After our deep dive into AI with The Last Invention, it’s great to be back in your inboxes (and feeds). We’re grateful for all of you, especially those who’ve been with us from the start.
We begin with a familiar scene: tensions escalating between the Trump administration and some protesters who believe that traditional demonstrations no longer work. Then we pull the lens back to a largely forgotten chapter of American history, when the same logic took hold – and spiraled out of control – and reshaped the American state and the American left in ways we’re still living with.
Think: a politics podcast crossed with a history podcast, crossed with true crime – where the past isn’t safely in the past, and the echoes of the present are impossible to ignore.
This is also the debut story from our cub reporter Ethan Mannello , who we hope y’all like even half as much as we do.
As always, thank you to everyone who shares the show with your friends and family. And a special thanks to our subscribers because you’re the reason we get to keep doing this.
Happy listening,
— Andy & Matt
P.S. For this story – in addition to speaking with dozens of protestors, modern day anarchists, community organizers, and historians – we also read these books, which we highly recommend:
The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller
The Republic for Which It Stands by Richard White
American Colossus by H.W. Brands
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Luigi Galleani: The Most Dangerous Anarchist in America by Antonio Senta and Sean Sayers
And if you’re interested in Scott Miller’s work, he just released a new book called Let My Country Awake: Indian Revolutionaries in America and the Fight to Overthrow the British Raj
