Dictators Become Obsessed With This One Thing
"They are obsessed with bunkers, with palaces..." Author and historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains a classic symptom of the autocrat's decline: the "bunker stage."
@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social
@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social is back in THE BACK ROOM discussing Trump's autocratic overreach and corruption; his $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponization' slush-fund and IRS immunity 'settlement'; and whether she's as optimistic about American democracy as she was 6 mos ago
The Dark Neuroscience of Trump Propaganda
"When you twinned fear with disgust... you can move people to violence." On "America at a Crossroads," historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat uses neuroscience to expose how authoritarians trigger long-lasting emotions in the brain.
@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social
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Your money — whether it’s a 401K, a pension, or a college endowment — is now tied up in Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Guess who will be stuck holding the bag when the rocket crashes?
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On the need to project virility in the political authoritarian, from @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social 's "Strongman".
Might sound familiar.
Very important read from @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social today on the efforts of today's MAGA movement to transform the US into a White Christian male-dominated ethnostate.
👉 lucid.substack.com/p/a-holistic...
From @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social:
"Every autocracy has a central ideological mission. The current United States government wants to transform America from a multiracial democracy into a White Christian male-dominated ethnostate."
"Not one, but two David-vs-Goliath victories." Human rights advocates extraordinaire Robin Broad & John Cavanagh, authors of THE WATER DEFENDERS, talk with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social about why this story of grassroots activism is so instructive for the current moment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUJ4...
Podcast Episode · The Back Room with Andy Ostroy · May 26 · 36m
