Fighting Fascism Podcast

Epizode

• Borderlands (w/ Ken Salazar) 20.07.2026 1h

  This one’s a little different. Aaron, Matt, and Jonathan talk with Ken Salazar—former U.S. Senator from Colorado, Secretary of the Interior under Obama, and Ambassador to Mexico under Biden—about why Democrats need to rethink their approach to the U.S.-Mexico border and start treating immigration not as a liability to be managed, but a genuine opportunity to be seized. We also discuss the politics of Mexico and Ken’s experiences with AMLO, Mexico’s former insanely popular populist president, and Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s current insanely popular populist president. Aaron even tries to get a little feisty with Ken about his climate record, but fails spectacularly due to Ken’s kind grandpa demeanor. Oh well! Check out Ken Salazar’s new book, Borderlands: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Borderlands/Ken-Salazar/9798902680215
• Dope Popes (w/ Matt Sitman) 13.07.2026 1h 24min

  Back in May, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” — a surprisingly forceful call-out of dehumanizing technology, Big Tech oligarchs, and an economic order that casts the few as gods and the many as disposable. To talk about this work (and Aaron’s growing Catholicism-envy, and the utterly pathetic “faith” of J.D. Vance), we invited Matthew Sitman, co-host of the great Know Your Enemy Podcast and official Catholic sage of the erudite left, to walk us through this era of moral leadership from the Catholic Church. This is a good one. We swear, so help us God!
• Founding Myths (w/ Tad Stoermer) 06.07.2026 1h 9min

  To celebrate the 250th, we’re looking back at the founding with Tad Stoermer, author of the NYTimes bestseller “A Resistance History of the United States.” Why did the same people who kicked off the American Revolution actively oppose the adoption of the Constitution? Was Rhode Island always a mob state? What can we learn from the musical 1776, starring Mr. Feeny? All this and more on this special 4th (well, 6th) of July episode of Fighting Fascism. Check out Tad’s book here: https://www.tadstoermer.com/
• For the Union Makes Us Strong (w/ Sara Nelson) 29.06.2026 1h 23min

  Sara Nelson is the President of the Association of Flight Attendants, and one of the most badass leaders in the labor movement today. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t do a hard-hitting, critical interview with her. Well, actually, that’s exactly what it means. Hear Sara lay out the challenges and opportunities that unions face right now and the role of organized labor in fighting fascism. And hear us just kinda fan-boy nod along to everything she says!
• How to Mess with Big Tech Oligarchs (w/ Cory Doctorow) 22.06.2026 1h 19min

  Cory Doctorow, guy who coined the term enshittification, has been eviscerating Big Tech oligarchs for many years. He’s now turning his razor-sharp mind onto one of our most/least favorite topics: AI. His new book, “The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI,” is in many ways a practical guide for how to resist (actually resist, not just feel-good resist) the biggest financial scam in human history. Cory joins us to discuss what we should really be protesting when we protest AI. (And, at the end, we make sure to touch on his idea that Democrats should start preparing to prosecute the fascists who have so desperately got it coming, a.k.a., the Nuremberg Caucus.) Check out Cory's blog, Pluralistic, at pluralistic.net. And buy his new book "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to Life After AI" on Kickstarter.
• Trumpism Abroad (w/ American Prestige) 15.06.2026 1h 12min

  That’s right, friends…it’s another crossover episode! We were joined by Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison from American Prestige, a podcast that offers a left analysis on international affairs. Which…we got to eventually (Iran, Israel, USAID, what Democrats’ foreign policy should look like, all the hits)…but only after Daniel and Aaron ended once and for all the age-old debate of: Is Trumpism fascism? All this and more on this banger of a crossover!
• An Antifascist Guide to the World Cup (w/ Alex Shephard) 08.06.2026 1h 20min

  We swear to god, we haven’t turned into a sports podcast (despite all Matt’s efforts). But it turns out there’s a not-insignificant intersection between the World Cup, democracy, and authoritarianism. So we invited Alex Shephard — a senior editor and writer at The New Republic and founder of Golden Goal, a literary magazine about the 2026 World Cup — to walk us through the dramas, controversies, and political implications of the global tournament that’s kicking off this week. Whether you’re obsessed with sports, like Matt, or have barely heard of them, like Aaron, there’s something in this conversation for you.
• Monopoly v. Democracy (w/ Matt Stoller & Zephyr Teachout) 01.06.2026 1h 36min

  We often think of democracy as a political issue, rather than an economic one. Matt Stoller and Zephyr Teachout, two leaders in the anti-monopoly movement, believe that’s a fundamentally false division. They joined us to explain why, as they see it, economic concentration is causing the loss of freedom we are experiencing across so many aspects of our lives, and why this country needs a great “re-illusionment” (or whatever word means the opposite of disillusionment) to fight back against the corporate monopolies ruining everything around us.
• It’s the Corruption, Stupid (w/ David Sirota) 25.05.2026 1h 24min

  You may have noticed that corruption is legal in our country. At this point, it’s like the air we breathe or the water we swim in — it’s everywhere, and so it almost feels natural, like something we just have to accept. But that’s horseshit, according to David Sirota, investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of The Lever. David has spent his career uncovering and opposing corruption. So we asked him to help us understand how we got here (hint: it wasn’t by accident), and how, for the love of all that’s good and holy, we can claw our way out. This is an important one if you want to understand the state of our world today!
• Building Local Power to Win (w/ Dan Denvir) 18.05.2026 1h 22min

  Aaron and Jonathan talk to Dan Denvir, not about his famous lefty podcast The Dig, but about his not-so-famous local organizing project, Reclaim RI. We swap stories about what it really looks like to build the power necessary to turn the Democratic Party into an institution that can actually fight fascism. It's practical! It's theoretical! It's praxis-tical!
• Down with the AI Overlords (w/ Sarah Myers West) 11.05.2026 57min

  You've already heard us rant about AI. What if you could hear someone who's actually super smart and profoundly informed...also rant about AI? We're joined by tech expert Sarah Myers West, who lays out why AI, as it's currently structured, is all about the consolidation of power among a handful of oligarchs, BUT ALSO why that's not how it needs to be.
• "If we have a chance, it lives in the tenant union" (w/ Tara Raghuveer) 04.05.2026 1h 5min

  Tara Raghuveer joins us to talk about her work building tenant unions, her belief that tenant unions can be to working class people in the 21st century what labor unions were in the 20th century, and her faith that, if we have a chance to beat fascism, the chance lives in the tenant union. This is legit our favorite episode so far. Seriously, Tara rocks, listen to this conversation with her right now.
• FDR, America's OG Antifascist (w/ Eric Rauchway) 27.04.2026 1h 4min

  Aaron and Matt are joined by Eric Rauchway, author of Why the New Deal Matters, to discuss America’s OG antifascist, FDR. What lessons can we learn from Roosevelt's successes in battling back the threat of American fascism that was rising in the 1930s?
• How Hungary Fought Fascism (w/ Jennifer McCoy & Zack Beauchamp) 20.04.2026 1h 7min

  We have, of course, always been experts on Hungary…but just in case we’re missing something, we brought on two actual experts. Senior Vox correspondent Zack Beauchamp and political scientist Dr. Jennifer McCoy have spent a lot of time studying Viktor Orban's reactionary regime, and they joined us to help explain his rise and (hurray!) fall. How did Peter Magyar beat Hungary’s longtime authoritarian leader? What lessons does this victory hold for our fight here in the U.S.? How much does all of this prove our priors and nobody else’s? And, of course, should Eminem run for president in 2028? If you were excited about the news out of Hungary and want to understand the dynamics better, you’re gonna like this episode!
• America, Israel, and the Jews (w/ David Klion) 13.04.2026 1h 14min

  Aaron and Matt are joined by David Klion, a writer for Jewish Currents and The Nation, to talk about the relationship between fascism in Israel and America and what it means for American Jews like Aaron, David, and not Matt.
• What If Democrats Didn’t Suck? (w/ Morris Katz) 06.04.2026 1h 18min

  Aaron, Matt, and Jonathan are joined by Morris Katz, lead strategist for Zohran Mamdani and Graham Platner, to talk about why the Democratic Party sucks so much and how we can make it suck less. Topics include lessons from Zohran’s campaign, our favorite Morris ads, the importance of naming a villain, 2028 prognostication, and that one time three years ago when Aaron and Morris had to pull a sunken canoe out of a pond.
• Let’s Fight Some Fascists (w/ Astra Taylor and Mark Bray) 30.03.2026 1h 18min

  Aaron, Matt, and Jonathan are joined by Astra Taylor, author of End Times Fascism, and Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, for a big picture conversation about what it means to fight fascism in this historical moment. Topics include popular resistance to ICE, tensions between “radical” and “normie” mobilization, how much we all hate AI, and why it shouldn’t actually be that hard to build a majoritarian coalition around the idea that like 25 creepy billionaires shouldn’t own literally everything on the planet.
• Our Theme Song: Bella Ciao, by Horse Radish 28.03.2026 3min

  Enjoy our theme song, Bella Ciao, performed by our friends Horse Radish.