Shows
The RadicalistDebate: Is a Trans Woman a Woman?This debate came about after I wrote an essay, “Trans Women Are Trans Women,” in response to Matthew Adelstein’s essay, “Why I Think Trans Women Are Women.” I wanted to have the conversation for two reasons.First, I’m a student of philosophy and former university lecturer of logic, debate, writing, and public speaking — basically, how to think and express those thoughts — so for me, civil discourse is a personal discipline much like chess or martial arts, two of my favorite pastimes. But it’s also a benefit to society because if more of us openly engaged in civil d...2025-05-182h 25
The RadicalistKevin Ray on the Rot in American TheaterDavid Volodzko talks to former guest Kevin Ray about a disturbing experience he recently had on the New York subway, the pathology of woke activism, its influence in the arts and why things are getting worse rather than better, Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel We, his experience with compelled speech, and the effort to turn educators into activist therapists.Kevin Ray is a New York City theater director with over 20 years of experience as an arts educator. He produced and directed “Unearthly Visitants,” based on ghost stories by Edith Wharton, “The Machine Stops,” from EM Forster’s short story...2025-05-1247 min
The RadicalistThe Truth About the Trans Movement with Mia HughesDavid Volodzko speaks with Mia Hughes about the different waves of the trans movement, the DSM-V and gender dysmorphic disorder, how the trans movement operates as a cult, legal support for trans activism in U.S. states, prevalence rates, indicators of social contagion, the WPATH scam, how the Biden administration inserted itself into medical standards, autogynephilia, definitional creep of the term “trans,” politically Trans identity, and the science-based treatment for trans identity.Mia Hughes is senior fellow at MacDonald-Laurier Institute, director of Genspect Canada, co-host of Beyond Gender, author of the WPATH Files, and former researcher on gend...2025-04-251h 35
The RadicalistHow Trash Culture Conquered AmericaDavid Volodzko speaks with Ross Benes about his upcoming book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. They discuss the political legacy of Jerry Springer and reality TV, what Beanie Babies and Pokemon can teach us about financial markets, the rise of WWE kayfabe in corporate culture, the dialectic of high and low culture, how porn drove tech adoption on VHS and streaming, Insane Clown Posse and the outsider effect from woke to MAGA, how media deregulation led to the dominance of trash culture writ large but notably in our politics, 1999 as a cultural inflection...2025-04-1755 min
The RadicalistUnder the Loving Care of Father TrumpAfter President Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, the Dow sank 350 points and the S&P 500 recorded a historic three-day loss.But never mind the regional security risks, or the fact that this should’ve been done through negotiation with our allies rather than unilateral action, what’s perhaps most remarkable about this event is the way it has been received by the MAGA faithful. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-04-1016 min
The RadicalistIlya Shapiro on Illiberalism and the LawDavid Josef Volodzko speaks with Ilya Shapiro about constitutional originalism, Supreme Court reform, political bias on the bench, DEI in our courts, Shapiro’s scandal at Georgetown Law, free speech on campus, the illiberal takeover of legal education — which is the subject of his new book Lawless — and much more.Shapiro is a constitutional scholar and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute whose work focuses on free speech, higher education, and the justice system. He is also formerly the executive director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, vice president of the Cato Institute, and director of its Ce...2025-03-2952 min
The RadicalistNo Apologies with Katherine BrodskyDavid Volodzko speaks with Katherine Brodsky about her book No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage—Lessons for the Silenced Majority.Brodsky is a former guest on the pod, when she appeared to discuss civility and open discourse. She is also the author of the newsletter Random Minds and a columnist at Michael Shermer’s newsletter Skeptic. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-03-191h 14
The RadicalistTrump Is Right About the HouthisIn response to escalating Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, President Trump ordered large-scale airstrikes this week, targeting Houthi military infrastructure in the capital city of Sanaa. These strikes are intended to protect international maritime commerce as well as send a warning shot over the bow to Iran for supporting these pirates, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio called them yesterday. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-03-1708 min
The RadicalistI Survived a Crazy Christian CultDavid Volodzko speaks with Allin Kimbrough, who grew up in the Quiverfull movement and its famous branch the Duggar family cult, a group of independent Baptist fundamentalists whose lifestyle was celebrated on The Learning Channel show 19 Kids and Counting and who later became the topic of the grim 2023 Amazon documentary Shiny Happy People, involving the story of how their eldest son molested his own sisters as well as his child pornography conviction.David and Allin also discuss the cult’s ties to Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Mike Pence, and Russia, as well as the day-to-day ro...2025-03-121h 35
The RadicalistDeeds of the DivineThe White House press secretary recently called New York Times reporter Peter Baker a “left-wing stenographer” after he questioned Trump’s decision to bar AP for not using the term “Gulf of America.” But just how biased is the NewYork Times, and in what ways? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-03-0915 min
The RadicalistThe Hollowing of American HonorThis week, David Volodzko discusses nonpartisanship and the Oval Office ambush involving President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-03-0118 min
The RadicalistSJ Murray on the ClassicsDavid Volodzko speaks with Sarah-Jane Murray about how medieval politics changed the way people at the time told stories, how politics influence narrative structure generally, theoretical frameworks in medieval narratives, the ethics of interpretation, postmodern hermeneutics, storytelling as the foundation of civilization, the universality of story design, and more.Murray is a professor at Baylor University and an expert in medieval literature who translated the Ovide Moralisé and is the author of From Plato to Lancelot: A Preface to Chrétien de Troyes, Basics of Story Design: 20 Steps to an Insanely Great Screenplay, and the children’s book...2025-02-171h 43
The RadicalistAnthony Mackie Isn’t Fit to Carry the Shield. But Captain America Should Be Black. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2025-01-2807 min
The RadicalistVelvet Jihad: Islam's Soft ImperialismDavid Volodzko speaks with Alexander von Sternberg about the concept of velvet jihad, which he coined—inspired by French historian David Todd’s A Velvet Empire: French Informal Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century—to describe Islamic cultural imperialism. They also discuss the recent pogrom in Amsterdam, the influence of rhetoric on behavior, Sharia law, the myth of media-induced violence, and more.Alexander von Sternberg is the host of the podcast History Impossible, a graduate student of history, and a former guest on The Radicalist. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w...2025-01-2748 min
The RadicalistAshley Rindsberg on Media MalpracticeAshley Rindsberg is senior editor at Pirate Wires and author of the books Tel Aviv Stories and The Gray Lady Winked: How The New York Times’s Misreporting, Distortions & Fabrications Radically Alter History, which he was inspired to write after reading how the paper’s reported that Poland invaded Nazi Germany and not the other way around.In this conversation, we discuss Israel, our current media environment and public mistrust of news outlets today, why the news needs to be more like Spotify, where Pirate Wires sits in the media landscape, AI-generated news, free speech on Wikipedia, the...2025-01-251h 08
Mystic-Skeptic Radio: Uncensored/Raiders of the UnknownOmer Bartov vs. David Josef Volodzko Regarding GenocideIn this weeks show Journalist David Josef Volodzko returns. The controversial author had an exchange with Genocide expert Omer Bartov. Dr. Bartov wrote an article in The Guardian arguing The State of Israel is guilty of genocide. Volodzko responding to the accusation of Genocide is presented after reading Omer Bartov essay in this episode. His email response to Bartov is below:“Mr. Bartov, I read your moving essay in The Guardian this morning. It is maybe one of the more powerful essays I have read of this nature since Oct 7. I do not see the case for ge...2025-01-2236 min
The RadicalistKatherine Brodsky on Open DiscourseKatherine Brodsky is the author of the newsletter Random Minds and has been a correspondent for Variety for over a decade. She has also contributed to publications such as The Washington Post, WIRED, The Guardian, Esquire, Newsweek, Playboy Magazine, New York Magazine's Vulture, USA Today, and many others. As a journalist, she has mostly covered film, TV, culture, business, travel, tech—and espionage. She has interviewed figures ranging from the Dalai Lama to Elon Musk. She is also the author of the 2024 book No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage―Lessons for the...2025-01-161h 37
The RadicalistCivility and Sense: Debating Jake Klein and Salomé SibonexPart II:The debate:Notice he @’s FIRE, where I work, with claims of slander (never mind slander is spoken while libel is written), as if trying to get me in trouble or fired. This is precisely the disgusting kind of tactics we’ve all come to expect from woke activists.Respectfully brother, it only seems more clear to me now that I did not misunderstand you. But let’s break this down just in case. You said X will happen. Namely, if people who oppose identity politics support Zionism, “we will los...2025-01-0416 min
Mystic-Skeptic Radio: Uncensored/Raiders of the UnknownLenin, Hitler & The Woke Movement's Fascistic Trends with Journalist David Josef VolodzkoIn this week’s show our guest is David Josef Volodzko who was fired from The Seattle Times after he criticized Lenin in comparison to Hitler. He shares his story of “profound intolerance” and educates us about Hitler’s morality or lack thereof and Lenin’s sadistic reign. He describes these two historical monsters as a psychopath who killed his own people for state power and a madman who claimed to have lost his battle against antisemitism by becoming antisemitic. We learn about Austria’s anti-Orientalism which brought about Hitler’s paranoia and how Candace Owens claim of a great Christian...2024-12-291h 16
The RadicalistMoney, War, and DemocracyDavid Volodzko speaks with terrorism expert Jonathan Schanzer about terrorism funding, the efficacy of sanctions, the Iranian regime and Hamas funding, the Israel-Hamas War, the Russo-Ukraine War, China’s potential invasion of Taiwan, and more.Jonathan Schanzer (website, X) is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and host of the FDD Morning Brief, where he covers the latest news from the Middle East.Schanzer is also a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he froze the funding of Hamas and Al-Qaeda, an...2024-11-0750 min
The RadicalistThe Nazi Roots of PalestinianismDavid Volodzko talks with Alexander von Sternberg about Amin al-Husseini, the Nazi godfather of Palestinian nationalism, his early life, his embrace of Nazism, his efforts to send Jewish children to death camps, his legacy since then, and his place in the Palestinian movement today.Von Sternberg is the host of the historical podcast History Impossible. He’s also a writer whose essays and reviews have been published in a number of publications including Queer Majority, Quillette, Merion West, and Areo Magazine.For more on this subject, see von Sternberg’s six-hour podcast episode on al-Husseini, The...2024-09-021h 37
The RadicalistFinding Purpose with Adam B. ColemanDavid Volodzko speaks with Adam Coleman about fatherlessness in the black community, the insecurity of trans activists, white supremacist logic, the harm of victim mentality, what makes a good marriage, the psychology of happiness, the meaning of life, finding God, the search for purpose, what true empowerment looks like, the hidden value of suffering, and connecting with others.Coleman (X) is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor,” the founder of Wrong Speak Publishing, author of the Substack Speaking Wrong at the Right Time, and the host of Breaking Bread. This is a publ...2024-08-151h 22
The RadicalistJeff Booth on the Bitcoin RevolutionDavid Volodzko speaks with Jeff Booth about the nature of inflation, the inevitability of Bitcoin, why other cryptocurrencies are inferior, Bitcoin’s volatility, common criticisms of Bitcoin, global adoption, the possibility of a Bitcoin standard, the social benefits of Bitcoin, and more.Jeff Booth is a tech entrepreneur, founding partner of the Bitcoin venture fund ego death capital, co-founder of addy, giving the public exposure in Canadian real estate, and author of The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is Key to an Abundant Future. In 2016, Goldman Sachs named him among its 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and he currently si...2024-08-1055 min
The RadicalistOn the Imane Khelif DebateIn this episode, David Volodzko discusses some of the medical questions surrounding the controversial Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, whether Khelif is trans, and what’s ultimately missing from the debate. Near the end, David references his recent essay on the subject, Raging Bullshit, in which he argues that Khelif’s recent victory against Italian boxer Angela Carini was unjust. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2024-08-0420 min
The RadicalistBarrington Martin II on Uncomfortable RealitiesDavid Volodzko speaks with Barrington Martin II about Covid, the U.S. presidential election, President Biden’s mental state, the attempted assassination of former President Trump, the danger of political drama, racism in America, cancel culture, calming our political monkey mind, inconvenient truths about slavery, the marketplace of ideas, freedom of speech, the transition to the right of many young black American men, and more.Barrington (X) is a philosopher, writer, host of The Barrington Report, and former congressional candidate for Georgia’s 5th District. This is a public episode. If you'd like to disc...2024-07-301h 15
The RadicalistBurning Our Cassandras with Ayaan Hirsi AliDavid Volodzko speaks with Ayaan Hirsi Ali about her new Substack project Restoration, the September 11 attacks, her father’s influence on her views, whether Islam can be reformed, the importance of Saudi Arabia’s political shift, what it would take for the West to win its conflict with subversive powers such as Islamism and Marxism, her conversion to Christianity, how to balance compassion with practical concerns in the immigration debate, the subversion of our universities and news outlets, the moral awakening of October 7, the importance of freedom of speech and civility, the breakdown of the marketplace of ideas, the hero...2024-07-231h 38
The RadicalistIf Trump WinsA shorter version of this essay was originally published as a Substack Note.If Trump wins, it will be because he has an immovable base. There’s nothing he can say to repulse them. At a campaign rally in January 2016, he claimed, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”If Trump wins, it will be because he’s actually funny sometimes. Elizabeth Warren is a Methodist white woman from Massachusetts who tried to prove she is Cherokee with a DNA test that said 0.09% to 1.5%, all becaus...2024-06-2502 min
The RadicalistQueer Majority is Different, Like YouDavid Volodzko speaks with Rio Veradonir about an Enlightenment-based liberal approach to gay rights as opposed to the extremism that characterizes so much activism today, neo-Marxist social justice warriors, the liberal solution to trans athletes and sexual displays at Pride festivals, the strategic mistake Democrats are making in highlighting certain concerns, the misconception that Pride is just for gay people, the importance of the gay community in having a positive relationship with police, declining support for same-sex marriage among Republicans, and much more.Rio Veradonir is the editor-in-chief of Queer Majority, a news outlet that covers issues...2024-06-2451 min
The RadicalistWhy Was Japan Never Colonized?The socialist magazine Jacobin embarrassed itself this week by claiming the new miniseries Shōgun “shows something rarely seen on screen: the shocking hubris of the colonizer and dehumanization of the colonized.”Social media had a field day with this because, as we all know, Japan was not only never colonized but was one of history biggest colonizers. A friend asked me, why was Japan never colonized? Here’s my answer. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/sub2024-03-3006 min
The RadicalistUkraine at the Zero HourDavid Volodzko speaks with Doug Klain (website, X), a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, where he focuses on Russia’s war on Ukraine. He is the former assistant director of the Eurasia Center and currently a policy analyst at the nonprofit Razom for Ukraine.The conversation covers the recent German military leak and what was actually said, the kinds of weapons Ukraine needs, the general state of the war, the impact of U.S. politics, Ukrainian grain exports, a potential Trump presidency, whether Putin will stop at Ukraine if he wins the war, Russ...2024-03-2257 min
The RadicalistPreserving the FireDavid Volodzko speaks with Stefan Tompson, the founder of Visegrád 24, which aggregates and curates news and current affairs on various social media platforms including X, where it currently has over 900,000 followers.The conversation covers disinformation on social media, the Israel-Hamas War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TikTok as a Chinese psyop, the West’s enemies within, the origins of woke progressivism, the glories of Western civilization, the importance of civil discourse, immigration, the beauty of Muslim and black pride, slavery, white guilt, the Jewish community, drag shows, Roman Catholic faith, and more. This is a...2024-03-101h 16
The RadicalistA response to Arash AziziArash Azizi reacted to my recent essay, The Case for Colonizing Gaza, by responding to a troll who had called the essay “blatantly racist,” to which Arash Azizi replied, “It’s not just racist but outright fascist.”There is nothing racist or fascist about it, any more than there was about the U.S. occupation of Germany since that is precisely what I am recommending. Moreover, when he was a guest on this show, he commiserated with me as I described my anguish over the suffering in the Israel-Hamas War, so he knows better than anyone not to accuse...2024-03-0329 min
The RadicalistThe Future of Sci-Fi with David BrinDavid Volodzko speaks with David Brin about comet dust formation, anti-institutionalism in Hollywood, how science-fiction has saved humanity, the moral philosophy of Star Trek, how tolerance and diversity have metastasized into a cancer, the infantile nihilism of Star Wars, how AI may buttress authoritarianism, the sinister laws of Wall Street AI, the existence of alien life, his recent WIRED article on AI, his Newsweek article on “empathy bots,” and much more.David Brin (website, X) is an astrophysicist and NASA consultant whose science-fiction novels have won multiple Hugo, Nebula, and other awards. His books include The Postman, whic...2024-03-021h 02
The RadicalistSeattle in Crisis with Jonathan ChoeJonathan Choe (profile, X) is a journalist and a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center of Wealth and Poverty, where he focuses on the homelessness crisis in Seattle.In our conversation, we talked about Korea, his family life, his firing from KOMO for covering a Proud Boys rally, the pattern of news outlets caving to radical leftists by firing their own journalists, crime in Seattle and the failure of “defund the police,” Seattle’s stalled revitalization efforts, the homeless-industrial complex, the fentanyl epidemic, the pro-Palestinian protests in Seattle and their link to the city’s communist...2024-02-211h 00
The RadicalistDestroying DEI with Ryan RuffanerRyan Ruffaner (Substack, YouTube) is an industrial-organizational psychologist specializing in organizational development and selection systems. He is also a member of the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Ethics (CAPE) in the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychologists (SIOP), a DEI researcher, and a member of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR).His writing on DEI includes the Quillette essay “Ditching Diversity Myths” and Substack essays such as “DEI May INCREASE Surface-Level Divisions, Hurt Information Elaboration” and “DEI Destroys Organizational Justice.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscr...2024-02-201h 08
The RadicalistConfronting Iran with Ramesh SepehrradRamesh Sepehrrad is an Iranian-American international relations and conflict resolutions expert who is also the advisory board chair of the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), a D.C.-based non-profit with 40 chapters nationwide. She is also an adjunct professor of Middle East studies at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore.During our conversation, we discussed Iran’s influence behind October 7, what the U.S. has done right and done wrong in its approach to Iran, the persecution of Sepehrrad’s own family under the Iranian regime, the ongoing protests in the...2024-02-1619 min
The RadicalistRussia Sanctions with Christine AbelyChristine Abely is the author of the new book The Russia Sanctions: The Economic Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine. She is also an assistant professor of contracts and international business transactions at New England Law. Abely (website, university profile, X) formerly worked at several Massachusetts law firms in business litigation and international trade and sanctions law and was an adjunct lecturer at Boston University School of Law. She has written in the areas of compliance, contracts, and international trade and sanctions.In this conversation, Abely explains everything you ever wanted to know about Russia...2024-02-0935 min
The RadicalistGod, Guns, and SeditionBruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware are the authors of God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America.Hoffman is a senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations and has been studying terrorism and insurgency for almost half a century. He is a professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, professor emeritus of terrorism at the University of St. Andrews, and the former corporate chair in counterterrorism at RAND Corporation.Jacob Ware is a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he studies domestic and in...2024-01-301h 07
The RadicalistAmerica's Communist Subversion with Julie BehlingJulie Behling was a Christian missionary in Russia in the late 1990s. She earned a dual master’s in Russian languages and literature as well as Russian and East European studies at Florida State University, working on the side as a Russian language teacher. She wrote her thesis on the survival tactics of underground Christian movements in the Soviet Union. In 2022, she published her book, Beneath Sheep’s Clothing: The Communist Takeover of Culture in the USSR & Parallels in Today’s America. Now she has written and directed a documentary film based on the book. I saw the official traile...2024-01-2757 min
The RadicalistThe Death of the NewspaperThis week, the Los Angeles Times announced that it has laid off at least 115 people, or more than 20% of its newsroom. They did it via Zoom, took no questions, and gave no answers. Jared Servantez, assistant editor of breaking news at the paper, said a colleague told him, “that was like a drive-by.” The L.A. Times is the 5th largest daily in the nation after The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post. This is cataclysmic, not just because of what it will do to the L.A. Times or the breadth and...2024-01-2616 min
The RadicalistThe Brothers WolodzkoWe had Bolsheviks in my family. The brothers Wołodźko. I remembered the story when I saw progressives in the West celebrating Hamas’s atrocities on October 7. How could thinking people persuade themselves they were fighting oppression by justifying the rape and mutilation of 1,400 innocent Jews? How could they give full-throated support to those that would see them raped, enslaved, or beheaded? These are the kind of people, Christopher Hitchens once wrote, who would find a viper in their child’s bed and place the first call to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But he was writin...2024-01-1725 min
The RadicalistTalking to a Palestinian dissidentThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit volodzko.substack.comSam Nara is the author of the book Woke Palestinian Idiot. He lives in the West Bank and has come to understand both sides of the current conflict with more depth and good faith than most people ever will.In this conversation, we discuss how most Palestinians now believe October 7 did not happen, the unparalleled levels of racism in Arab culture, Al Jaz…2024-01-1220 min
The RadicalistThe Lift of a Driving DreamRichard Nixon gave the first speech of his presidential campaign in February 1968 at the New Hampshire Highway Hotel in Concord. It was a volatile time in American life.Then as now, Americans lived with the looming threat of Russian aggression, North Korean hostility, and a distant war against barbaric forces that left American public opinion bitterly divided. So it wasn’t terribly surprising that I was reading the paper on Christmas Eve when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a story in the New York Times suggesting a parallel between the Vietnam protests of...2024-01-0909 min
The RadicalistA taboo conversation with Wilfred ReillyWilfred Reilly is an associate professor of political science at Kentucky State University who is known for fighting dogma with data. His 2019 book Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War, looked at a dataset of 409 allegedly false hate crimes and found that a substantial percentage are hoaxes, such as the Jussie Smollett case.His 2020 book Taboo: 10 Facts [You Can’t Talk About] reviews facts about race, gender, and class that have become taboo in American society.His upcoming book Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me is set to be...2024-01-051h 28
The RadicalistVictims of Communism with Elizabeth SpaldingElizabeth Spalding is the chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) and founding director of the Victims of Communism Museum. She teaches U.S. foreign policy and national security at Pepperdine University and at Hillsdale College, and she is the author of The First Cold Warrior: Harry Truman, Containment, and the Remaking of Liberal Internationalism and co-author with her father Lee Edwards of A Brief History of the Cold War.In this conversation, we discuss North Korea, China, Russia, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn and the centrality of the lie in communist states, the importance of honest journalism and...2023-12-2958 min
The RadicalistOn ConversionThis letter is a response to Benjamin Carlson, the author of the newsletter The Carlson Letter, the former executive editor of The Atlantic and former China correspondent for AFP. His work has also appeared in The New Republic, Esquire, and Rolling Stone, and he was my colleague at GlobalPost. I contacted Ben with the idea of a letter exchange and he selected the topic. Before reading my response below, I suggest starting with his initial letter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v...2023-12-2107 min
The Radicalist4th Generation Warfare with James ScaminaciJames Scaminaci is an independent researcher and former civilian senior intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center (ITAC) and the European Command’s Joint Analysis Center (JAC), specializing in the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, counter-organized crime, and counter-terrorism.He received his PhD in sociology from Stanford University and has written about the Christian Right in America, the Patriot militia movement, the Tea Party, and the concept of fourth-generation warfare.In this conversation, we discuss Hamas’s massacre on October 7, the Christian Right in America, the New Apostolic Reform...2023-12-141h 32
The RadicalistThe Psychology and Sex Life of HitlerAs you can imagine, there has been a lot speculation over Hitler’s psychopathology. Unsurprisingly, his monstrous behavior extended to his personal relationships—and to the bedroom. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-12-1227 min
The RadicalistFIRE's Nico Perrino wants to hear what you have to sayIn this episode, I spoke with Nico Perrino, the executive vice president at FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which was founded in 1999 to protect free speech on college campuses in the United States and has since expanded its efforts beyond campuses to American society in general. As I wrote in my previous post, Fire in the Belly, his organization is “one of the greatest institutions of American democracy.”Nico is also the creator and host of FIRE’s So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, co-director and senior producer of the 2020 documentary “Mighty Ira: A Civil L...2023-12-081h 04
The RadicalistFire in the Belly: A Defense of Free SpeechFrom the beginning of history, our ancestors have practiced the art of storytelling, wrapped in blackness as they huddled around the flickering fire, telling the legends of their people in the warm, crackling glow, passing on the best of themselves. This has always been the way, for we are storytellers.Is it any wonder then that we would seek to protect the very instrument of our being, or that throughout history societies have celebrated and defended our freedom of speech?In the 5th century BC, the practice of speaking freely or parrhesia was a necessary...2023-12-0536 min
The RadicalistOn Fascism and Censorship, Letter TwoThis follows the first letter of my correspondence with Margaret Anna Alice in which we discuss fascism, censorship, and humor. Margaret Anna writes about propaganda, psychology, and health at Margaret Anna Alice Through the Looking Glass. If you find her letter below as fascinating and informative as I do, follow the link to her Stack and subscribe. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-12-0308 min
The RadicalistKris Goldsmith is a combat vet who hunts Nazis on American soilThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.theradicalist.comKris Goldsmith is an Iraq War combat veteran who came home from serving as a forward observer in the slums of Baghdad only to realize he had signed up after 9/11 but never had a chance to do the job he was trained to do. When he came home, he fought in veteran advocacy for 15 years before using his military training to protect freedoms at home by huntin…2023-12-0225 min
The RadicalistWhy is it called the Holocaust?The writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once said, “The duty of the survivor is to bear testimony to what happened. You have to warn people that these things can happen, that evil can be unleashed. Race hatred, violence, idolatries—they still flourish.”Yet the history of the word holocaust itself tells the story of our collective refusal to learn this lesson.This feels to me the proper way to set into a history of the word holocaust, because so much of its history, as you will see, is actually not about Jews, and yet the wo...2023-11-2816 min
The RadicalistSamizdat Online co-founder Yevgeny Simkin brings truth to the peopleYevgeny Simkin is a contributor at The Bulwark and co-founder of Samizdat Online.During the Soviet Union, samizdat was the grassroots practice of evading censorship by reproducing banned publications, often by hand. Samizdat Online is the digital incarnation of this practice, publishing articles from an array of outlets while bypassing firewalls and protecting readers’ anonymity to bring truth to people living under authoritarian rule. Samizdat’s only requirement for publishing articles is that they come from an outlet that has been banned by an autocratic leader.This interview includes two separate conversations, held weeks apart, that...2023-11-271h 28
The RadicalistEnemies of the PeopleWe can defeat Hamas on the battlefield, but we must also fight the rot in Palestinians culture, and in our own, that embraces such ideologies. We must counter those who think Vladimir Lenin, Adolf Hitler, Hamas, and Osama bin Laden are the good guys. These people are our enemies. Thankfully for us, the truth is their enemy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-11-1721 min
The RadicalistDavid Hirsh on left antisemitismIn the wake of the October 7 massacre in Israel, we have seen pro-Hamas activists on the political left celebrate the atrocities. The problem of left antisemitism seems worse now than ever before, or perhaps it has always been lurking just beneath the surface and now the mask has finally slipped.This week, I spoke with the British sociologist David Hirsh, a senior lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, who literally wrote the book on the subject—Contemporary Left Antisemitism, published in 2018, for which I recently wrote a review. Hirsh is also the founder of the Lo...2023-11-141h 57
The RadicalistBook Review: Contemporary Left AntisemitismThere can be no more essential reading now than the 2018 book Contemporary Left Antisemitism by the British sociologist David Hirsh, whose brings to the subject the level of academic rigor required to truly unpack and understand the issue. It is astonishing to see how perfectly Hirsh outlined everything we see before us now.For anyone paying attention to the protests in the West and pro-Hamas rhetoric on the left, this is an absolute must-read. And stay tuned as I plan to publish a two-hour podcast interview with the author in the next day or two. 2023-11-1321 min
The RadicalistGeoffrey Cain on China, Israel and the US leftGeoffrey Cain is an award-winning foreign correspondent and scholar of East Asia. His first book, Samsung Rising: The Inside Story of the South Korean Giant That Set Out to Beat Apple and Conquer Tech, is the definitive text on the world’s largest tech conglomerate. His second book, The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future, is the best available book on the subject. He is a former correspondent for The Economist, a regular commentator in The Wall Street Journal, Time, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, and The Nation, and a...2023-11-101h 11
The RadicalistArash Azizi on what Iranians wantArash Azizi is a writer and historian whose commentary has been published in The New York Times, New York Review of Books, The Washington Post, Newsweek, BBC, Haaretz, The Daily Beast, Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Nation, Al-Jazeera, and more. He holds a PhD in history and Middle Eastern studies from NYU, where his dissertation examined the communist movement in the Middle East during the Cold War. He is a lecturer in political science and history at Clemson University, and a fellow at the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG).Arash’s work has bee...2023-11-0356 min
Townhall Review | Full Interviews & MonologuesThe Terrifying Wide-Eyed Western Support for Genocide | Michele Tafoya with David Josef VolodzkoIn this episode, Michele Tafoya is joined by independent journalist and former university lecturer, David Josef Volodzko, who lost his job at the Seattle Times because of "defending Hitler," even though his family was hunted by Nazis. David talks about his very personal connection to the recent attacks on Israel, and why he is “proud to be American." For more, check out David's substack, 'The Radicalist." 👉Follow Michele on X 👉Follow David Josef Volodzko on XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.2023-11-0235 min
The Michele Tafoya PodcastCancelled by the Seattle TimesHe was fired by the jelly-spined Seattle Times after a few readers didn’t like his social posts. Independent journalist and former university lecturer, David Josef Volodzko, is now the man behind 'The Radicalist', a Substack newsletter about communism, fascism and radical movements. Hear his very personal connection to the recent attacks on Israel, and why he is “proud to be American."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.2023-11-0137 minThe Michele Tafoya PodcastCancelled by the Seattle TimesHe was fired by the jelly-spined Seattle Times after a few readers didn’t like his social posts. Independent journalist and former university lecturer, David Josef Volodzko, is now the man behind 'The Radicalist', a Substack newsletter about communism, fascism and radical movements. Hear his very personal connection to the recent attacks on Israel, and why he is “proud to be American."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.2023-11-0137 min
The RadicalistRazib Khan on Israeli and Palestinian geneticsIn this episode, I brought Razib Khan, writer in population genetics and consumer genomics, back on the show to discuss the genetics of Israelis and Palestinians. Razib explains the genetic differences between various Jewish communities as well as the differences between people from the West Bank and from Gaza. We discuss which groups are most closely tied to the region, where other groups involved actually come from, and what the map would look like today if Europe had never interfered. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...2023-10-2757 min
The RadicalistWhy do I write about Israel?In this episode, I explain my personal connection to Israel, discuss how recent events prove the argument I made that got me fired from The Seattle Times, reflect on my feelings of betrayal by those on the left who have celebrated atrocity in recent weeks, and by those in journalism who helped bring us to this moment. This is an improvised episode with no notes, and my unprepared thoughts wander a bit, but that’s because I wanted to offer something informal and authentic. Thanks for listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to di...2023-10-2632 min
The RadicalistChloé Valdary fights bigotry with loveChloé Valdary is a writer and founder of the company Theory of Enchantment, which provides an innovative form of diversity and inclusion training to companies and government agencies without the toxic ideology that has given mainstream DEI a bad name. Rather than treat people's racial or gender identities as political abstractions, she focuses on the individual and uses and combination of classical philosophy and pop music to work on character development and interpersonal growth.Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic magazine and she has lectured in universities a...2023-10-1351 min
The RadicalistEducation and IndoctrinationDavid Volodzko talks to Kevin Ray about the philosophy of teaching, how Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” has changed education in America, the harms of woke pedagogy, the tragic death of Richard Bilkszto after enduring genocidal rhetoric at the hands of a DEI trainer, and more.Kevin Ray is a theater director and teaching artist with over 20 years of arts education experience in New York City. He has produced and directed Unearthly Visitants, based on ghost stories by Edith Wharton, The Machine Stops, based on the short story by EM Forster, and is now developing a play...2023-10-061h 59
The RadicalistHitler's American FriendsDavid Volodzko speaks with historian Bradley Hart about major Nazi American movements, the religious right, the reaction of the U.S. government and American media, and historical lessons that can help us navigate political challenges in our time.Bradley Hart is the author of Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States. He and his work have been featured and quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Times of Israel and he has appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show, American Experience, and America’s Hidden Stories. This is a...2023-09-2953 min
The RadicalistOn Fascism and Censorship, Letter OneThis begins my letter exchange with Margaret Anna Alice on fascism, censorship and humor. Margaret Anna writes about propaganda, psychology and health with a focus on COVID at Margaret Anna Alice Through the Looking Glass. Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-09-2404 min
The RadicalistHow Black Elites Destroyed BLMDavid Volodzko speaks with Freddie deBoer about the origins of cancel culture, the failure of the Black Lives Matter movement, the impact of education on politics, and more.Freddie deBoer is the author of The Cult of Smart, a book on meritocracy and education, and regularly writes his own Substack. His new book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, explores the failure of the Black Lives Matter movement and how a black managerial class squandered a profound opportunity for racial justice.Please forgive the sudden start and later gaps, there were some connection issues.2023-09-2048 min
The RadicalistRacism at the Ukrainian BorderThe morning after Russia invaded Ukraine, news reports emerged of African and Indian refugees being turned back by Ukrainian border guards for no reason other than sheer racism. I was at the border as those reports were coming out, and as is often the case with such claims, I found there was more to the story. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-09-0411 min
The RadicalistCommie bedtime storiesFolks tend to resist oppression, which is why totalitarianism requires the indoctrination of children. Think of the Hitler Youth. Or the Great Japan Youth Party. Think of the Communist Youth League of China. Or the Komsomol, the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League.Part of this indoctrination process includes doing away with classic children’s stories but then you need to replace those stories with new ones that will impart new values. Proper communist and fascist values. So today, let’s have a quick look at some Soviet children’s literature. This is a public episod...2023-08-1811 min
The RadicalistWhat is fascism?Is Vladimir Putin a fascist? Is China fascist? Is my neighbor who supports mandatory Covid vaccinations a fascist? What is fascism? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-08-1211 min
The Radicalist"We Had Only Our Ignorance"Florida's new school curriculum on slavery is making headlines and part of the discussion has included the claim that the practice of slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, the conclusion of the Civil War, or the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Today on The Radicalist, David reads “We Had Only Our Ignorance,” the personal story of an anonymous former Georgia slave, originally published in Independent magazine on February 25, 1904. The essay details the practice of slavery as it continued to be practiced long after the war was over. This is a pu...2023-08-1118 min
The RadicalistThe contents of Mao's heartOn my bookshelf there is a copy of “Ten Poems & Lyrics by Mao Tse-tung,” translated by Wang Hui-Ming with images of each poem written in Mao’s own brushstrokes.None of the poems are any good. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe2023-08-0903 min
Blocked and ReportedEpisode 175: Is Florida About To Teach Kids That Slavery Was Cool?This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse fact checks VP Kamala Harris on Florida’s social studies curriculum. Plus, the fall of Twitter and the rise of X, the Seattle Times does a cancel culture, and Jesse considers faking his own death. To support the show and get exta content and much more, become a Primo. To buy our very popular merch, shop here.Noah Kulwin calls on Jesse to kill himselfNoah Kulwin calls on the state to arrest Chris Rufo……and put him in the stocks so he can be pel...2023-07-3158 min
Hacks & WonksWeek in Review: July 14, 2023 - with Lex VaughnOn this week-in-review, Crystal is joined by Founder and Editor of The Needling, Lex Vaughn! They discuss a Hitler apologist on The Seattle Times Editorial Board, problematic items on display in a Seattle Police Department break room, complaints filed against Bob Ferguson’s opaque transfer of campaign funds, and WA Republicans wanting to make the long-term care tax optional. The conversation continues with Kshama Sawant’s push for a rent control trigger law, dueling tenant-protection laws on the Tacoma ballot, and former US Attorney Nick Brown’s entrance into the Attorney General race. UPDATE: After the sho...2023-07-1446 min