Trump's chief culture warrior

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Christopher Rufo is leading a ruthless — and successful — counterrevolution against American elite culture. What does the country look like if he wins? This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Adriene Lilly and hosted by Noel King. A sign for a Cracker Barrel restaurant, whose logo sparked a controversy on the right, led by Christopher Rufo. Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Further reading: Rigoberto Gonzalez' painting Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas; America's Cultural Revolution by Christopher Rufo Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Noelle King, and today, on Today explained from Vox, I'm talking to conservative activist,
0:06.0	writer, and provocateur Christopher Rufo. Why? Because Chris Rufo gets what he wants.
0:12.5	From universities, from corporations, from President Trump, he wanted an end to DEI. He got it.
0:19.0	We vented the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government.
0:28.1	He wanted the government to yank federal funding from universities unless they submitted to his demands.
0:33.3	He got that, too.
0:34.7	He wanted an obscure academic legal theory to become a national boogeyman.
0:39.2	Done.
0:39.6	We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools.
0:44.5	He wanted Cracker Barrel to change its logo back.
0:46.9	We could, in fact, break the barrel with just a small amount of effort.
0:51.6	Since he's getting what he wants, we thought it was worth asking, what does he want now?
0:56.1	Coming up, Chris Rufo's Cultural Revolution.
1:01.4	Support for this show comes from OnePassword.
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1:24.6	Learn more at OnePassword.com slash podcast offer. That's OnePassword.com
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1:42.5	Do they fight the AI tech overlords, or do they just take their money?
1:47.2	So far, most of them are taking the money, but a few are fighting.
1:51.4	One of them is Zip Davis.
	...

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