Know Your Enemy
Jan 7, 2021
TEASER: Storming the Capitol
Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemy to hear this and all our bonus content. Matt and Sam analyze the Trumpist "siege" on the Capitol on our latest bonus episode.
More episodes from Know Your Enemy
Feb 26, 2021
TEASER: Keeping up with the Bozells
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From the union-busting, ad-man scion (Brent Sr.), to the fiercely brilliant and troubled _National Review_ editor-turned-Catholic zealot (Brent Jr.), to the insipid media watchdog and Trump apologist (Brent III), and finally, to the ball-cap-wearing January 6 capitol siege participant (Brent IV, aka "Zeeker") — the Bozell epic has all the elements of a great family saga: pathos, intrigue, tragedy, farce, decline, and even a bit of redemption.
In classic KYE fashion, we over-prepared and over-imbibed to bring you this story. Please enjoy responsibly!
Feb 21, 2021
How to Survive a Pandemic (w/ Peter Staley)
Matt and Sam have an in-depth conversation with HIV/AIDs activist Peter Staley to get his perspective on Dr. Anthony Fauci's role in America's response to two of the most devastating public-health emergencies of recent decades: the AIDS crisis and the pandemic that began nearly one year ago. They discuss how Peter got his start in ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in New York City in the 1980s, what the group was fighting for, his run-ins with Pat Buchanan, Jesse Helms, and other rightwing rogues, and how he came to know Fauci. How does Peter understand Fauci's role in the Trump administration's response to the pandemic? Should Fauci have resigned? What good was he able to do? And how does his experience as an activist inform his views about working with government officials on the "inside"?
Watch:
_How to Survive a Plague__ _(the 2012 documentary about ACT UP in which Peter figures prominently)
Read:
Sam Adler-Bell, "Dr. Do-Little: The Case Against Anthony Fauci," _The Drift_, February 4, 2021
"A Timeline of the Coronavirus Pandemic," _New York Times_, January 10, 2021
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Feb 11, 2021
UNLOCKED: Midnight in the Garden of American Heroes
Matt and Sam explain West Coast Straussianism, the school of thought behind one of the last acts of the Trump administration: its publication of the "1776 Report," the Right's shabby response to the 1619 Project and blueprint for how the American Founding should be understood and taught. What are the origins of this school of conservative thought? Why are its adherents so enthusiastic about Trump? How do they understand the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and U.S. history? And why are they obsessed with "identity politics"?
Sources:
Harry Jaffa, "American Conservatism and the Present Crisis," _Claremont Review of Books_, Spring 2003
Publius Decius Mus, "The Flight 93 Election," _Claremont Review of Books_, September 2016
Steven Smith, "Hidden Truths," _New York Times, _August 23, 2013
John J. Miller, "The House of Jaffa," _National Review_, January 12, 2015
Kathryn and Michael Zuckert, _The Truth about Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy and American Democracy_ (University of Chicago Press, 2006)