The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show
New York Times Opinion
The Rise of ‘Middle-Finger Politics’
Donald Trump can seem like a political anomaly. You sometimes hear people describe his connection with his base in quasi-mystical terms. But really, Trump is an example of an archetype — the right-wing populist showman — that recurs across time and place. There’s Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Javier Milei in Argentina. And there’s a long lineage of this type in the United States too. So why is there this consistent demand for this kind of political figure? And why does this set of qualities — ethnonationalist politics and an entertaining style — repeatedly appear at all? John Ganz is the writer of the newsletter Unpopular Front and the author of the forthcoming book “When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s.” In this conversation, we discuss how figures like David Duke and Pat Buchanan were able to galvanize the fringes of the Republican Party; Trump’s specific brand of TV-ready charisma; and what liberals tend to overlook about the appeal of this populist political aesthetic. _This episode contains strong language._ Mentioned: “Right-Wing Populism” by Murray N. Rothbard “The ‘wave’ of right-wing populist sentiment is a myth” by Larry Bartels “How we got here” by Matthew Yglesias Book Recommendations: What Hath God Wrought? by Daniel Walker Howe After Nationalism by Samuel Goldman The Politics of Cultural Despair by Fritz R. Stern Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing from Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.
1 hr 18 min
Morbid
Morbid
Morbid Network | Wondery
Episode 551: Happy Land Social Club Arson
On the evening of March 24, 1990, nearly one hundred patrons gathered to celebrate Carnivale at the Happy Land Social Club, a small informal night club in the Bronx that catered to a mostly Honduran clientele. The evening took a deadly turn when, around 3:30 am, an explosion of fire roared up the stairway leading to the second-floor club, blocking the only exit from the building and trapping the patrons in a room rapidly filling with toxic smoke and fire. It’s unknown how many patrons managed to escape the fire, but by the time the fire department had extinguished the blaze, eighty-seven people were dead. Thank you to the amazing Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research! References Barbanel, Josh. 1990. "Bronx social club's sublease: How a firetrap skirted the line." New York Times, March 28: B1. —. 1990. "Tracing the club's owners." New York Times, March 27: B2. Barron, James. 1990. "The living search the faces of the dead." New York Times, March 26. Blumenthal, Ralph. 1990. "Fire in the Bronx; 87 die in blaze at illegal club." New York Times, March 26. Gelman, Mitch, Alexis Jetter, and Beth Holland. 1990. "87 die in arson called act of spurned lover." Newsday, March 26: 3. Gilbert, Allison. 2020. "A faded tragedy's long shadow." New York Times, March 29. Golden, Tim. 1990. "In the saddest way, New York learns about Hondurans." New York Times, April 1. Hernandez, Raymond. 1995. "Survivors call settlement 'unjust'." New York Times, July 7. Hevesi, Dennis. 1992. "Guilty plea by landlord in fire case." New York Times, May 9. Hirsch, James. 1988. "Most social clubs run the gamut of illegality." New York Times, August 22. Kerr, Peter. 1986. "Social Clubs: Modern Mob still uses a few as offices." New York Times, April 15. Lambert, Bruce. 1991. "Confession tape on Bronx blaze is heard by jury." New York Times, August 1. Lorch, Donatella. 1991. "Ex-girlfriend recalls threat before flames." New York Times, July 31. —. 1991. "Witness tells of visit by Happy Land fire suspect." New York Times, July 31. Maykuth, Andrew. 1990. "N.Y. fire suspect described as 'down to his last hope'." Philadelphia Inquirer, 03 27: 1. McFadden, Robert. 1990. "The Knights of the Padlock Sweep Forth." New York Times, March 31. New York Times. 1990. "7 victims: their stories, struggles and dreams of better lives." New York Times, March 29. Nieves, Evelyn. 1991. "Refugee found guilty of killing 87 in Bronx Happy Land fire." New York Times, August 20. People of the State of New York v. Julio Gonzalez. 1995. 163 Misc. 2d 950 (New York Supreme Court, Bronx County, February 10). Purdy, Matthew. 1995. "More than five years after the arson fire at the Happy Land Social Club..." New York Times, July 7. Roberts, Sam. 2016. "Julio Gonzalez, arsonist who killed 87 at a nightclub in the Bronx, dies at 61." New York Times, September 15. Schanberg, Sydney. 1990. "Please, some respect for 87 who died." Newsday, April 13: 62. Stanley, Alessandra. 1991. "At Happy Land mass-murder trial, days of tears, humor and boredom." New York Times, July 28. Stanley, Allessandra. 1990. "25 years to life for the arsonist at Happy Land." New York Times, September 20. Strom, Stephanie. 1990. "Hispanic residents rally against closing of social clubs." New York Times, April 6. Terry, Don. 1990. "Social club crackdown is the latest in a series." New York Times, March 26: A1. Wichers, Christine. 1990. "Male violence the real cause of Bronx fire." New York Times, April 10. THE BUTCHER GAME will be released on September 17th, 2024! To Pre-order go to (https://zandoprojects.com/books/the-butcher-game/) PLUS! If you preorder the book, get an autographed poster  while supplies last by visiting (http://thebutchergame.com/) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1 hr 20 min
Radiolab
Radiolab
WNYC Studios
Finding Emilie
This is a segment we first aired back in 2011. In it, we hear a story of a very different kind of lost and found. Alan Lundgard, a college art student, fell in love with a fellow art student, Emilie Gossiaux. Nine months after Alan and Emilie made it official, Emilie's mom, Susan Gossiaux, received a terrible phone call from Alan. Together, Susan and Alan tell Jad and Robert about the devastating fork in the road that left Emilie lost in a netherworld, and how Alan found her again. Then, at the end of the episode, and a full decade later, we catch up with Emilie and talk about her art, her heart, a dog named London, and the movie The Fifth Element. EPISODE CITATIONS - Exhibitions: Emilie L. Gossiaux - Other-Worlding (https://queensmuseum.org/exhibition/other-worlding/) at the Queen’s County Museum, through April, 7th, 2024. _Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!_ _Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today._ _Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org._ _Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation._
39 min
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