jeff's citing of the Gnostic poem "Thunder Perfect Mind" in relation to the Trump/MAGA movement phenomena
- Jan 6th and the death of Ashli Babbit; what drove Ashli Babbit into Trumpism and the MAGA movement?
- QAnon and the power of narratives in mobilizing the American right-wing
- Revisiting Jeff's groundbreaking journalism on The Family, C Street, the Council for National Policy (CNP), and Christian Nationalism
- Christian Nationalism and Trumpism as radical reinterpretations of Christianity; the Church itself as not being the be-all-end-all of Christian Nationalism (it's much bigger than that)
- Jeff's experiences reporting on the MRA movement and the ways in which they start with some true observations (men have high suicide rates, custody issues, etc.) that are chucked away in favor of misogny and all-out attacks on feminism (even though some of their initial observations can also be found amongst feminist works such as Susan Faludi's Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man)
- And more!
Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties w/ David de Jong
Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders w/ Kathryn Miles
The Old Right and the Antiwar Movement w/ Brandan P. Buck
Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple w/ Stuart Smith
Let’s Agree to Disagree w/ Mickey Huff & Nolan Higdon/Origins: Birth of a Pandemic w/ John Duffy
Global Civil War: Capitalism Post-Pandemic w/ William I. Robinson
Failed State Update PREVIEW - Operation Northwoods: False Flags in the Pentagon
American Tourism in the Soviet Union & What It Can Tell Us About U.S.-Russia Relations Past and Present w/ Sean Guillory
That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them w/ Nick Marx
Scorpion’s Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate w/ Jefferson Morley
Mitch McConnell, Republican Senators, & the Betrayal of America w/ Ira Shapiro/Robert Hanssen, America’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Lis Wiehl
The Inslaw Affair, PROMIS, and Robert Maxwell w/ Albert Lanier
On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union w/ Daisy Pitkin/The Ruling Class, Abortion, and Roe V. Wade w/ Jenny Brown
Newly Declassified FBI Report on Saudi Arabia & 9/11 w/ Dan Christensen/Biden, Israel, and U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Mitchell Plitnick
The IDF, Shireen Abu Akleh, Israel’s Far-Right, & the Coming Jerusalem Day ”Flag March” w/ Yossi Gurvitz
Criminology on Trump w/ Gregg Barak
BrexLit: The Problem of Englishness in Pre- and Post-Brexit Referendum Literature w/ Dulcie Everitt
The Universe is On Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life w/ Bruce Ledewitz/Russia (& Ukraine) Lobbying & Influence-Peddling in D.C. w/ Ben Freeman & Nick Cleveland-Stout
The Stock Market, Inflation & the Crypto Crash w/ Mike Swanson/The Trouble With Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality w/ Eric Cech
The Atlantic Realists: Empire and International Political Thought Between Germany and the United States w/ Matthew Specter/French Post-Election Analysis w/ Marlon Ettinger
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