The Sunday Interview: How Blood and Soil Nationalism Went Mainstream w/Seth Cotlar

Straight White American Jesus

Axis Mundi Media: Bradley Onishi + Daniel Miller

News, Politics

4.7 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, host Annika Brockschmidt is joined by historian https://substack.com/@sethcotlar Dr. Seth Cotlar, professor at Willamette University, for a deep dive into the long history of right-wing extremism in the United States and how it migrated from the political fringe into the heart of the Republican Party. Drawing on decades of archival research, Cotlar explains how white Christian nationalism, antisemitism, and “blood and soil” ideology have shaped conservative politics far longer than many people realize. Rather than seeing today’s extremism as something new or accidental, this conversation traces clear throughlines from McCarthy-era paranoia to the Trump movement, showing how narratives about “real Americans” versus internal enemies have been refined and normalized over time. The discussion also explores how structural changes helped remove the guardrails that once kept extremists at the margins. Cotlar unpacks the role of partisan media, social platforms, and weakened political institutions in amplifying radical ideas, alongside case studies like Walter Huss, an Oregon Republican leader who quietly fused Christian Identity theology with party politics from the inside. The episode examines the mainstreaming of antisemitic conspiracies, from George Soros tropes to Holocaust denial references, and the rise of “heritage American” rhetoric rooted in blood-and-soil nationalism. By connecting historical movements to contemporary figures and language, this conversation offers essential context for understanding how extremist ideas gain legitimacy and why they continue to shape American politics today. SWAJ Contributor Annika Brockschmidt Seth Cotlar Subscribe for $3.65 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1000+ episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's book: https://bookshop.org/a/95982/9781506482163 Subscribe to Teología Sin Vergüenza Subscribe to American Exceptionalism Donate to SWAJ: https://axismundi.supercast.com/donations/new American Caesar: Now Available for Pre-Order HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Axis Mundy
0:07.0	Axis Moondy Welcome to the straight white American Jesus Sunday interview.
0:32.6	I am Annika Brochmidt, author of two books with German names.
0:36.8	I will still say them, but you probably
0:38.9	won't know what it is. America's Goddess Krieger and the Brandstifter and host of podcasts like
0:45.2	feminist self-control and Kreuz and Flage crossing the flag. And today I'm very excited to be
0:51.3	speaking with Seth Kotler, who is a history professor at Willamette University.
0:57.4	And we're going to be talking about the history of right-wing extremism,
1:02.2	blood and soil nationalism, and straight-up Nazism on the American rights.
1:07.1	Seth, you are one of the most knowledgeable chroniclers, I would say, of the history of the
1:14.3	American right today. I know that originally you started out looking at a period that was a bit
1:20.7	earlier in American history. Maybe you can go into a bit how your path led you to this
1:27.3	joyous topic that we're going to be talking about today.
1:30.3	Today we want to really dive deep into some of your research, especially your work on the GOP in your state in Oregon and right-wing extremism on the broader American right.
1:43.2	We'll be talking about the American
1:45.6	right specifically in the Pacific Northwest, but also more broadly how ideas of blood and soil
1:52.6	nationalism have moved around on the American right and how they eventually have made their
1:57.5	way into the Republican mainstream and the shape that they take today.
2:03.5	And I was thinking maybe the point to start would be something I've noticed in your work
2:10.6	and also in my own research is that there really is a through line when we look at the narratives
2:17.1	that permeate on the American
2:18.7	right over the decades. There's this through line of angry victimization on the right
	...

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