Episode 167: The Age of Insurrection with David Neiwert

Across the Margin: The Podcast

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with journalist, author, and an acknowledged expert in American right-wing extremism, David Neiwert. Neiwert has appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, CNN Newsroom, and The Rachel Maddow Show and is the Pacific Northwest correspondent for the Southern Poverty Law Center. His work has appeared at Mother Jones, The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, and many other publications. His previous books include Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us, And Hell Followed With Her: Crossing the Dark Side of the American Border (NationBooks: Winner of the International Latino Book Award for General Nonfiction), and Alt-America: The Rise of The Radical Right in The Age of Trump. He has won a National Press Club award for Distinguished Online Journalism and his latest book — The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault On American Democracy — is the focus of this episode. From a smattering of ominous right-wing compounds in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, to the shocking January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, America has seen the culmination of a long-building war on Democracy being waged by a fundamentally violent and antidemocratic far-right movement that unironically calls itself the “Patriot” movement. So how did we get here? In his book, The Age of Insurrection, award-winning journalist Neiwert — who been following the rise of extremist groups since the late 1970s, when he was a young reporter in Idaho — explores how the movement was built over decades, how it was set aflame by Donald Trump and his cohorts, and how it will continue to attack American Democracy for the foreseeable future. In this episode host Michael Shields and David Neiwert get to the bottom of exactly how dangerous the radical right is at this juncture of American history. They break down the components of Trump’s Army while pondering how extremism has gone mainstream in a variety of ways. They talk about Steve Bannon’s role in spreading authoritarianism internationally, how the police have been infiltrated by the radical right, how organized the alt-right attacks are on democratic institutions at every level including local, state, and federal targets, and so much more.

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