In our ninth episode, we try to wrap our minds around the duality of man, specifically the enemy, who is both weak and simultaneously too strong. The fascist tells us that the enemy is not only different from us, lesser than us, but that their differences—race/ethnicity, religion, political affiliations—are overwhelming. Furthermore, they are too many, they have too much, and they want to take more. They are, according to the fascist, “poisoning the blood of our country” and they must be stopped—if not by law, then by force.

Our eighth episode reminds us that the plot is all around us. Like the ancient god-kings they try to emulate, fascists are obsessed with the external and internal conspiracies that seek their ruin. From secret assassination cabals to the burning Reichstag to the sad fate of household pets at the hands of immigrants in suburban Ohio, there seems to be no limit to the forces arrayed against the fascist. Revealing the plot is crucial for his success, so he needs the people to see it to. Prepare the propaganda.

Allegedly, the greatest danger these dangerously different folks present is economic, and in episode seven, we will take a close look at how fascists play the middle class against both the elites and the poor. Espousing and exploiting the strange notion that there is simply not enough for us all to share with one another, fascists declare that the middle class is squeezed out by the greedy elite and the needy poor, especially if the poor come from somewhere else. Middle classes are the bedrock of a society, fascists say, and must wage war on the forces that would deny them their due.

Episode six hones in on the fascist ability to exacerbate and exploit intrinsic fears of difference. For fascists, danger is everywhere, all the time. Ignoring it does no good because those who are unlike us are hellbent on destroying us. Luckily, for fascists, the leader knows who the bad guys are, how to identify them, and how we should deal with them. In this context, Kristallnacht and Unite the Right rallies begin to look awfully similar, don’t they?

You’re either with us, or you’re against us. That’s what episode five is all about. Dissent and opposition are hallmarks of a democratic society; they should result in centrist compromises to everyone’s benefit. Debate gums up the inner processes of government, though, and makes it difficult for a strongman to see his agenda come to fruition quickly. It’s more efficient to accuse dissenters of hating the nation and posing a threat to national security. They are, after all, traitors. That’s how fascists think, and in this episode, we’ll find it in the past and in the present.

Our fourth episode examines the tendency of fascists to act for the sake of action, without any clear or deliberate objective and ignoring any intellectual discourse that might delay the action. Fascism relies on the projection of strength, and what better way to project strength than to shoot first and ask questions later? Whether dressed in brown shirted uniforms or red MAGA ballcaps, there are always a band of non-thinkers ready to do the leader’s bidding. Beware of them, they’re dangerous.

In episode three, we’ll explore some of the basic features of the Western Enlightenment, particularly focusing on the liberal progressivism inherent in many of the new ideas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Then, we’ll try to make sense of the threat such ideals presented to European fascists of the 20th century, who feared a societal descent into progressive depravity and persecuted the very idea of modern liberalism. That mantle has been taken up again in the 21st century, as tech bros and billionaires espouse a “dark” enlightenment meant to counter and erase any opposition to their world views.

Having decided to do a season-long deep-dive into the tenets of fascism and their appearances in contemporary American government, our second episode is all about the cult of tradition. The Romans deferred to the “way of the ancestors” for guidance about the appropriate means by which to live a good life. Traditions mattered, and straying too far from them had dire consequences. The Nazis and other fascists of modern Europe thought the same, and they imposed their versions of old traditions upon those they meant to rule…or destroy. It isn’t too hard to draw a straight line from Romans and fascists to contemporary American rhetoric about Christian nationalism and making America great again.

Guest host: Amanda Wils