In this episode, we sit down with sociologist and author Dr. Charles Derber to dig into his new book, “Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America.” At a moment when most Americans feel one paycheck away from disaster and both major parties seem unable—or unwilling—to confront corporate power, Derber offers a clear, historically grounded argument for why Trump’s far‑right populism has been so successful and why it keeps enshrining the very corporate establishment it claims to oppose. He traces a long U.S. history of “phony” right‑wing populism, from the Confederacy and the Klan to America First and MAGA, and contrasts it with a largely forgotten tradition of democratic, left populism rooted in the 1890s People’s Party, New Deal‑era worker organizing, and movements that linked economic justice to civil rights and peace. Rather than treating populism as a dirty word, Derber insists it is an inevitable response to deep economic crisis; the question is whether it will be channeled into racist authoritarianism or into a broad, multiracial movement that targets oligarchic capitalism itself.
Over the course of the conversation, we unpack Derber’s notion of “positive populism”: a politics that names the oligarchy directly, connects everyday economic pain to structural corporate power, and pushes for something closer to Northern European–style social democracy—strong unions, universal healthcare, and a state that actually intervenes on behalf of ordinary people. Derber argues that simply “going back to normal” or reviving centrist neoliberalism is a trap that will only prepare the ground for the next Trump, because it leaves intact a system most people already know is rigged. Instead, he lays out core principles of resistance and democratic renewal designed to build a sustainable, caring U.S. democracy capable of confronting climate breakdown, militarism, and corporate rule.
This is a conversation for anyone wrestling with how to fight the oligarchy without falling for fake anti‑establishment politics—and how to rebuild a politics of solidarity in a society that has been deliberately fragmented.
Charles Derber is a professor of sociology at Boston College and a longtime analyst of capitalism, corporate power, and U.S. political regimes. The author of more than thirty books for general and academic audiences, his works include “Sociopathic Society, Corporation Nation, Bonfire: American Sociocide,” and now “Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America.” His research and public writing focus on the intertwined crises of global capitalism, militarism, climate change, and the overwhelming power of multinational corporations, as well as the social movements that might transform them. Derber has been described as a leading critical voice on “corpocracy” and the erosion of democracy, and he advocates for broad, bottom‑up movements that can reclaim economic and political life from oligarchic control.
Resources:
Order the book: https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Oligarchy-Universalizing-Resistance-Charles/dp/1041119976/
Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/
Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/
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