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The Dark Magic of Words: Why Fascism and Illiberalism Are So Seductive to Writers

The Dark Magic of Words: Why Fascism and Illiberalism Are So Seductive to Writers

Ed Simon Looks at Eduard Limonov, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Yukio Mishima, and Others

By Ed Simon | June 23, 2025

King Lear, Maoist China and the Unpredictable Nature of Power"> Tyranny as Tragedy: On <em

Tyranny as Tragedy: On <em

King Lear, Maoist China and the Unpredictable Nature of Power">

King Lear, Maoist China and the Unpredictable Nature of Power">Tyranny as Tragedy: On King Lear, Maoist China and the Unpredictable Nature of Power

Nan Z. Da Explores the Similarities Between Shakespeare’s Play and 20th-Century Totalitarian Reality

By Nan Z. Da | June 10, 2025

Unfree Minds: How Nazi Germany Perfected the Art of Inducing Fear

Unfree Minds: How Nazi Germany Perfected the Art of Inducing Fear

Charlotte Beradt on the Effects of Totalitarian Terror on the Human Psyche

By Charlotte Beradt | May 1, 2025

Darkest Nights: On the Literal Dreams of German Jews During Hitler’s Rise to Power

Darkest Nights: On the Literal Dreams of German Jews During Hitler’s Rise to Power

Zoe Roth Puts Charlotte Beradt’s “The Third Reich of Dreams” in the Context of Our Current Reality

By Zoe Roth | April 30, 2025

Dark Futures: How the European Dream of Modernization Ended in Totalitarian Despair

Dark Futures: How the European Dream of Modernization Ended in Totalitarian Despair

Glenn Adamson on the Rise and Fall of Europe’s Early 20th-Century Artistic Avant-Garde

By Glenn Adamson | December 6, 2024

The Iron Heel"> How Jack London Foresaw the Anti-Democratic Future With <em

How Jack London Foresaw the Anti-Democratic Future With <em

The Iron Heel">

The Iron Heel">How Jack London Foresaw the Anti-Democratic Future With The Iron Heel

Ken McGoogan on the Dangers of Oligarchic Totalitarian Rule in Fiction and in Real Life

By Ken McGoogan | September 23, 2024

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“Are lies then a latent hazard, or are they a usual condition of democracy itself?”

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Whose Nightmare Are We Living In: Orwell’s or Huxley’s?

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Andrew Keen Investigates Dual Literary Visions of Society’s Collapse

By Andrew Keen | June 24, 2022

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Breaking the Cycle: Confronting Fascism in Chile’s Presidential Election

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By Mónica-Ramón Ríos and Carlos Labbé | December 16, 2021

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The Quarantine Tapes">In Conversation with Paul Holdengräber on The Quarantine Tapes

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Trying to Teach English Literature in the Wake of Mao’s Cultural Revolution

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Kim Echlin on Morality, Mythology, and the Double Life of Totalitarianism

By Kim Echlin | January 15, 2021

Jared Yates Sexton on the American Mythologies That Created Donald Trump

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Otherppl">In Conversation with Brad Listi on Otherppl

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