318: Masochism and Ritual Humiliation with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
The Lincoln Project
The Lincoln Project
4.6 • 9.1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Reed Galen is joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Author and Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. They discuss what to take away from the latest E. Jean Carroll verdict, how autocrats and criminal behavior often go hand-in-hand, and Greg Abbott’s handling of the Texas border as viewed through a lens of authoritarianism. Plus, why eroding trust in democratic institutions is an autocrat’s greatest weapon. If you’d like to hear more from Ruth, check out Lucid (her Substack newsletter) and pick up Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. For more from Reed Galen, subscribe to “The Home Front”. If you’d like to ask a question or share a comment with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@lincolnproject.us.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, it's Reed. Campaign 2024 has begun. We are now on the clock, everybody. We are |
| 0:06.4 | on the clock. Iowa is in the review mirror. Super Tuesday is coming up in early March, guys, |
| 0:12.2 | the time has come. Let's get involved. Get involved in your communities and your towns. Go to join |
| 0:18.7 | the union.us. Find any number of the hundred plus partner organizations we have and get |
| 0:24.1 | involved in your community and make sure that we get every last pro-democracy voter to |
| 0:29.4 | the polls in November that we can. |
| 0:31.5 | I want to say thank you and on with the show. |
| 0:42.2 | Okay. on with the show. Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. |
| 0:44.5 | I'm your host, Reed Galey. |
| 0:46.6 | Today, I'm excited to welcome back to the show, Ruth Ben-Giak. |
| 0:50.0 | Author and Professor of History and Italian at New York University. |
| 0:54.0 | Ruth is an expert on fascism, authoritarianism, war, propaganda, and unfortunately Donald Trump, |
| 1:01.1 | and is the recipient of the Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other fellowships. |
| 1:05.1 | She's a columnist for MSNBC, has written for a wide variety of outlets, including CNN, |
| 1:10.1 | the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the |
| 1:11.6 | Washington Post, and has authored multiple books, her latest being Strongman from Mussolini |
| 1:16.4 | to the present. And everybody, if you have not read Strongman, get it today. She is the founder |
| 1:21.5 | and publisher of Lucid, her substack newsletter. Today, she's coming to us from New York City. |
| 1:26.5 | Ruth, welcome back. |
| 1:30.3 | Thank you. Glad to speak with you. |
| 1:34.8 | All right. So, Ruth, when we have you on, there's like 800 different things we could talk about. |
| 1:42.2 | So let's start with what we were talking about just before we went on the air, which is, as of this recording, we're recording on Monday. |
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