New Books Network Heather Ann Thompson, "Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage" (Pantheon, 2026)
Feb 12, 2026
Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian who studies prisons and the carceral state, discusses her book Fear and Fury. She revisits the 1984 Bernhard Goetz subway shooting and its erasure of the victims. She traces how Reagan-era politics, media narratives, and vigilante culture reshaped national rage and its long reverberations.
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Reagan Era Relegitimized White Rage
- The Reagan 1980s repackaged long-standing white rage into a politically and legally legitimated force.
- Heather Ann Thompson argues that this era set a trajectory that normalized vigilante violence and punitive policy.
A Single Event As Historical Lens
- Thompson centers a single dramatic event to explore broader social and media dynamics.
- The Goetz subway shooting becomes a lens for the rise of a punitive media ecosystem and public takeaways.
Victims Erased From Public Memory
- Thompson was surprised that the victims of the Goetz shooting were almost entirely erased from public memory.
- She intentionally recovered Barry Allen, James Ramseur, Troy Canty, and Darrell Cabey to restore their centrality.
