Stay ConnectedThe Refuse Fascism podcast is an independent and all-volunteer show that produces weekly episodes that expose, analyze, and oppose the very real danger and threat of fascism coming to power in the United States.
Hosted by Sam Goldman, produced by volunteers with Refuse Fascism.
Copyright: © Refuse Fascism
Trump’s presidential memorandum NSPM-7, designating “antifa” as a domestic terrorist threat, was just deployed successfully against eight anti-ICE protesters in Texas, almost one year after a small noise demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE detention center. This is a horrifying precedent accelerating the fascist attack on ALL dissent, and the sentences issued that stack sentences to cumulative amounts of 30 and 50 years send a chilling message to all those who would dissent against this regime.
This week, Sam talks to journalist Adam Federman, reporting fellow with Type Investigations, about this case in Texas as well as the cases brought against protesters in Minneapolis and the voting rights organization in Ohio in recent weeks. Read his piece Exclusive: FBI Files Counter Government Argument in Texas “Antifa” Trial and The War on Protest Is Here. Follow Adam’s work at adamfederman.com. Find out more about the Prairieland case at prairielanddefendants.com.
America At 250: Ruled By An Illegitimate Fascist Regime on Track to Destroy the World
See Action Calendar: July 1 Speakout, 1pm, National Museum of African American History & Culture; July 4 Rally & March, 2 pm, Logan Circle
Mentioned in this episode:
The Supreme Court Once Again Endorses Trump’s Racism by Elie Mystal
A Reckoning with the Future of Resistance by Habiba Farh
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
This week, Sam talks with Paul Street about the continuing danger that comes from an increasingly embattled Trump regime in the aftermath/continuing horror of the Iran war "operation" debacle.
Follow Paul Street on Substack at paulstreet.substack.com.
Mentioned in this episode:
America at 250: Ruled by An Illegitimate Fascist Regime On Track to Destroy the World
What is the Meaning to Humanity of the Fourth of July in the Time of Trump? by Paul Street
Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
It has been six years since we started this podcast (during the height of the Covid pandemic and directly before the nationwide uprising demanding justice for George Floyd), and our mission to refuse fascism has never been more needed! Thank you to everyone who has been with us for the past few years and welcome to new listeners. To get involved with and support the movement that this podcast is just one part of, go to refusefascism.org.
This week, Sam talks with one of the organizers from the Refuse Fascism chapter in NYC about ongoing protests at the site of the Delaney ICE facility in New Jersey, where hundreds of captives have been on a hunger and labor strike since May 22.
Mentioned in this episode:
Juan Proaño: They Call Them “Aliens” So You’ll Forget They’re People
Refuse Fascism: White House Launches Genocidal Website
Associated Press: Alarming surge in suicides among ICE detainees, investigation reveals
Don’t Give Up: A Letter From Delaney Hall
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Sam speaks on the events of the week including the fascist coup fund, the theocratic extravaganza on the national mall, the neo-Nazi mass murder, new green card restrictions, and how to have hope in the face of all that.
Then, she speaks with acclaimed historian and author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi about his new book, Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age.
Mentioned in this episode:
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Sam speaks to members of the Tennessee state legislature about the state's immediate redistricting designed to disempower Black communities in response to the SCOTUS overturning of the VRA, including Sen. Charlane Oliver (who stood on her desk in the chamber with a banner reading "No Jim Crow 2.0" during proceedings) and Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Related episode: Will The People Accept The Jim Crow 2.0?
The World is Counting On Us – read and share this statement from Refuse Fascism
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
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Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Sam and Coco discuss the recent SCOTUS ruling that essentially overturned the Voting Rights Act and re-disenfranchised Black voters, the latest step in nailing together a form of fascist rule in this country. Then they chat about the right way to respond to this crisis. Is it by somehow "voting harder..." or through expanding our imagination to envision and act to bring into being a grassroots groundswell demanding Trump Must Go - and in the process changing the entire political conversation and calculus that everyone in power must respond to?
The World is Counting On Us - read and share this statement from Refuse Fascism
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
Support:
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Sam speaks with Omer Aziz, journalist, lawyer, and former foreign policy advisor. His latest book (published April 28) is Shadows of the Republic: The Rebirth of Fascism in America and How to Defeat It for Good. Stephen King wrote, "Omer Aziz has written a book that should be an alarm bell announcing that the American house is on fire."
Aziz is also the author of Brown Boy, and he has held residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo. Follow his work at omeraziz.com.
The World is Counting On Us - read and share this statement from Refuse Fascism
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
Support:
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
This week Sam speaks with Wayne Besen, longtime activist with Truth Wins Out, the pioneering LGBTQ rights organization that has led the fight against so-called "conversion therapy." They talk about the recent (terrible) Supreme Court ruling on this cruel and anti-scientific quackery and the movement that is needed to stop fascism in the US now.
As MAGA attempts to consolidate fascism across society, Refuse Fascism is gearing up for outpourings in the streets around the country for May 1 (May Day), bringing the message that Trump Must Go Now into the movement so that people feel their power where it really lies (hint: it's not the midterms). Get involved by marching with us on May 1.
Text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
Support:
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
This week we're sharing the recording of the organizing webinar held April 19, hosted by Sam Goldman featuring Refuse Fascism leaders Coco Das and Andy Zee.
From the statement posted to refusefascism.org on April 19:
This May Day must be a day of no business as usual—walking out of work and school and taking to the streets in nonviolent protest to raise the demand TRUMP MUST GO NOW. That is how we draw a clear line: In the name of humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America.
Watch for local details on the action calendar. To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
Support:
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
Sam recaps the moral challenge before all of us living in a country led by a president who just this week explicitly threatened to unleash genocide against a whole people, saying he would "end the whole [Iranian] civilization" unless they bow to his demands.
Join the Refuse Fascism webinar next Sunday April 19 ALL OUT FOR MAY DAY: TRUMP MUST GO NOW!
Then, we share the recording from a recent panel discussion hosted by the Defending Dissent Foundation and the National Lawyers Guild about the Prairieland case, featuring Chip Gibbons (Policy Director at Defending Rights & Dissent and author of the forthcoming critical history of the FBI, The Imperial Bureau), Seth Stern (Chief of Advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation), Dario Sanchez (a Prairieland defendant) and moderated by Xavier T. de Janon (Director of Mass Defense at the National Lawyers Guild and Attorney with People’s Law Collective).
The guilty verdict on federal terrorism charges for activists protesting ICE at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, marks a dangerous win for Trump and the criminalization of dissent. Throughout the 3-week trial in North Texas, prosecutors advanced the baseless claim that “antifa” is a terrorist organization—pointing to political zines and black clothing as supposed evidence. This case delivers a major victory for Trump’s long-running effort to recast a loosely defined political ideology as a domestic terrorist threat.
Find out more at prairielanddefendants.com and follow @dfwsupportcommittee
To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.
Support:
Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown
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