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!
The Biden-Putin Summit and U.S.-Russia Relations w/ Anatol Lieven
Foreign Policy, the Border, & Diplomacy w/ Crashing the War Party's Barbara Boland
Dark Quadrant, Or the Intersection of Politics and Organized Crime w/ Jonathan Marshall
REPLAY: Mike Gravel on His Life, the Pentagon Papers, & Direct Democracy
Revisiting Oliver Stone’s NIXON (And More!) w/ Film Producer Eric Hamburg
Foreign Lobbies, Influence Peddling, and Think Tanks w/ Ben Freeman
The Iranian Election, Sanctions, & the JCPOA w/ Dr. Assal Rad
REPLAY: The John McAfee Interview
Dennis Kucinich's Crusade Against Corruption w/ Dennis Kucinich
Taking a Human Rights-Centric Approach to Israel/Palestine w/ Zaha Hassan
International Law and Israel/Palestine w/ UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk
The Iranian Elections, Gen. Soleimani, and Geopolitics w/ Arash Azizi
Israel/Palestine & the One Democratic State Campaign w/ Jeff Halper
Emily Wilder's Firing by the Associated Press w/ Ari Paul
Afghanistan, the U.S. Withdrawal, and the War on Drugs w/ Inge Fyklund
The Pro-Trump, 'Anti-Deep State' Deep State Plot Against Gen. McMaster? w/ Russ Baker
Leak Reveals Power Shift to Hardliners Ahead of Iranian Election w/ Gareth Porter
An Inside View of the UN and Sanctions w/ Hans-Christof Von Sponeck
The Israel/Palestine Conflict, International Law, and Human Rights w/ John Dugard
The Israel/Palestine Conflict, U.S. Public Opinion, and Gaza w/ Phyllis Bennis
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