Antifascist Dad Podcast

Happy Solstice, Holiday, Christmas, Deep Winter, Chanukkah, Kwanzaa to you all. A familiar short story today, this time ending in revolution—not sentimentality. Notes: H.C. Andersen : The Little Match Girl (Hersholt translation) Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AntifascistDadPodcast  TikTok and YouTube: @antifascistdad  You can still pre-order my book and as a gift, and let them know in a card! Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:06:42) - Little Match Girl: a Rewrite

In Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano, we move from the critique of debate and “critical thinking” into the deeper question: what actually radicalizes us? Sarah talks about the moments that changed her politics—teaching in prisons, supporting a student after sexual violence—and why no amount of abstract knowledge could have done the same work. I share how parenting an autistic kid has transformed my sense of who the world is designed for, and what it means to resist capitalist norms around productivity, learning, and success. Also: why televised debates and “reasoning as warfare” formats (ahem, Jubilee) are great entertainment but terrible tools for social change, how the marketplace-of-ideas myth functions as liberal ideology, and why protest rarely changes governments or “the public” directly, but can permanently change the protesters themselves. For Lubrano, good politics looks a lot like good friendship: long-term, non-transactional, joyful where possible. She offers advice to a hypothetical 15-year-old on how to enter political life without burning out: learn to be a good friend, find a broken part of the world you care about, and commit to fixing it together. I close with an in-person story about meeting my previous guest, Sarah Rose Kaplan, and watching her improv a small act of mutual aid with three hungry kids in a Toronto restaurant—a live illustration of Lubrano’s thesis that new social experiences can change lives. Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano is a political theorist and organizer with a background in feminist mutual aid, local grassroots work, and teaching in prisons. She holds a PhD from Oxford and a master’s degree from Cambridge, and works with the Sense and Solidarity Initiative and the Future Narratives Lab. Her first book is Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds (Bloomsbury). – Website: https://www.sarahsteinlubrano.com – Substack: https://sarahsteinlubrano.substack.com – X (Twitter): https://x.com/SSteinLubrano – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahsteinlubrano/ – Sense and Solidarity Initiative: https://senseandsolidarity.org – Sense & Solidarity podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/2dcKkTCJNZM2j2CLKJZS3W Buy Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds – Publisher (Bloomsbury – main hub): https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/dont-talk-about-politics-9781399413923/ – Support the pod on Patreon! – Preorder: Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (out April 26, 2026).  – TikTok: @AntiFascistDad – If you have an antifascism story to share—especially about relationships, generations, or parenting—leave me a voice message on Signal at username: antifascistdad71. Chapters (00:03:05) - What Really Changes Our Minds?(00:06:47) - Criticism of Argument as Warfare(00:12:35) - Liberal's Biggest Mistake(00:18:08) - The Long Term Strategy of Occupy(00:21:46) - What Would You Tell the 15 Year Old About Political Life?(00:25:06) - I Met Friend of the Pod Sara Rose Kaplan IRL!

I asked communist philosopher and jazz drummer Richard Gilman-Opalsky a deceptively simple question: What do we actually mean when we say “love”?  Richard’s "Communism of Love," insists that love is an active, non-exchange relation that contradicts the logic of capitalism. You can’t measure or spreadsheet it, or cost it out. Unfortunately, this fact can also curdle into an excuse for sidelining and ignoring the vast amount of unpaid, often gendered, domestic labor—the "secret workshop" described by feminist marxists—where the concept of love is abused and "weaponized" to justify working for free, claiming that love is its own reward. We talk about how real caregiving love requires parents to actively participate in their children's becoming—what they are not yet. That means getting over the anxiety of control and the tendency to treat children as emotional/financial investments. Parenting, like revolutionary politics and improvisational jazz, requires a constant, collective improvisation and a love for possibilities over rigid predetermined structures. In “Fascist, Squish, and Antifascist News of the Week” I focus on Ontario Premier Doug Ford responding to reporting about a Canadian armored vehicle manufacturer supplying ICE. Part Two is up now on Patreon, where Richard and I go deeper into improvisation, music, and why fascist control hates the freedom required for human flourishing. Richard Gilman-Opalsky at UIS  Support the show and hear Part Two on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast Show Notes: Canadian Defence Review. “Roman Shimonov: 2025 Defence Executive of the Year.” Canadian Defence Review, 2025.https://canadiandefencereview.com/roman-shimonov-2025-defence-executive-of-the-year/ Canadian Press. “ICE Ordering Fleet of 20 Armoured Vehicles from Canadian Firm.” CityNews Halifax, December 2, 2025.https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/12/02/ice-ordering-fleet-of-20-armoured-vehicles-from-canadian-firm/ Canadian Press. “ICE Says Armoured Vehicles Ordered from Roshel Produced in U.S.” CityNews Toronto, December 4, 2025.https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/12/04/ice-says-armoured-vehicles-ordered-from-roshel-produced-in-u-s/ Canadian Press. “Sale of Canadian Armoured Vehicles to ICE Agency ‘Deeply Troubling’: Kwan.” CityNews Toronto, December 3, 2025.https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/12/03/sale-of-canadian-armoured-vehicles-to-ice-agency-deeply-troubling-kwan/ CPAC. “NDP MP Jenny Kwan Discusses Arms Exports Bill (C-233).” Headline Politics, September 19, 2025.https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/ndp-mp-jenny-kwan-discusses-arms-exports-bill--september-19-2025?id=755fc44b-a0b7-4bb1-b972-855c673ec354 Duggan, Kyle. “Anita Anand Won’t Say Whether Canada Would Block Export of Armoured Vehicles for Use by ICE.” The Globe and Mail, December 2025.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/pol... Chapters (00:00:00) - The Communism of Love with Richard Gilman Opalski(00:01:47) - Canadian Arms to Fascists(00:12:34) - Interview(00:15:16) - Antifascist Dad: Love and the Right(00:16:16) - Defining Love in the Culture(00:20:51) - The Capitalist Theory of Love(00:30:12) - Uncertainty and Parenting

In part two, Sara and I open with the question Matt Walsh can’t stop weaponizing: “What is a woman?” Sara walks me through her one-woman show that answers Walsh by shifting the frame to a deceptively simple word—“chair.” Through a live game with the audience, she demonstrates how even basic terms are messy, negotiated, and context-bound, and how fascist language games depend on pretending that words like “woman” have timeless, universal meanings. We dig into why bad-faith questions are a form of bullying, what it means to feel the ground of language fall away under your feet, and how that eerie feeling can also open up freedom and solidarity. We talk about affect as antifascist strategy—why Sara cultivates a calm, philosophical delivery online, how it relates to depression, privilege, and safety, and how it offers a model of trans dignity that refuses both panic and “debate me, bro” energy. I end with a reflection on coming to understand gender performativity as a cis guy. Links from Sara:https://equalitytexas.org/give/501c3/https://hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/lastreetcarehttps://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 Chapters (00:00:09) - Anti-Fascist Dad: Trans People Drive Fascists Bananas(00:01:56) - What is a Matt Walsh?(00:12:20) - Does Philosophy Help Manage Anger?(00:19:56) - Queer Advice for 13 Year Olds

What if the entire “marketplace of ideas” story about how people change their minds is mostly wrong? In this episode, I talk with political theorist and organizer Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano about why debate, podcasts, and “critical thinking” rarely shift anyone’s core political commitments. Sarah and I dig into her book Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds, the limits of political education, the classed nature of “critical thinking,” cognitive dissonance and cult dynamics, and why good politics begins with friendships, cooperative projects, and building a different world together. Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano is a political theorist and organizer with a background in feminist mutual aid, local grassroots work, and teaching in prisons. She holds a PhD from Oxford and a master’s degree from Cambridge. Sarah works with the Sense and Solidarity Initiative and the Future Narratives Lab. Her first book is Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds (Bloomsbury). Website: https://www.sarahsteinlubrano.com Substack  https://sarahsteinlubrano.substack.com  X (Twitter): https://x.com/SSteinLubrano  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahsteinlubrano/  Sense and Solidarity Initiative: https://senseandsolidarity.org  Sense & Solidarity podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2dcKkTCJNZM2j2CLKJZS3W  Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds: https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/dont-talk-about-politics-9781399413923/ (Bloomsbury Publishing) Mentioned in this episode– Olivia Nuzzi, American Canto– Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (audio excerpt)– Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails and the origins of cognitive dissonance theory– Thomas Kelly’s archival critique of Festinger’s study (discussed further on Conspirituality)– System justification theory– Aristotle on friendship and the “friend of virtue”– The Dig podcast (as a political education project)– The School of Life – Please leave a rating and review so more people can find the show!– Preorder my book Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (out April 26, 2026)– Become a supporter on Patreon.– If you have an antifascism story to share – especially about relationships, generations, or parenting – leave me a voice message on Signal at username: antifascistdad71. Chapters (00:00:38) - Don't Talk About Politics With Sarah Stein Lubrano(00:02:50) - Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto(00:07:14) - "Don't Talk About Politics"(00:12:50) - How Do People Change Their Minds?(00:17:42) - What's Hard in the World?(00:26:44) - Cognitive dissonance and the conversion(00:38:54) - Fascist Dad of the Week

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/lastreetcarehttps://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  ... Chapters (00:02:58) - Trump Is Making the F word Okay(00:06:33) - House Resolution 58 Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism(00:17:54) - Intro: Sara Rose Caplan(00:18:39) - Why Do Trans People Drive Fascists bananas?(00:27:26) - What Does It Mean to Be Trans in America?(00:34:08) - Why I Studied Philosophy(00:39:19) - Matt Walsh on Philosophy

In Part 2, David and I go deeper into the contradictions, tensions, and possibilities of the Catholic Church at this political moment. We discuss ideological purity, coalition building, critiques of capitalism, the role of synodality, and how leftists and religious radicals can meet each other in common struggle. What are the spiritual and emotional dimensions of direct action? What gives people courage to resist? The effort to bring communion to detainees is not a stunt but a deeply rooted pastoral act grounded in human rights, sacramental practice, and a public demonstration of both humility and defiance. What happens when people of very different beliefs show up at the same protest? What does collaboration look like when disagreements run deep? What happens if coalitions fracture? The right is always ready to fill the vacuum when the left stumbles backwards. Finally: a diary entry on post (?) religious antifascist parenting. David's excellent podcast on Liberation Theology Chapters (00:00:08) - Anti-Fascist Father(00:04:02) - The Mass Against ICE Detention(00:13:25) - Lazarus and Violence in the Catholic Church(00:26:12) - The issues of labor and social justice(00:27:01) - A More Joyful Side to Political Action(00:31:53) - Pope Francis on Fighting for Christ(00:32:39) - The Value of Religion for Our Kids

I posted a short reflection to TikTok last week, and it landed harder than I expected. It’s about the emotional double-life I believe many of us are living: one foot in the adult world of political vigilance and despair, and one foot in the child-world of curiosity, play, and care. Today I’m expanding that theme and pairing it with another challenge: how suspicion-driven Left analysis shapes our emotional availability, our social trust, and our parenting. How do we balance vigilance with openness? How do we keep our melancholy from becoming our children’s inheritance? And how do we stop feeling like orphans in a world where radical elders have been scattered, suppressed, or lost? I’d love to hear your experience with this: Best way: send me a voice memo on Signal @antifascistdad.71. Try to keep messages under 2 minutes! You can also DM me on Bluesky and Instagram, or join me on Patreon @antifascistdadpodcast where my DMs are open. I’m also on TikTok and YouTube @antifascistdad. Preorder link for Antifascist Dad (North Atlantic Books, April 2026)

Just a coupla antifascist Canadian dads having a chat about stuff.  In this special crossover episode, I join Cory Johnston of the Skeptical Leftist podcast for a  conversation about cult dynamics, fascism, antifascist parenting, masculinity, and how to support kids with empathy in a collapsing world. We talk about parenting in a political emergency, how to avoid overwhelming kids with adult anxieties, and how to build trust-based conversations about power, policing, misinformation, and existential fear. We get into masculinity, emotional repression, the unpaid labor of women, the politics of care, and how becoming a co-parent radicalized me more deeply than any book ever could. We also spend time on atheist/religious alliances, liberation theology, body-image capitalism, surviving neoliberal time-pressure, and how to nurture political imagination without drowning in guilt or fatalism. Our interview on YouTube. Cory's Linktree. My book to preorder. Chapters (00:00:07) - The Skeptical Leftist Podcast(00:01:07) - Matthew's Short Bio Rant(00:05:03) - On Parenting and the Left(00:10:13) - What is Anti-Fascism?(00:24:37) - Anti-Fascism & Conspirituality(00:29:59) - Democracy on Liberation theology(00:41:39) - On Becoming a Parent(00:49:04) - What Is Healthy Masculinity?(00:59:59) - How Do You Raise Your Kids With Empathetic Awareness?(01:08:51) - Emotional maturity and the police(01:19:45) - White Privilege and the Problem of Personal Responsibility(01:25:32) - Time Management(01:33:17) - Where Can People Find Antifascist Dad?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Cy Canterel, we keep digging into how people form identity, belief, and belonging inside the swirl of irony, nihilism, and digital performance that defines so much of contemporary life. We explore the psychology of online radicalization—what actually pulls people toward fascist aesthetics, what ambivalence can teach us about resistance, and how the very same infrastructures that feed alienation can also host creativity, solidarity, and care. Also: more on the Graham Platner story as a living case study in fluid online identity: how meaning shifts, how people change, and how communities can choose to interrupt cycles of rage instead of reproducing them.And an epilogue on taking the 13 year-old to the Toronto Anticapitalist Book Fair in the old Tranzac Club, where I used to hang out more than 30 years ago. Cy's Website Cy's Substack: Abstract Machines Chapters (00:00:07) - A Dare Wrapped In a Joke Wrapped in a Void(00:02:49) - The Psychology of Extremist Identity(00:05:30) - Noxious Views in the Online Culture(00:08:30) - Can You Change Your Own Mind?(00:09:57) - The Narrative of Who Is Graham Platner(00:12:53) - Do Narratives Promote or Decrease Ambiguity?(00:22:40) - The Problem With The Revolutionary Imagination(00:25:16) - Cy Cantarel on Being Nihilistic at 14(00:29:43) - Anti-capitalist book fair at the Tranzac Club

I sit down with Jesuit priest and liberation theologian Father David Inczauskis, S.J., who has been helping lead faith-based protests at Chicago’s Broadview ICE Detention Center. We get into the lived meaning of community life, the risks and necessities of nonviolent resistance, and why liberation theology is suddenly back at the center of the global Catholic conversation. Before we talk, I take about ten minutes to get clear — personally and ideologically — about my own evolving relationship to Catholicism, anticapitalism, and antifascist organizing. If you’ve ever struggled with the contradictions of religious institutions while still feeling pulled toward their radical roots, this may resonate. We also close with Fascist Dad of the Week, featuring the tragic anti-heroism of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, whose devotion to a decrepit sex criminal seems to grow deeper with every press conference.David's excellent podcast on Liberation Theology Liberation Theology Primer on Conspirituality YouTube: https://youtube.com/@antifascistdad TikTok: @antifascistdad Instagram: @matthew_remski Bluesky: @matthewremski.bsky.social Join the community and get all Part 2 episodes + extras on Patreon: https://patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times North Atlantic Books · Coming April 26, 2026     just say the word. Chapters (00:00:45) - Intro(00:11:48) - Inczauskis on Faith and the Left(00:13:47) - Mass and the Future of Nonviolence(00:15:29) - Jesuits Bring Communion to Immigrant Detainees(00:18:12) - Liberation Theology(00:23:26) - Jesuits live a community life(00:28:56) - An Objective Assessment of the Catholic Church(00:40:09) - Catholic Church Attempt to Bring Communion to Detainees(00:47:29) - Karoline Leavitt Lying About Trump's Relationship With Jeffrey

I sit down with feral scholar and TikTok analyst Cy Canterel to explore one of the strangest and most opaque zones of contemporary politics: the swirling online subcultures where memes, irony, nihilism, and fragmented identity collide with rising fascism. Cy brings a rare combination of systemic thinking, psychological insight, and lived experience as an autistic researcher who understands outsider culture from the inside. Together we trace how today’s meme-driven environments blur the lines between subculture and politics, and why attempts to “decode” online radicalization so often miss the mark. What looks like political ideology is often a shared subcultural language. What looks like a manifesto might actually be a dare, a joke, or an attempt to create meaning in the void. We talk about the very ambiguous case of Tyler Robinson, alleged killer of Charlie Kirk, and why the bullet-casing engravings left behind point less toward a stable ideology and more toward the chaotic, dare-based dynamics of online subcultures. We also begin unpacking the emerging story of Graham Platner, and why he has become a Rorschach test for liberal and left anxieties. Cy argues that online extremism is not distortion of human nature, but a predictable outcome of alienation, platform incentives, and a society that doesn’t give people — especially young men — stable roles, narratives, or futures. But she also insists the internet itself isn’t broken. The tools could be used for creativity, care, and community; they’ve simply been captured by the wrong incentives. If you’re a parent, educator, caregiver, or anyone trying to understand what’s happening to young people online — and what can actually intervene in these dynamics — Cy’s insights are super helpful.Cy's Website Cy's Substack: Abstract Machines • Subscribe on Patreon for Part 2 and full archive access: https://www.patreon.com/antifascistadpodcast • Preorder Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (April 26, 2026) • Follow me on Bluesky: @matthewremski.bsky.social • Follow me on Instagram: @matthew_remski • Follow on YouTube & TikTok: @antifascistdad • Rate & Review — it helps this project reach more people! • Share this episode with educators, caregivers, or anyone trying to understand online radicalization.   Chapters (00:00:00) - A Dare Wrapped in a Joke: The Memosphere(00:02:50) - Zoran Mandani Wins(00:11:17) - Cy Canterel on the Internet and Political Radicalization(00:18:35) - Autism and Internet Studies(00:24:14) - What Looks Like Politics Is Often a Subculture(00:35:29) - The Confused Politics of Far-Right Groups(00:40:37) - What do men become vulnerable to in isolation, particularly on the Internet(00:45:50) - Fascist Dad of the Week

In Part 2 of our conversation, Ben Case and I move from frameworks to consequences. We revisit the 2017 Richard Spencer punch as a concrete case of “little” versus “big” violence, asking what deterrence, backlash, and dignity look like when an act becomes a meme and a cautionary tale at the same time. Ben draws on his Muay Thai career to talk about fight training as a metaphor for political life: how normalizing adrenaline and pain helps you keep your head during arrests, how to tell hurt from injury, and why the ability to read an adversary in real time matters as much as strategy documents. We sit with responsibility: what communities owe each other when actions bring heat, how mutual aid and legal defense slot into any honest conversation about risk, and why some moments demand acting without guarantees simply to preserve human dignity. In the closing segment, I unpack the Graham Platner morality play: a black box for the contemplation of masculinity, recklessness, red flags, trauma, accountability, marks of Cain, internet vs. public identities, and the status of trust in the spectacle. Subscribe on YouTube at @antifascistdad for weekly mini-essays and the Basics series; the first Basics installment is now public. Join the Patreon for Part 2s, early access, and paywalled bonus briefs. TikTok and YouTube @antifascistdad. Pre-order the book that this project supports — Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books) — pub date April 26, 2026.   Notes: Brief: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence (Part 1) w/ Ben Case  Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence  Magic Numbers Are No Shortcut to Strategy (New article from Ben Case)  Venezuela Military Personnel  'Violent protest is not protected,' Biden says of college campus unrest - ABC News The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance | ICNC Hegseth orders that all defense personnel review his speech to top military brass on fitness, standards | CNN Politics Pete Hegseth | Signal, Tattoos, Harvey Milk, Secretary Defense, Military Career, & Facts | Britannica Sullivan man launches campaign for U.S. Senate | PenBay Pilot The Political Awakening of the Oyster Farmer Taking on Susan Collins | The New Republic Who is Graham Platner and why is he everywhere right now? | Maine Public Can a Maine Oyster Farmer Defeat a Five-Term Republican Senator? Chapters (00:00:10) - Courage in Resistance(00:02:12) - Anti-Fascism, Part 2(00:06:53) - Richard Spencer Gets Punched(00:08:24) - Punishing Richard Spencer: The Consequences(00:14:48) - The Most Important Things That Ben Learned From Sport Fighting(00:16:53) - Fighting in the Ring(00:20:14) - Protesters Disrupt ICE Agents(00:22:56) - Fighting Sports for antifascist activists(00:28:13) - On human dignity(00:28:42) - The Culture of Contempt(00:33:18) - Meet the Maine Democrat Running for Congress on a Left Wing(00:44:19) - The Platner Spectacle(00:46:21) - The Social Brain

Note: This review is also available on YouTube. How many wellness brofluencer podcasters does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Three: one to film it, one to sell the “ancestral light protocol,” and one to warn bulbs are “seed oils for your eyes.” In this longer solo episode I dig into Scott Galloway’s Notes on Being a Man (Simon & Schuster, published Nov 5). Galloway is everywhere—NYU Stern prof, serial entrepreneur, and podcast mainstay—and his new book will land loudly with U.S. liberals searching for ways to “win back men” from Trumpism. I read the book closely—praise where it’s due, pushback where it matters—and make the case that while Galloway offers genuine, sometimes moving reflections on love, fatherhood, and responsibility, his framework ultimately shores up the liberal-capitalist status quo that keeps feeding the conditions in which authoritarianism grows. Across the hour, I map Galloway’s 44 “notes” into five big buckets—reframing masculinity, capitalist pep talk, productivity metaphors, pro-family traditionalism, and the kinder-gentler counterweight to manosphere alpha tropes—and test how each plays in the current political economy. I highlight where the book’s affective power (memoir + confessional humility) outpaces its thin endnotes and limited policy imagination; where “protect, provide, procreate” functions as a sticky brand more than a credible gender theory; and where straw-man takes (on “toxic masculinity,” college, participation trophies) obscure structural realities. I also dig into the contradictions: the book’s bootstrap sermons versus its tender late-chapter wisdom on loyalty and unconditional love; the patriotic gloss versus the missing history; and how a spirituality of private consolation can soothe readers without moving them toward material change. If you’re a parent, teacher, organizer—or just a listener trying to make sense of “men’s crisis” content without getting pulled rightward—this breakdown offers context, citations to chase, and a rubric for reading similar books with both empathy and rigor. Find me on YouTube and TikTok as @antfascistdad. Part 2's and extras on Patreon.   Note: Brief: Galloway and the Mooch: The Lost Boys of Capitalism (Pt 1)   Chapters (00:00:00) - Anti-Fascist Dad Podcast(00:01:01) - Scott Galloway's Notes On Being A Man Review(00:06:53) - Notes on Being Scott Galloway(00:08:32) - Galloway's Insecure Thoughts(00:16:37) - Notes on Being a Man Review(00:27:29) - Galloway's Race and Justice Ideas(00:29:01) - Guru Galloway(00:32:13) - Protect, Provide, Procreate(00:38:59) - Masculinity(00:44:39) - Our Kids Don't Need College(00:50:42) - The Problem With Meritocracy(00:56:07) - Sexual(00:59:39) - Galloway's Bootstraps(01:09:13) - Elder Wisdom?

Hello everyone! Part 2 opens with reflections on Mark’s balance between public scholarship and private parenting, then moves into his distinction between liberal history and fascist propaganda—the moment when sourcing gives way to myth. We discuss how protest slogans can be misread yet remain essential to antifascist diversity and vitality, and end with Mark’s hope for new generations unburdened by despair but grounded in struggle, truth, and imagination. Notes Bray, Mark. Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2017. Bray, Mark, and Robert H. Haworth, eds. Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. Translated by Mark Bray and Joseph McCabe. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2019 Meet the Portland protest frog that started a movement - YouTube  ‘I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,’ says Portland ICE protest frog that got pepper sprayed by federal agents - oregonlive.com ICE Agents Shoot Pepper Spray into Protester's Frog Costume Air Vent   Antifa expert at Rutgers University flees US amid death threats He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US | WIRED Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Death Threats - The New York Times Antifa Expert to Flee with Family to Spain Following Death Threats | Democracy Now! Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization – The White House    You can pre-order Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books | April 26 2026) Chapters (00:00:10) - Why You Can't Exile Anti-Fascism(00:01:46) - American politics of individualism(00:03:58) - How Fascism Became Explicit in Education(00:13:53) - Anti-Fascist Protest and Direct Action(00:22:41) - How to Build a More Radical Movement(00:25:16) - What Makes You Hopeful For Your Kids?(00:35:20) - The Kids of Anti-Fascism

Antifascist courage is a choreography of mutual aid, preparation, and care. In this episode I talk with scholar-organizer and retired Muay Thai fighter Ben Case, author of Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence (2022), about how “physical courage” develops across a spectrum of practices — from speaking up for a co-worker and signing a union card to holding a picket line and putting your body between ICE and your neighbor. We dig into the realities of “big” vs. “little” violence, the strategic and moral limits of “respectable” protest narratives, and why bodies, training, and solidarity matter when the state blurs dissent with “disorder.” Ben lays out how fight-sport training can normalize adrenaline, prevent panic, and sharpen on-the-spot judgment; why movements we label “nonviolent” often include non-armed force; and how a range of tactics actually functions together on the ground. We also revisit the 2017 Richard Spencer punch as a case study in consequence, deterrence, and dignity — and what it does (and doesn’t) tell us about backlash and movement strategy. Ben Case is an antifascist organizer and researcher whose work interrogates how punditry and policy launder certain protest tactics as “legible” while criminalizing others. He’s a retired pro Muay Thai fighter, a coach/official, and the author of Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence. His scholarship and fieldwork examine how non-armed force (property damage, de-arrests, sabotage) gets mislabeled or erased — with real consequences for movements and public understanding. Part 2 now on Patreon: the second half of my conversation with Ben — plus a segment on the Graham Platner morality play (PTSD, internet alienation, a Nazi tattoo, accountability, and the anxieties of masculinity). Will remain paywalled for 2–3 weeks. Join at @antifascistdadpodcast to hear it now. Subscribe on YouTube at @antifascistdad for weekly mini-essays and the Basics series; the first Basics installment is now public. Join the Patreon for Part 2s, early access, and paywalled bonus briefs. TikTok and YouTube @antifascistdad. Pre-order the book that this project supports — Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books) — pub date April 26, 2026.   Notes: Brief: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence (Part 1) w/ Ben Case  Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence  Magic Numbers Are No Shortcut to Strategy (New article from Ben Case)  Venezuela Military Personnel  'Violent protest is not protected,' Biden says of college campus unrest - ABC News The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance | ICNC Hegset... Chapters (00:00:00) - Anti-Fascism Dad: Ben Case(00:02:53) - Fascist Squish and Antifascist News of the Week(00:12:45) - Ben Case on Non-Violence(00:19:00) - What Does It Mean to Be Physically Brave?(00:22:30) - Physical Training for Protestors(00:27:32) - Warm Hand Lock(00:29:46) - On The Perfect Protest(00:34:37) - The Difference Between Little Violence and Big Violence(00:39:52) - Black Bloc Protester Punch Richard Spencer in the Face(00:47:01) - Punishing Richard Spencer: Should You Be Punished?(00:49:46) - Fascist Dad of the Week

Part 2 with Sara Rasik opens with my reflections on Part 1 (how UofT organizers timed the encampment to convocation, why student testimony was patronized as a “mental-health” issue) and on how movement memory travels from 1980s anti-apartheid organizing to Gen Z. Then Sara and I work through the hard stuff: “students should be studying,” “supporting terrorism,” safety claims, the meaning of “from the river to the sea,” movement discipline, gatekeeping and rules, and what was built even after tents came down. We end on globalize the intifada as a transnational language forliberation—and a closing story about the Macklemore “Hind’s Hall” moment with my kids. Guest Sara Rasikh — organizer/spokesperson, UofT Occupy for Palestine; PhD student (UofT). • Follow: YouTube/TikTok @antifascistdad  • Pre-order the book Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books, Apr 2026): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/ Content notes State violence, encampments, doxxing, police, genocide/famine, antisemitism/anti-Palestinian racism (discussion), explicit lyric quoted (“FTP”) in Macklemore section. References UofT encampment—injunction & dismantling (July 2–3, 2024): University’s official notice and Reuters same-day coverage confirm the court order to clear by 6:00 p.m., July 3 and the camp’s removal. Office of the President Campus encampment wave scale (May 2024): AP reported rapid spread across Europe and the U.S.; The Chronicle’s tracker packages recap scope and arrests through 2024–25. AP News Greta Thunberg—deportation & Athens remarks (Oct 6, 2025): On-the-ground AP and Reuters pieces (plus AP video) document the deportations and her statement at Athens airport. AP News Hannibal Directive on Oct 7, 2023: Haaretz investigation (with summary reporting by Al Jazeera) details the order’s use on Oct 7. Chapters (00:00:08) - Interview(00:01:46) - Anti-Israel protesters at U of T(00:08:10) - Issues of movement discipline(00:15:26) - To Globalize the Intifada(00:18:25) - What Would You Say to a 14-Year-Old Student?(00:19:42) - Macklemore's 'Thank You' For Supporting Palestine

Mark Bray, historian of antifascism is now in exile, thanks to the backlash over Charlie Kirk’s murder and the Trump administration's accelerating attempts to label antifascists as terrorists. Bray, his partner and their two young children fled the US after the local Turning Point USA chapter posted a petition to have him fired from Rutgers, where he teaches. Altogether, these attacks prompted a flood of death threats. But no one can exile the work. Mark joins me to ground antifascism in history, movement strategy, and parenting. We unpack how education becomes propaganda when sourcing and truth-testing are abandoned; and how movements need a diversity of rhetoric—from accessible to militant. Also: navigating slogans like Abolish ICE, ACAB, and Globalize the Intifada, and the Glastonbury “Death to the IDF” chant. We compare liberal/centrist antifascism with mass, working-class antifascism, and manage to end on hope: making space for young people’s bold experiments even when veteran organizers feel the weight of years. Also: news from the Portland Frog detachment! The full second half—movement discipline, courts vs. power, deeper dive on slogans, and my reflection on Mark’s “technique vs. content” distinction—is live now for supporters: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AntifascistDadPodcast. Pre-order the book that powers this podcast: Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (pub date April 26, 2026) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/   Notes Bray, Mark. Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2017. Bray, Mark, and Robert H. Haworth, eds. Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. Translated by Mark Bray and Joseph McCabe. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2019 Meet the Portland protest frog that started a movement - YouTube  ‘I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,’ says Portland ICE protest frog that got pepper sprayed by federal agents - oregonlive.com ICE Agents Shoot Pepper Spray into Protester's Frog Costume Air Vent   Antifa expert at Rutgers University flees US amid death threats He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US | WIRED Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats Chapters (00:00:00) - How many Turning Point USA members does it take to send a historian(00:00:27) - Anti-Fascist Dad Podcast: Mark Bray in Exile(00:06:51) - Fascist Squish(00:13:10) - Antifa vs Anti-Fascists: Part 2(00:18:12) - Mark Bray: Anti-Fascist Dad(00:20:40) - In the Elevator With Anti-Fascists(00:23:11) - Making Anti-Fascism Legible to Young People(00:27:49) - What Are the Early Messages Students Get About Fascism?(00:38:59) - Fooled by Fascism: Seth Todd

Summary Unlocking Part 2 for y'all. Opening with a reflection on Part 1 (kinship, food, music, “yallidarity”) and then Nathan and I go verse-by-verse through “Hillbilly Hymn.” We talk housework and masculinity, charismatic church roots, incarnation vs. redemptive suffering, why “resurrection > crucifixion” reframes violence, and how meanness and generosity can spring from the same muscle when you’re just trying to get by. I close with a personal meditation on intergenerational trauma, my mother, and why toughness without resentment can still be a form of love. Guest Nathan Evans Fox — songwriter, record Heirloom (May release).  Where to follow / support • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AntifascistDadPodcast • Follow: YouTube/TikTok @antifascistdad • IG @Matthew_Remski • Pre-order the book Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books, Apr 2026): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/ Content notes Religious themes; family trauma; addiction; war; grief; light profanity. Chapters (00:00:08) - Part II(00:01:04) - Kinship Appalachia(00:07:33) - Heirloom(00:14:10) - "White Nationalism" Review(00:14:38) - "One Voice" on 'Thank You'(00:18:19) - "Oh My..."(00:21:05) - Nathan Harris on "Being Mean"(00:26:02) - Antifascist Dad: Remembering My(00:28:49) - In the Elevator With My Mother

UofT encampment organizer Sara Rasikh joins me to walk through the inside story of “Occupy for Palestine”—from the first tents at King’s College Circle (May 2, 2024) to the court-ordered dismantling (July 3). We talk logistics, negotiation, care work, spiritual life in the camp, and the personal risks for student spokespeople. I set the scene with “Fascist / Squish / Antifascist” news on Greta Thunberg’s deportation and how liberal institutions police dissent—then close with a “fashy dad” segment on UK PM Keir Starmer and the criminalization of Palestine Action supporters. If you’ve wondered what encampments actually do—politically, ethically, and communally—this is your primer. Guest Sara Rasikh (PhD student, University of Toronto). MA in Social Justice Education; HBA in Ethics, Society & Law and in Critical Studies in Equity & Solidarity (UofT). Listen & Support • Watch/subscribe: YouTube @antifascistdad • TikTok: @antifascistdad • IG: @matthew_Remski • Part 2 is up now on Patreon: @antifascistdadpodcast (temporarily paywalled) • Pre-order the book Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books, Apr 2026): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/ Content notes State violence; detention; doxxing; police actions; genocide; fasting/starvation; prison abuse (discussion). References UofT encampment—injunction & dismantling (July 2–3, 2024): University’s official notice and Reuters same-day coverage confirm the court order to clear by 6:00 p.m., July 3 and the camp’s removal. Office of the President Campus encampment wave scale (May 2024): AP reported rapid spread across Europe and the U.S.; The Chronicle’s tracker packages recap scope and arrests through 2024–25. AP News Greta Thunberg—deportation & Athens remarks (Oct 6, 2025): On-the-ground AP and Reuters pieces (plus AP video) document the deportations and her statement at Athens airport. AP News Hannibal Directive on Oct 7, 2023: Haaretz investigation (with summary reporting by Al Jazeera) details the order’s use on Oct 7. Chapters (00:00:00) - Anti-Fascist Dad Podcast: The Encampment for Palestine(00:04:03) - Fascists Squish and Anti Fascist News of the Week(00:08:38) - Why I Write About The Israel War(00:14:56) - Oveoccupy for Palestine: Our demands(00:19:35) - The U of T Student Camping(00:29:19) - Speakers at the Palestine encampment(00:33:32) - Was Your Family Concerned About Your Safety?(00:35:34) - Various spiritual practices offered at the Gaza encampment(00:38:03) - Food at the Occupy encampment(00:40:10) - FASHY DAD: Keir Starmer(00:43:00) - The Fight for the Right to Protest