

Refuse Fascism
Refuse Fascism
The Refuse Fascism podcast is an independent and all-volunteer show that produces weekly episodes that expose, analyze, and oppose the very real danger and threat of fascism coming to power in the United States.
Hosted by Sam Goldman, produced by volunteers with Refuse Fascism.
Hosted by Sam Goldman, produced by volunteers with Refuse Fascism.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 31, 2026 • 49min
A Short History of American Fascism: From the KKK to the Trump Era
Dr. John Donoghue discusses how the Trump regime’s fascism is rooted in deep white supremacist historical currents running from colonial North America through the present. Confronting this history is essential if we are going to determine what it will take to defeat MAGA fascism, which poses a grave menace to freedom, decency, and the common good at home and abroad.John Donoghue’s work has focused on the history of early American colonialism, radical political thought and action, slavery and servitude, abolition, and the political economy of capitalism. His new book (forthcoming) titled American Insurrections: An Unruly History of White Christian Nationalism traces how insurrectionary violence established white supremacy in the colonial era and played a vital part in its transition to white nationalism in the U.S. and the resurgence of white Christian supremacy after the Civil War.View this talk as a presentationSights and Sounds from No Kings Day March 28Refuse Fascism's statement: On No Kings Day 2026: See It Clearly. Act Accordingly. To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Mar 23, 2026 • 51min
Get Ready for No Kings: What Will It Take to Stop Trump?
Trump’s war on Iran is illegal, illegitimate and immoral. It has already killed thousands. It is threatening to spiral into a far wider catastrophe.At home: ICE terror continues. New camps are being built. More people are dying in detention. Trans rights are being erased. Voices and media that doesn’t toe the fascist line find themselves in the line of fire. Open white supremacy rides high. And MAGA daily steps up its preparation to rig, steal, or otherwise subvert the elections.Even if there are tensions within parts of the MAGA base—even if some who helped bring this regime to power are uneasy about a wider war—the regime is hardening and escalating.More war abroad. More repression at home. Escalation of an illegitimate, illegal, and murderous war whose consequences will be devastating for the people of Iran, the people of the entire region, people here in the United States, and the future of humanity.And yet, the decent people of this country are waiting for midterm elections to end this nightmare.Can elections stop a regime that is already undermining the conditions for free and fair elections?What happens if millions wait while fascism tightens its grip? The Democratic Party cannot be relied on to fight this fascism the way it must be fought.But together, we can.Join a Refuse Fascism Contingent at a No Kings event nationwide on March 28To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Mar 16, 2026 • 1h 12min
From Minab to Armageddon
To better understand the impact of the US/Israel War on Iran this week, Sam talks with Sussan Tahmasebi, Executive Director and the Co-founder of Femena, the support organization for women human rights defenders in MENA/Asia. Then, she talks with journalist Jonathan Larsen about the influence of Christian fascist ideology on the military and the wider support for this potentially apocalyptic war. Follow Jonathan's work on Substack at jonathanlarsen.substack.com.Join the Webinar March 21: What Will It Take to Stop the Trump Fascist Regime? Organize with Refuse Fascism at No Kings Day.To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Mar 9, 2026 • 1h 16min
Christian Nationalism, War on Iran, and Trump’s Concentration Camps
This week, Sam speaks with Matthew D. Taylor, about the religious undercurrents underpinning this incredibly dangerous new war against Iran. Dr. Taylor is a visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice. His latest book The Violent Take It by Force offers a history of the New Apostolic Reformation movement and its role in the events of January 6th. Then, she talks with Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps (along with other books), about the plans to grow US concentration camps in support of ICE's ethnic cleansing mission. Resources: Follow Matthew Taylor on Substack and learn more about his work at drmatthewdtaylor.com.Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's newsletter: Degenerate Art and listen to her podcast Next Comes What.TRUMP MUST GO NOW! Organize with Refuse Fascism at No Kings Day on March 28To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Mar 1, 2026 • 56min
The State of Fascism and The New War of Aggression Against Iran
"Donald Trump, in conjunction with Israel, has launched a murderous, illegitimate, and illegal war against the sovereign country of Iran—openly aimed at regime change. This is an unprovoked war of aggression, the supreme war crime, and it must be stopped now."-from the new statement posted to RefuseFascism.orgFriday afternoon, prior to the unprovoked attack that the US and Israel launched early Saturday morning, Sam Goldman and Paul Street recorded a conversation about Trump's extremely long State of the Union speech and where things stand in the US in relation to the consolidation of fascism, including the moves towards war against Iran that were already clearly being made.Resources:Stop the Illegitimate & Illegal War on Iran: Get in the Streets — TRUMP MUST GO NOW!A Fascist State of the Union Address, A Dismal Democratic Rebuttal, An Intolerable Situation: Trump Must Go Now!The Paul Street ReportThe incoherence at the heart of Trump's latest, biggest war by Zach BeauchampTo get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Feb 16, 2026 • 38min
Trump’s New International Law: Might Makes Right
Stephen Miller, Trump’s Goebbels, has openly declared that the new “international law” is “might makes right.” To discuss how that is playing out with the attacks on small boats off the coasts of South America, the kidnapping of President Maduro of Venezuela, the attempt to squeeze the country of Cuba to the point of collapse, Gaza and other outrageous ways this is playing out internationally, this week Sam speaks to legal scholar Marjorie Cohn. Follow her work at marjoriecohn.com.Read, share and discuss The People’s Indictment of Donald Trump. To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism.Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Feb 9, 2026 • 59min
Dispatch From Minnesota: Power in Defiance
Sam recaps the latest developments as the regime continues to signal their plan to undermine midterm elections and anything that will impede their goal of ethnic cleansing. Then, she speaks with Cliff Willmeng, Minneapolis resident, nurse and activist, about the crisis facing the Twin Cities: the occupation by ICE and other federal forces and the unprecedented resistance that the cities have demonstrated on all fronts to this fascist offensive. Mentioned in this episode: Heather Cox Richardson: February 7, 2026Zeteo: This Week in Democracy – Week 55: Trump's Racism Isn't Distraction. It's PolicyThe Marshall Project: ‘Why Is This Happening to Us?’ Daily Number of Kids in ICE Detention Jumps 6x Under TrumpChildren trapped in Texas immigration facility recount nightmares, inedible food, no schoolTo get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism. Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Feb 2, 2026 • 36min
ICE Out of Everywhere, Trump Must Go Now
All eyes are on Minnesota's Twin Cities, where the people there are showing the world how to unite as a community to reject fascist oppression. Coast to coast, the demand is ICE Out Now. But for ICE to go, Trump has to go. This past week, Sam talked to Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld, author of Responding, Teaching, and Learning Race & LGBTQ Topics as Acts of Resistance in a Declining Democracy: An Activists’ Guide. Read their recent article Trump is a textbook fascist. It will take all of us to bring down his regime and check out their slide presentations on social justice topics.The Power of the People Must Drive Out the Trump Fascist Regime — Read and Spread This Statement from Refuse FascismTo get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism. Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jan 26, 2026 • 34min
Murder is the Message: Trump’s Gestapo in Minnesota
Sam and Mark discuss the recent events in the Twin Cities including the murder of peaceful observer Alex Pretti that came one day after a historic Day of Truth and Freedom that shut down the city and brought tens of thousands into the streets in sub zero temperatures, and the response that is required across the country.Recommended:Testimony from witness to Alex Pretti's murderStatement from Alex Pretti's parents‘This is what fascism looks like’: terror in Minneapolis reminiscent of civil war by David SmithWe ran high-level US civil war simulations. Minnesota is exactly how they start by Claire FinkelsteinTo get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism. Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown

Jan 18, 2026 • 1h 2min
One Year of Trump 2.0 — A Year of Lawless Murder and Boundless Terror
One year into Trump 2.0: what we face in the Trump regime is fascism. Sam talks to human rights lawyer and writer Qasim Rashid (follow his work on Substack at qasimrashid.com), and we share analysis and orientation for activists and everyone newly inspired to act for humanity from Coco Das, member of the Refuse Fascism leadership group. Join protests near you on and around the anniversary of Trump's inauguration Jan 19 and 20, including walkouts on the 20th. Find resources to print and distribute at refusefascism.org. To get involved, text REFUSE to 855-755-1314 or sign up online, follow @RefuseFascism on social media (@RefuseFashizm on TikTok) and our YouTube channel: @Refuse_Fascism. Support:Subscribe to Refuse Fascism on Substackpatreon.com/refusefascismdonate.refusefascism.orgVenmo: Refuse-FascismBuy merch (Big Cartel)Buy merch (Fourth Wall)Music for this episode: Penny the Snitch by Ikebe Shakedown


