Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci Historian: This Event Created Trump, Giuliani & Rupert Murdoch - Heather Ann Thompson
Apr 28, 2026
Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of crime, punishment, and inequality. She traces a 1984 subway shooting as a pivot to today’s politics. Conversations cover 1980s urban decline, Reagan-era austerity, media sensationalism by Murdoch, and how policy choices reshaped public life.
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Subway Shooting As Political Origin
- A single 1984 NYC subway shooting became a political inflection point that launched careers and normalized vigilante rhetoric.
- Heather Ann Thompson links that trial to the rise of figures like Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Rupert Murdoch's media tactics.
Austerity Fueled Crime And Misplaced Blame
- Crime surged as social services and public-sector jobs were cut during 1980s austerity while media blamed an alleged criminal underclass.
- Thompson argues Reagan-era policy and messaging redirected blame from corporate forces to marginalized Black communities.
Reconstruct Events From Primary Sources
- Use archival, primary-source evidence to reconstruct events rather than relying on retrospective interviews that can rationalize actions.
- Thompson prioritized trial transcripts, city records, and the Reagan library over re-interviewing Bernard Goetz or his victims.
