Protest, Pop Culture and the Alt-Right: Jarrod Shanahan on a Decade of Upheaval

Sept. 29, 2025

We join Jarrod Shanahan as he reflects on a decade of struggle, and shares his experiences with and analysis of Trumpism and the alt-right.

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On this episode of Cosmopod, Isaac and Jack talk with Jarrod Shanahan about his new book, Every Fire Needs a Little Bit of Help: A Decade of Rebellion, Reaction, and Morbid Symptoms. From Occupy to Black Lives Matter to the George Floyd Rebellion, Shanahan reflects on a decade of struggle, and shares his experiences with and analysis of Trumpism and the alt-right. We explore lessons from mass movements, the fate of abolitionist politics, pop culture’s apocalyptic turn, the connections between today’s cultural landscape and the 1970s, the legacies of Noel Ignatiev, and what it means to build revolutionary organization in a time of crisis.

References:
Don Hamerquist - A Brilliant Red Thread
Elizabeth Henson - Phantom Pheminists
The film Betrayed (1998)

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