Andrew Marantz

You have said the absolute truth.

You have said the absolute truth.

Breaking that news here. But I do think that it's important to have that framework. It gets to this point of ambiguity, hybridity, plausible deniability. What are you? Are you anti the Jews or are you for the Jews? You know, it cuts against this idea of a kind of clean, quantifiable checklist. And also it cuts against the idea of

Breaking that news here. But I do think that it's important to have that framework. It gets to this point of ambiguity, hybridity, plausible deniability. What are you? Are you anti the Jews or are you for the Jews? You know, it cuts against this idea of a kind of clean, quantifiable checklist. And also it cuts against the idea of

you know, did Columbia fully exceed and did Harvard fully join the resistance, right? Before Harvard became the hero of the resistance, they adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism. They kicked out the head of their Middle East study center. All of this, you know, what Tim Snyder would call anticipatory obedience. And then the administration pushed them too far, maybe by accident.

you know, did Columbia fully exceed and did Harvard fully join the resistance, right? Before Harvard became the hero of the resistance, they adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism. They kicked out the head of their Middle East study center. All of this, you know, what Tim Snyder would call anticipatory obedience. And then the administration pushed them too far, maybe by accident.

And then they joined the resistance, right? So it's always hybridity all the way down, I would say.

And then they joined the resistance, right? So it's always hybridity all the way down, I would say.

Look, I used to, we used to call it the alt-right. Now it's called the right. And they are playing with taboos in ways that I think are multiple things at once. Some of it is just the old-fashioned troll, you know, can't you take a joke? You know, this isn't actually what you think it is. Or can't you take

Look, I used to, we used to call it the alt-right. Now it's called the right. And they are playing with taboos in ways that I think are multiple things at once. Some of it is just the old-fashioned troll, you know, can't you take a joke? You know, this isn't actually what you think it is. Or can't you take

Yeah. Are you too scared to talk about taboo things? Can't we just push the boundaries, right? Those things all kind of redound to the political benefit of the movement that is, you know, transgression and the thrill of forbidden knowledge is one of the most appealing things in the rhetorical playbook.

Yeah. Are you too scared to talk about taboo things? Can't we just push the boundaries, right? Those things all kind of redound to the political benefit of the movement that is, you know, transgression and the thrill of forbidden knowledge is one of the most appealing things in the rhetorical playbook.

But just to stick on the Hungary example, first time I did a reporting trip to Hungary was 2022 when they announced that CPAC was going to be held in Hungary, the first European CPAC. And I first heard that and said, that must be a troll. Like, that's too on the nose. You wouldn't have CPAC in the only authoritarian country in Europe if it's 2022 and you're trying to win re-election. But they did.

But just to stick on the Hungary example, first time I did a reporting trip to Hungary was 2022 when they announced that CPAC was going to be held in Hungary, the first European CPAC. And I first heard that and said, that must be a troll. Like, that's too on the nose. You wouldn't have CPAC in the only authoritarian country in Europe if it's 2022 and you're trying to win re-election. But they did.

And I went. And there was this whole saga about whether they would let me in. And they kind of, again, with the sort of gaslighting and the hybridity, they were like, sure, sure. We love independent media. You can surely come in. And then in the end, they didn't let me in. And then I had to sneak in. It was a whole thing. But... While I was there, Orban had just been reelected.

And I went. And there was this whole saga about whether they would let me in. And they kind of, again, with the sort of gaslighting and the hybridity, they were like, sure, sure. We love independent media. You can surely come in. And then in the end, they didn't let me in. And then I had to sneak in. It was a whole thing. But... While I was there, Orban had just been reelected.

The resistance, the sort of popular front against him thought they had a chance to beat him, and it turned out they really did not.

The resistance, the sort of popular front against him thought they had a chance to beat him, and it turned out they really did not.

And one of his first speeches in Parliament, he did a whole thing about the Great Replacement Theory, which used to be this fringe alt-right idea that the international Jew, among others, are trying to engineer this whole conspiracy to let in these scary brown hordes and overwhelm majority white nations with invaders. That used to be like crazy, crazy fringe 4chan stuff.

And one of his first speeches in Parliament, he did a whole thing about the Great Replacement Theory, which used to be this fringe alt-right idea that the international Jew, among others, are trying to engineer this whole conspiracy to let in these scary brown hordes and overwhelm majority white nations with invaders. That used to be like crazy, crazy fringe 4chan stuff.