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9. Trans People Drive Fascists Bananas w/ Sara Rose Caplan
Manage episode 522435408 series 3693310
Donald Trump casually embraces the word “fascist” in front of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and doesn't bat an eye when Mamdani accuses him of funding genocide. This smug absorption of rhetorical confrontation is something we need to think about.
On the same day Mamdani brought socialism discourse to the Oval Office, the Democratic leadership voted in favour of House Resolution 58, “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism,” which features Jordan Peterson’s favorite “100 million deaths” talking point from the dodgy stats of 1997's Black Book of Communism.
But guess what? this same week, the province of Kerala, which has be led by democratically-elected communist parties since 1957, declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty for 64K households through an intensive micro-plan program involving helping folks making like than $3/day get good documents, ration cards, travel allowances, health care, house repairs, and palliative nursing.
And: I'm joined today by trans philosopher and performer Sara Rose Caplan. We explore why trans people drive fascists bananas; fascism as a fear response to freedom and uncertainty; C.T. Nguyen’s idea of “games as existential balm”; the Cassandra feeling of warning about fascism while no one listens; philosophy as “thinking in slow motion”; and why you can’t win arguments with bad-faith actors like Matt Walsh. Part 2 is available now on Patreon.
Sara Rose Caplan is a trans woman, performer, and educator originally from Houston, Texas. She studied philosophy in undergrad before spending a decade in LA as an improv comedian. This fall, she started working on a MA in philosophy at Cal State LA under the mentorship of trans philosopher Talia Mae Bettcher, though she has sadly had to put her studies on hold as she and her wife, also trans, have decided to leave the United States for safer, hopefully less christofascist shores up North.
Sources:
Text - H.Con.Res.58 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Denouncing the horrors of socialism.
The Right Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Zohran Mamdani
Jordan Peterson: The right to be politically incorrect | National Post
The Black Book of Communism Is a Shoddy Work of History
How Kerala eliminated extreme poverty | Brookings
Kerala becomes the first state to eradicate extreme poverty | Peoples Democracy
Links from Sara:
https://equalitytexas.org/give/501c3/
https://hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/lastreetcare
https://www.instagram.com/sararosecaplan
Bluesky: @matthewremski.bsky.social
Instagram: @matthew_remski
YouTube: Antifascist Dad on YouTube
TikTok: @antifascistdad
Support the project/instant access to Pt 2.
Patreon: patreon.com/AntifascistDadPodcast
Preorder the book that this podcast is building toward:
Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times.
If this episode helped you think or talk differently about fascism and gender, you can:
• follow the show in your podcast app
• leave a rating or short review
• share this episode with a friend, comrade, or family member who’s struggling to talk about trans issues and fascism
17 episodes
Manage episode 522435408 series 3693310
Donald Trump casually embraces the word “fascist” in front of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and doesn't bat an eye when Mamdani accuses him of funding genocide. This smug absorption of rhetorical confrontation is something we need to think about.
On the same day Mamdani brought socialism discourse to the Oval Office, the Democratic leadership voted in favour of House Resolution 58, “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism,” which features Jordan Peterson’s favorite “100 million deaths” talking point from the dodgy stats of 1997's Black Book of Communism.
But guess what? this same week, the province of Kerala, which has be led by democratically-elected communist parties since 1957, declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty for 64K households through an intensive micro-plan program involving helping folks making like than $3/day get good documents, ration cards, travel allowances, health care, house repairs, and palliative nursing.
And: I'm joined today by trans philosopher and performer Sara Rose Caplan. We explore why trans people drive fascists bananas; fascism as a fear response to freedom and uncertainty; C.T. Nguyen’s idea of “games as existential balm”; the Cassandra feeling of warning about fascism while no one listens; philosophy as “thinking in slow motion”; and why you can’t win arguments with bad-faith actors like Matt Walsh. Part 2 is available now on Patreon.
Sara Rose Caplan is a trans woman, performer, and educator originally from Houston, Texas. She studied philosophy in undergrad before spending a decade in LA as an improv comedian. This fall, she started working on a MA in philosophy at Cal State LA under the mentorship of trans philosopher Talia Mae Bettcher, though she has sadly had to put her studies on hold as she and her wife, also trans, have decided to leave the United States for safer, hopefully less christofascist shores up North.
Sources:
Text - H.Con.Res.58 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Denouncing the horrors of socialism.
The Right Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Zohran Mamdani
Jordan Peterson: The right to be politically incorrect | National Post
The Black Book of Communism Is a Shoddy Work of History
How Kerala eliminated extreme poverty | Brookings
Kerala becomes the first state to eradicate extreme poverty | Peoples Democracy
Links from Sara:
https://equalitytexas.org/give/501c3/
https://hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/lastreetcare
https://www.instagram.com/sararosecaplan
Bluesky: @matthewremski.bsky.social
Instagram: @matthew_remski
YouTube: Antifascist Dad on YouTube
TikTok: @antifascistdad
Support the project/instant access to Pt 2.
Patreon: patreon.com/AntifascistDadPodcast
Preorder the book that this podcast is building toward:
Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times.
If this episode helped you think or talk differently about fascism and gender, you can:
• follow the show in your podcast app
• leave a rating or short review
• share this episode with a friend, comrade, or family member who’s struggling to talk about trans issues and fascism
17 episodes
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