New Books Network Alec Ryrie, "The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It" (Reaktion, 2025)
Mar 15, 2026
Alec Ryrie, historian of Christianity and author, probes why Hitler and Nazism loom so large in our cultural imagination. He links this fascination to shifts from religious to secular moral touchstones. Conversations cover the fraying of anti-Nazi consensus, rising antisemitism and online extremism, and ideas for rebuilding shared values and civic rituals beyond villain-focused narratives.
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Hitler Became Our Primary Moral Reference
- Adolf Hitler functions as the dominant negative moral exemplar in late 20th–21st century Western culture.
- Alec Ryrie argues we swapped Jesus as a positive exemplar for Hitler as a negative reference point, reshaping how societies define good and evil.
Childhood Question That Revealed Hitler's Grip
- Ryrie recalls asking his mother as a child who the worst person ever was and being given a single name.
- That memory illustrates how, decades after WWII, Hitler became a default childhood answer and cultural touchstone.
Negative Exemplar Changes Moral Imagination
- Replacing a positive moral exemplar with a negative anti-figure changes moral dynamics and leaves blind spots.
- Ryrie notes anti-Nazi values teach us what to hate, not necessarily what to love, limiting moral imagination.
