The Chauncey DeVega Show

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Ep. 140: Tim Wise Explores White Identity Politics in the Age of Donald Trump Jun 09, 2017

Show notes

Anti-racism activist, author, and scholar Tim Wise is the guest on this week's edition of The Chauncey DeVega Show. Tim Wise is the author of numerous books including his most recent Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America. He is also the subject of a great new documentary called White Like Me. This is the third time that Tim has stopped by the virtual bar and salon--and our first conversation since the election of Donald Trump. During this episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Tim and Chauncey discuss what Trump's election reveals about white identity politics, the resurgence of "white nationalism" as something "respectable" under Trump's regime, questions of empathy (or not) for Trump's "white working class" voters, and the white backlash to Barack Obama. Maya Rupert is also a guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is the author of a great new essay at The Atlantic about questions of race, gender, and representation in the new Wonder Woman movie. Maya and Chauncey offer their thoughts about Wonder Woman, share some concerns and hopes about the broader DC film universe, and do a little script doctoring along the way. In this week's episode Chauncey DeVega shares some insights about James Comey's testimony before the Senate and wonders if this is all just an episode of the Scooby-Doo cartoon. Chauncey also shares some new research that further demonstrates the power of racism and nativism and bigotry among Trump's "white working class" voters. At the end of this week's episode of the podcast, Chauncey also asks the listeners for advice about reconnecting with some relatives he hasn't spoken to in almost two decades.

Ep. 139: Ruth Ben-Ghiat Analyzes Authoritarianism and Donald Trump's Predatory Masculinity Jun 02, 2017

Show notes

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is a historian at New York University who specializes in authoritarianism, aesthetics, cultural politics, and Italian history. She is the author of numerous books including an upcoming project on authoritarianism and political strongmen. Ben-Ghiat is also a regular contributor to CNN, The Atlantic, and The Huffington Post. During this week's show, Professor Ben-Ghiat and Chauncey discuss Donald Trump's rise to power, authoritarianism and American politics, the global color line, masculinity, and how violence is a central component of Donald Trump's appeal for his voters. In this week's episode Chauncey DeVega offers some thoughts on the recent white supremacist murders in Portland as well as Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Chauncey also gives out a special prize for the "prank monkeys" who fell for Trump's "covfefe" foolishness. For this special fundraising episode of the podcast Chauncey responds to some questions sent in by listeners about white privilege and white supremacy as well as how best to resist Trump's fascist foot soldiers. Chauncey also has fun reading hate mail from a white supremacist.

Ep. 138: Bandy Lee Sounds the Alarm about Donald Trump's Mental Health May 24, 2017

Show notes

Psychiatrist Bandy Lee is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is a psychiatrist at Yale University who specializes in public health and violence prevention. She recently convened a conference which explored questions related to Donald Trump's mental health and how psychiatrists and psychologists should respond to this crisis. The proceedings from this conference will be featured in a forthcoming book due out later this year.

During this week's show Dr. Lee and Chauncey discuss how mental health practitioners have an obligation to the public, the so-called "Goldwater rule", Trump's apparent emotional and mental health challenges, what compelled his voters to follow him, and the dangers he poses to the American people and the world.

Science fiction and horror writer, podcaster, and aficionado Alasdair Stuart is also a guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show and stops by to share his thoughts on the new movie Alien: Covenant.

In this week's episode Chauncey DeVega discusses the syphilitic emperor Donald Trump and his continuing efforts to cover-up how he is Russia's Manchurian candidate, Trump's evil federal budget, and the murderous violence and hatred inspired by Donald Trump and his fascist movement. This week's victim: Richard W. Collins III, a young African-American with a bright future ahead of him who was stabbed to death by a white supremacist in Maryland.

Ep. 137: Naveed Jamali Explains How Russia Could Have Infiltrated Trump's White House May 19, 2017

Show notes

Counterintelligence expert Naveed Jamali, who is the author of the new book How to Catch a Russian Spy, is a guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He shares his experiences as a double agent who worked as a counter-espionage officer against the Russians, his insights on how the Russians and other countries go about "flipping" citizens to work against their own nation, concerns about the 2016 presidential election, and the ways that Trump's inner circle may have been manipulated (or not) by Putin's spies.

In this week's episode, Chauncey does his best to make sense of the flood of information about how Donald Trump has obstructed justice and the many ways that the "deep state" has a traitorous president in their sights. Several days ago, Donald Trump also claimed that he is the victim of a "witch hunt" by his enemies. In response, Chauncey takes up this challenge and uses his vast knowledge of witchcraft and the occult to determine if Donald Trump is in fact a witch (or a warlock).

Ep. 136: Rachel Dolezal Explains "Transracial" Identity and Her Journey From "Black" to "White" May 11, 2017

Show notes

Rachel Dolezal is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is an anti-racism and human rights activist who is most well-known for the controversy surrounding her decision to live as a "black" woman even though she was born "white". Rachel is also the author of the new book In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.

During this week's show, Rachel and Chauncey discuss the concept of "transracial" identity, Rachel's childhood, how she discovered her affinity for black people, what it is like to be a target for public scorn, and her thinking about how race is just a social construct and that individuals should be free to perform whatever racial or other social identity they feel most comfortable with.

Counter-intelligence expert Naveed Jamali who is the author of the new book How to Catch a Russian Spy is also a guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He shares his thoughts about the Donald Trump and how the Russian government likely recruited National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to work as their covert agent and what this means for the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

In this week's episode, Chauncey offers an extended commentary about how Donald Trump is orchestrating a coup against American democracy, how his firing of Comey is a Constitutional crisis of the first order, and ponders if the American people are lions or sheep.

Ep. 135: Scott Snyder Shares His Thoughts on Writing Batman, Politics, and "Diversity" in Comic Books May 06, 2017

Show notes

Scott Snyder is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is an award-winning writer of graphic novels such as All-Star Batman, Detective Comics, American Vampire, The Wake and Swamp Thing. During this week's show, Scott and Chauncey discuss what it is like to write an iconic character such as Batman, questions of "diversity" and "inclusion" in comic books, the craft of storytelling and world-building, and how politics and the rise of Donald Trump should (or should not) be reflected in comic books and popular culture more generally.

Friend of the podcast Bill the Lizard also stops by The Chauncey DeVega Show as well. Bill offers his thoughts on the controversy about the new Marvel comics storyline where Captain America is an agent of Hydra (i.e. a Nazi). Bill and Chauncey also talk offer some thoughts on the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie trailer. In this week's podcast, Chauncey is angry that his enemies gave him cooties, shares some thoughts on how the Republican Party wants to kill poor and sick people, and ponders what quotes from the movie "Patton" that the ghouls in the Republican Party used to motivate themselves prior to their vote to destroy the Affordable Care Act on Thursday.

Ep. 134: Timothy Snyder Explains How to Fight Back Against Donald Trump Apr 28, 2017

Show notes

Historian Timothy Snyder is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is an award-winning professor of history at Yale University and author of numerous books including Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin as well as Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. His newest book isOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. During this week's show, Professor Synder and Chauncey discuss how American Exceptionalism is a lie that helped to pave the way for Donald Trump's regime, how best to describe Trump's politics, and how the public discourse in the United States remains unable to properly grasp the threat to democracy posed by this crisis in democracy. Professor Snyder and Chauncey also talk about the allure of Antisemitism for Trump's White House, what resistance should look like in this moment, and how long American democracy has before it fully succumbs to authoritarianism. In this week's podcast, Chauncey talks about going to C2E2 in Chicago and in the interest of public decency offers some fashion advice for cosplayers. Chauncey also shares a story about financial insecurity among older Americans and plays an audio recording from the legendary Studs Terkel about how African-Americans would try to help poor white people in the South during the Great Depression.

Ep. 133: Henry Giroux Explains How the Culture of Cruelty Helped to Elect Donald Trump Apr 21, 2017

Show notes

Philosopher Henry Giroux is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is one of the leading authorities on critical pedagogy and what he describes as the "culture of cruelty" in the United States. Dr. Giroux has written many books and articles including America at War with Itself and the forthcoming The Public in Peril: Trump and the Menace of American Authoritarianism. During this week's show, Henry and Chauncey discuss neo-fascism in America and the election of Donald Trump, the culture of cruelty and its assault on the commons, neoliberalism, the surveillance society, and how loneliness and bigotry influenced Trump's voters. Henry and Chauncey also talk about their working class roots and how that has impacted their politics and writing. Of course, given his love of cinema, Dr. Giroux makes some suggestions about recent films that both inform and reflect the current political moment. In this week's podcast, Chauncey shares some thoughts about Bill O'Reilly's departure from Fox News and reads the court transcript of his infamous "falafel" sexual harassment lawsuit. And Chauncey continues sharing a newspaper story from the Chicago Tribune about the "hilbilly" panic from the 1950s--this time with letters to the editor.

Ep. 132: Sheldon Solomon Explains How Death Anxieties and Existential Angst Helped to Elect Donald Trump Apr 15, 2017

Show notes

Psychologist Sheldon Solomon is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is a leading authority on social psychology and helped to develop what is known as "terror management theory". Dr. Solomon has written numerous books and articles including In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror and The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. During this week's show Sheldon and Chauncey discuss how existential angst and death anxieties influenced Trump's voters, Trump and destruction, how emotion can overcome reason in political decision-making, can any headway be made in bringing Trump's deplorables and other supporters back to normal society and reason, if individuals and cultures truly change, as well as the lack of expert voices on the role of psychology and politics in the mass media. On this week's show, Chauncey shares some thoughts about being an only child and product of the working class, explains how White House spokesperson Sean Spicer is an anti-Semite and Holocaust-denier, and offers some thoughts about the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer and also the amazing second season of the Hap and Leonard television show. Chauncey also reads a newspaper story from the Chicago Tribune about how "hillbillies" were overrunning the city during the 1950s.

Ep. 131: Philip Zimbardo Explains What the Stanford Prison Experiment Can Tell Us About America and Donald Trump Today Apr 06, 2017

Show notes

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is one of the world's leading authorities on social dominance behavior and group dynamics. Most famous for the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, Dr. Zimbardo has written dozens of books and articles including the most recent "The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life" and "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil". His new work examines heroism and the ability of individuals to contribute to the Common Good by being socially conscious and present in their day-to-day decision-making.

During this week's show, Dr. Zimbardo and Chauncey discuss the rise of Donald Trump and his impact on America's culture, bullying behavior by children, what does it mean to be a "hero", how to do small things to improve the world, and his reflections on the Stanford Prison Experiment.

On this week's show, Chauncey also shares some thoughts about last weekend's Wrestlemania event, offers some comments about his widely read essay about Bernie Sanders and liberal racism, reads some hate mail and also one of the greatest comments about the vileness of Donald Trump and his inner cabal ever to be found on the Internet.

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