Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan STRONGMEN: Mussolini to the Present- The Rising Tide of Online Authoritarian Influence with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
12 snips
Dec 22, 2025 
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian and NYU professor who studies fascism and authoritarianism, discusses how modern strongmen reuse tactics from Mussolini onward. She examines personality traits of authoritarian leaders, social media’s role in spreading propaganda, information warfare like the Kremlin’s ‘firehose of falsehood,’ and strategies for local takeover and resistance.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Childhood Near Exiles Sparked Her Focus On Dictators
- Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Early Interest Came From Growing Up Near Exiles From Nazism.
- She grew up in Pacific Palisades with visible traces of exiles, like Arnold Schoenberg's son teaching at her school, which sparked her focus on dictatorships.
Elites Invite Strongmen And Then Lose Control
- Elites Often Invite Strongmen Hoping To Use Them And Then Lose Control.
- Ben-Ghiat notes conservative elites invited Mussolini in believing they could control him, a repeated dynamic that accelerates authoritarian takeover.
How Social Media Supercharges Propaganda
- Social Media Amplifies Propaganda Through Repetition With Variation.
- Ben-Ghiat notes propaganda needs repetition plus small variations and social platforms accelerate that by enabling reposting and remixing at scale.
