EPISODE · Aug 25, 2023 · 44 MIN
How Both Parties Work for ‘Tyranny, Inc.’
from Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté · host Useful Idiots, LLC
Click here for the full interview with Sohrab Ahmari: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/how-both-parties-work-for-tyranny?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Read Tyranny, Inc. here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708057/tyranny-inc-by-sohrab-ahmari/ For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: NATO Pinky Swears that it's a "Defensive Alliance" https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/nato-pinky-swears-that-its-a-defensive?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat After claims of fraud in the 2020 election and the rise of Trump’s pseudo-populist wing of the GOP, Sohrab Ahmari wrote Tyranny, Inc. In the book, the journalist and founding editor of Compact magazine gives a tour of our political economy from the point of view of ordinary people who faced private tyranny and paid the price for it. Private being the key word. Ahmari, even as a conservative columnist for the NY Post, can sometimes sound more leftist than some Congressional progressives. “Conservatives are quite used to thinking of government as the only potential source of coercion,” Ahmari tells us, “so the fact that a segment of the right was suddenly alert to what big tech could do to you, seemed to me an opening to say, ‘Hey, let me show you other kinds of private coercion which are less visible, but all the more insidious.’” Sohrab Ahmari’s in-depth reporting and bipartisan critiques emerge as some mix of conservative populism and Marxist theory. It’s a fascinating perspective that, in a world ruled by tech censorship and private coercion, is increasingly rare to hear anywhere other else than on Useful Idiots. Watch the full interview to hear his response to Jacobin excluding him from a left-right coalition because of his cultural views, Oliver Anthony’s controversial country song, the actual difference between his critique of capitalism and the leftist one, and the unprecedented support by the US so-called left of the military industrial complex and the Ukraine proxy war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesOur Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
What this episode covers
Click here for the full interview with Sohrab Ahmari: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/how-both-parties-work-for-tyranny?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Read Tyranny, Inc. here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708057/tyranny-inc-by-sohrab-ahmari/ For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: NATO Pinky Swears that it's a "Defensive Alliance" https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/nato-pinky-swears-that-its-a-defensive?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat After claims of fraud in the 2020 election and the rise of Trump’s pseudo-populist wing of the GOP, Sohrab Ahmari wrote Tyranny, Inc. In the book, the journalist and founding editor of Compact magazine gives a tour of our political economy from the point of view of ordinary people who faced private tyranny and paid the price for it. Private being the key word. Ahmari, even as a conservative columnist for the NY Post, can sometimes sound more leftist than some Congressional progressives. “Conservatives are quite used to thinking of government as the only potential source of coercion,” Ahmari tells us, “so the fact that a segment of the right was suddenly alert to what big tech could do to you, seemed to me an opening to say, ‘Hey, let me show you other kinds of private coercion which are less visible, but all the more insidious.’” Sohrab Ahmari’s in-depth reporting and bipartisan critiques emerge as some mix of conservative populism and Marxist theory. It’s a fascinating perspective that, in a world ruled by tech censorship and private coercion, is increasingly rare to hear anywhere other else than on Useful Idiots. Watch the full interview to hear his response to Jacobin excluding him from a left-right coalition because of his cultural views, Oliver Anthony’s controversial country song, the actual difference between his critique of capitalism and the leftist one, and the unprecedented support by the US so-called left of the military industrial complex and the Ukraine proxy war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Our Sponsors: * Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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How Both Parties Work for ‘Tyranny, Inc.’
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