The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast is here to help the anyone concerned about creeping authoritarianism and fascism in the US and beyond to confront strategy questions that will strengthen their work to advance multiracial democracy and stop the rise of authoritarianism. Our core message is: we can block authoritarianism, bridge across lines of differences, and build an inclusive multiracial democracy–if we act more strategically. The show features provocative and valuable conversations with hosts Scot Nakagawa, Sue Hyde, Apyphanie Dawn, and their guests.
A Referendum on Freedom w/Jane Fonda & Nadine Bloch
When authoritarian regimes consolidate power, they come for the artists first because artists name what is happening, make people feel what is true, and keep moral imagination alive when everything else is being suppressed. In this episode, Scot talks with two people who have spent their lives at the intersection of art and resistance: Jane Fonda, one of the most consequential activist artists of the twentieth century, and Nadine Bloch, strategic nonviolent actionista and Training Director for Beautiful Trouble. They talk about the First Amendment under pressure, what backfire looks like when you come for the artists, and why joy is strategic.
Beautiful Trouble equips social movements with an ever-growing suite of strategic tools and training to help grassroots movements be more creative, effective, and irresistible. Learn more about their work and offerings at beautifultrouble.org.
Originally created during the McCarthy Era, the Committee for the First Amendment stands in defense of constitutional rights against the forces of repression. They are fiercely united to defend free speech and expression, and urge everyone who cares about the First Amendment and every artist around the globe to join at https://www.committeeforthefirstamendment.com.
The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook digs into the theory behind what Nadine and Jane describe, why cultural workers are central to anti-authoritarian strategy, how creative resistance generates backfire, and what movements that have won can teach us about this moment. Read it at bit.ly/antiauthoritarianplaybook.
30 Sept 2026
Defending Democratic Institutions w/Stacey Abrams
The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. The midterms are near. This is not a normal political moment and it calls for more than a normal political response. In this episode, Scot talks with Stacey Abrams, voting rights champion, political leader, and founder of Fair Fight Action, about her ten-point plan to defeat authoritarianism, what it means to defend democratic institutions when those institutions are under coordinated attack, and why voting is an act of resistance.
The 10 Steps campaign is a nationwide mobilization and education effort led by author, voting rights activist, and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. Through in-person events, media engagement, and organizational partnerships, we're giving Americans the framework to understand what's happening to our democracy—and the tools to fight back. Learn more by visiting 10stepscampaign.org/#campaign.
The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook goes deeper on the strategic framework behind this conversation, the pillars of support holding authoritarianism in place, what the research says about how movements reverse democratic backsliding, and what we need to do now. Read it at bit.ly/antiauthoritarianplaybook.
16 Sept 2026
Global Democracy Defense w/Pedro Telles
Authoritarianism is a global project, coordinated, cross-border, and learning from itself in real time. The resistance has to be, too. In this episode, Scot talks with Pedro Telles, Director and founding board member of D-Hub, about what democratic defense looks like from a transnational vantage point. They cover how authoritarianism takes hold, what civil society can do to stop it, the role of narrative strategy in the fight, and what a new anti-authoritarian toolkit offers democracy defenders on the front lines.
D-Hub is a community of democracy defenders committed to working together to defeat authoritarians, wherever they are. Learn more about their work by visiting dhub.org. Access the Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit by visiting antiauthoritarian.com.
The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook is where we dig into comparative research on authoritarian consolidation and what movements around the world have done to reverse it. Read it at bit.ly/antiauthoritarianplaybook.
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10 ratings
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