The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy + Loyola Union Thugs pt. 2 / A.J.A. Woods

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4.9 • 937 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 98 minutes

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Summary

Intellectual historian A.J.A. Woods, author of, “The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West" (Verso Books) discusses their book on the day it is published. A.J.A.’s writings on conspiracy theories and reactionary politics have been translated into four languages and appeared in Open Democracy, Patterns of Prejudice, and Marx & Philosophy Review of Books. Check out A.J.A.'s book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804696/the-cultural-marxism-conspiracy-by-aja-woods/ "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. After all that, we receive an update from Loyola University Chicago SEIU 73 Faculty Forward co-chair Paige Warren about next steps bargaining for a fair contract for non-tenture-track faculty with a corporatized university after a successful strike authorization vote. Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.d

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	Take it back in fact that This is a lot power and the other lessons. Big attack!
0:31.6	This This is Hell.
0:45.3	Doing our best to understand what capitalism depends on us not understanding since 1996. This is hell and one of the things about capitalism we may not understand is a conspiracy theory that is used to defend capitalism whenever it faces one of its inevitable crises.
1:07.0	As the often repeated story in right-wing circles goes, back in the 1920s, a group of
1:13.7	German thinkers got together to form what would be known as the Frankfurt School. They would
1:18.6	go on to invent everything that is wrong with the world, according to reactionaries at least,
1:23.4	including multiculturalism, feminism, and environmentalism, which all are meant to destroy
1:32.5	Western civilization and undermine the power and cultural influence of the white majority.
1:38.4	The right can't have that.
1:40.4	This is what's known as the cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, but there's a lot wrong with that conspiracy theory, including whether it is or is not a conspiracy theory at all.
1:55.2	And for that matter, what is a conspiracy theory?
1:57.8	But as today's guest explains, the Institute for Social Research was established
2:02.1	at the University of Frankfurt as an institutional base of, or for Marxist scholarship. The
2:08.1	institute's thinkers synthesize Hegelian philosophy, Marxist political economy, and Freudian
2:14.3	psychoanalysis to produce a form of sociological critique called critical
2:20.4	theory. Their work offered powerful insights in the nature of modern capitalist civilization,
2:25.7	the dynamics of fascist propaganda, and the commodification of art and culture. So it only makes
2:30.6	sense that, as our guest states, many members of the Frankfurt School escaped the Nazi regime in the 30s and found refuge, research positions, and professorships in the U.S.
2:40.0	Those thinkers who fled Nazi Germany included Teodor Adorno, Erbett, Marqueuse, and others who came to the United States and whose ideas became popular with the 1960s student
2:52.3	movement and remain popular with the campus left to this day. Accurate or not, grounded in reality
2:58.5	or not, what the conspiracy theory or not offers to the right is a compelling story of why things
	...

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