When the weight of watching democracy erode gets to be too much, where do you go? In this episode, Nick and Dr. Craig Johnson explore the surprisingly serious topic of retreating into childhood comforts as a coping mechanism for Autocratic Despair — and why that instinct might be healthier than it sounds.
Then things get strange in the best possible way. Nick makes the case that WWE superstar Seth Rollins has become an unlikely avatar of the "Fashwave" aesthetic — the eerie intersection of authoritarian visual language and ironic pop culture — and Dr. Craig is forced to reckon with what that means.
Plus: Dr. Craig comes clean about his hobby. Turns out the man who wrote the book on fascism spends his free time painting miniature Warhammer figurines — and honestly, it makes complete sense.
***Dr. Craig and Nick wish to assure you that we do not mention professional wrestling in every episode.***
Autocratic Despair is a comedy podcast about surviving American authoritarianism. Nick Mortensen is a comedian and father of three from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Dr. Craig Johnson holds a PhD in global fascism, lectures at UC Berkeley, and wrote How to Talk to Your Son About Fascism.
