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The Case for Democracy (w/ Osita Nwanevu)
Since the start of the Trump Era over a decade ago, few words have been deployed as often as "democracy": how it's become imperiled, who threatens it, and what to do to defend it. In The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, Osita Nwanevu sets out to understand the true meaning of democracy and defend it from its critics, not just on the right but those liberals who doubt the capacity of ordinary voters to determine their country's fate in a complex world. From there, he levels a critique of the Constitution for its myriad democratic deficits, then details what refounding the United States to be genuinely democratic—politically and economically—would require of us.Listen again: "The Wolfe in the White Suit" (w/ Osita Nwanevu), July 5, 2024Sources:Osita Nwanevu, The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (2025)— "Conservatism’s Baton Twirler," New York Review of Books, Sept 25, 2025. Sheldon Wolin, Fugitive Democracy: And Other Essays (2016)Michael J. Klarman, The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution (2016)Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought (1998)Walter Lippman, Public Opinion (1922)Publius, Federalist 49 (February 1788)Matthew Sitman, "Will Be Wild," Dissent, April 18, 2023...and don't forget to subscribe on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!
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An Officer and a Spy (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]
Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Roman Polanski's 2019 film about the Dreyfus affair, An Officer and a Spy, only recently made it's U.S. "premier," running for a few weeks in August at Film Forum in New York City. When it originally was released, it couldn't find an American distributor (and likewise was shunned by streaming services), a consequence of the MeToo moment meeting Polanski's criminal past—in 1978 he fled to Europe after being indicted for the rape of a 13 year-old girl in the United States. Polanski's past is particularly relevant for his film about the falsely accused Jewish officer in the French military, to whom, in publicity materials circulated when An Officer and a Spy came out in Europe in 2019, the director explicitly compared himself.Of course, we couldn't possibly have had on any other guest than John Ganz to help us understand the politics of the Dreyfus affair, both in 1895 and 2025, and what to make of Polanski's cinematic rendering of it. Topics include: Polanski's life and crimes; Hannah Arendt's treatment of the Dreyfus affair in The Origins of Totalitarianism; anti-semitism in 19th and early 20th century France; the way Polanski largely ignores the political convulsions caused by the Dreyfus affair, instead handling it more as a crime procedural, and why he might have done so; and more.Sources:John Ganz, "Reading, Watching," Unpopular Front, Aug 10, 2025— "Gramscians vs Sorelians," Unpopular Front, Jan 23, 2021— "The Third Republic and Today," Unpopular Front, Jan 27, 2021— "The Century of Rubbish," Unpopular Front, Feb 2, 2021— "From Republic to Reaction," Unpopular Front, Feb 4, 2021David Bell, "An Officer and a Spy," H-France, March 2021Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)
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Frank Meyer, Inventor of Conservatism (w/ Daniel J. Flynn)
Devoted Know Your Enemy listeners will recall that, in November 2021, we released a fairly dense, theory-driven episode on Frank Meyer, the Communist from New Jersey whose exploits on behalf of the Party in the UK got him kicked out of the country and back to the United States, where he eventually turned right and became a key figure in the post-war U.S. conservative movement, both as an editor at National Review and an architect of institutions like the American Conservative Union, Young Americans for Freedom, and the Conservative Party of New York. Of course, we had more to say about Meyer, and we're devoting another episode to him, this time focused on the details of his incredible life, thanks to the publication of an extraordinary new biography of Meyer, Daniel J. Flynn's The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer. Flynn discovered a trove of never-before-seen papers of Meyer's that range from personal documents (tax returns, Christmas cards from Joan Didion, his dance card from college) to his correspondence with nearly every conservative writer and intellectual of note in the 1950s and 60s. Armed with these files, Flynn offers a vivid portrait of a brilliant, eccentric political life and mind.Listen again: "Frank Meyer: Father of Fusionism" (November 10, 2021)Sources:Daniel J. Flynn, The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer (2025)Frank S. Meyer, In Defense of Freedom: A Conservative Credo (Regnery, 1962)F.A. Hayek, "Why I am Not a Conservative," from The Constitution of Liberty: The Definitive Edition (2011)George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 (Basic Books, 1976)Garry Wills, Confessions of a Conservative (Doubleday, 1979)"Against the Dead Consensus," First Things, March 21, 2019...and don't forget to subscribe on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!
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The Christian Right's "Wild Faith" (w/ Talia Lavin) [Unlocked]
This episode was first published in October 2024, and has been un-paywalled following the death this week, on August 21, of Focus on the Family founder and influential figure on the religious right, James Dobson, at age 89. Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to hear more episodes just for subscribers.In this episode, Matt is joined by journalist Talia Lavin to discuss her book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America, one of the most fascinating and unique books published on the Christian right during the Trump-era. Lavin takes her subjects seriously, but not uncritically, and especially focuses on the wrecked and ruined lives left in the wake of conservative evangelicalism's more conspiratorial and authoritarian elements, from the Satanic Panic to James Dobson's parenting manual on how to discipline a "strong-willed child" into compliance. Along the way, they talk about the triumph of QAnon, End Times theology, the importance of the New Apostolic Reformation, and more—all with an eye toward how these religious views and practices help explain conservative evangelicals' overwhelming support for Donald Trump.Sources:Talia Lavin, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America (2024)— Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy (2020)— "The Sword and the Sandwich" (Talia's newsletter)Listen again:"The Prayers and Prophecies of Pat Robertson," Know Your Enemy, July 17, 2023
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The Minority Voters Moving Right (w/ Daniel Martinez HoSang)
A major topic following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election has been his gains with racial and ethnic minorities, a trend that's scrambled many people's assumptions about American politics, not least those of anti-racist liberals. Why have minority voters drifted toward Trump, despite his many comments and campaign pledges that demonize or disparage them? To try to understand this phenomenon, we talked to Daniel Martinez HoSang, who has studied the minorities entering the GOP coalition, not only but especially in the MAGA era, including extraordinarily rich interview with people of color on the right attending Turning Point USA conference, CPAC, Trump rallies, following right wing influencers, and more. Sources:Daniel Martinez HoSang, "Inside the Rise of the Multiracial Right," New York Times, July 24, 2025Daniel Martinez HoSang, Wider Type of Freedom: How Struggles for Racial Justice Liberate Everyone, (2023)Stuart Hall, Selected Writings on Race and Difference, (2021)Joseph E. Lowndes & Daniel Martinez HoSang, Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity (2019)Joseph E. Lowndes, From the New Deal to the New Right: Race and the Southern Origins of Modern Conservatism (2008)...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to all of our bonus episodes!
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