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!
A Critical Look at AIPAC and Its Recent Strategic Pivot w/ Grant F. Smith
Wall Street Journal‘s Saudi Shilling + Foreign Policy Chat w/ Jim Lobe/The $778 Billion Pentagon Budget w/ Stephen Semler
To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change w/ Alfred W. McCoy
The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family w/ David Cay Johnston
FDR, Pearl Harbor, the McCollum Memo, and the Road to WWII Pt. 2 w/ Douglas P. Horne
FDR, Pearl Harbor, the McCollum Memo, and the Road to WWII Pt. 1 w/ Douglas P. Horne
U.S.-Iran Nuclear Deal Negotiations in Vienna w/ Ryan Costello
Anti-Boycott Laws Threaten Free Speech + U.S. Arms Enable Saudi Assault on Yemen (w/ Alan Leveritt; William Hartung)
Vigilantism, Big Pharma, & the Opioid Epidemic Collide in PAINKILLER w/ Mark Savage and Bill Oberst, Jr.
Dark Money Network Pushing Pro-Saudi/UAE Policies w/ Eli Clifton
IMPROMPTU GHISLAINE MAXWELL TRIAL BRIEF w/ Marlon Ettinger
Revisiting the Siege at Ruby Ridge w/ Freddie DeBoer & C. Derick Varn
Climate Change, Nation-States, and The Greatest National Security Threat w/ Anatol Lieven
U.S. MidEast Policy Was Never About Democracy w/ Juan Cole/A ‘Play‘ Cold War? w/ Mike Swanson
The History of U.S. Resistance to War Profiteering w/ Hunter DeRensis
Vulture Capitalism & The Hijacking of America‘s Pandemic Response w/ Nina Burleigh
Supply Chain Crisis & Global Capitalism w/ William I. Robinson/Pegasus Spyware Used to Target Palestinian Activists w/ Kevin Gosztola
The War in Afghanistan is Not Over w/ Kyle Anzalone
Marvel‘s The Eternals & the History of Hollywood‘s Pentagon Ties w/ David Saveliev
The 2nd Cold War and Shifting Alliances in the Emerging Multipolar World w/ Ted Snider
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