When the Clock Broke (w/ John Ganz)
Know Your Enemy24 Jun 2024

When the Clock Broke (w/ John Ganz)

Something happened to America — and to American conservatism — in the early 1990s: an unspooling, a coarsening, a turn from substance to symbol and from narrative to fragment; prevailing political myths ceased to make sense or have purchase, and nothing sufficiently capacious or legible emerged to replace them, leaving only a dank, foggy climate of conspiracy, bellicosity, and despair. Victorious in the Cold War, America was supposed to be riding high; instead the whole country was experiencing a crisis of confidence.

Why? What happened? And did we ever get over it — or are we still somehow stuck in the "long 1990s?" No one is better equipped to tease out answers to these questions than our great friend John Ganz, whose riveting new book is called When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s. With his characteristic wit and panache, John guides us through a lively discussion of: Sam Francis's middle American radicalism; Pat Buchanan's "culture war" speech; Ross Perot and POW-MIA; Carroll Quigley's influence on Bill Clinton; John Gotti's appeal; and how these figures, and this era, prepared the way for Donald Trump. It's a barnburner, folks! Enjoy!

Sources:

John Ganz, When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s (2024)

— "The Year the Clock Broke: How the world we live in already happened in 1992," The Baffler, Nov 2018

Jen Szalai, "The 1990s Were Weirder Than You Think. We’re Feeling the Effects." NYTimes, Jun 12, 2024.

Listening:

KYE "The Year the Clock Broke, (w/ John Ganz)" Mar 16, 2020

KYE "Christopher Lasch’s Critique of Progress, (w/ Chris Lehmann)" Aug 11, 2022

...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to all of our extensive catalogue of bonus episodes!

Episoder(258)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

On February 28, both the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation's Supreme Leader, along with other political leaders and government officials, destroying va...

6 Mar 1h 16min

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy. On Monday, Manhattan Institute fellow Chris Rufo posted this: "The Right's collective brain is getting melted in...

27 Feb 2min

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

When people break with MAGA, most of them walk away and don't look back, whether out of shame or fear or both. So it's a rare thing to talk with someone willing to describe publicly why they joined th...

23 Feb 1h 19min

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.This episode is about Shattered Glass, the 2003 movie portraying former New Republic writer Stephen Glass's fall ...

16 Feb 3min

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Finally, an episode about Tucker Carlson—and at an auspicious time, as his influence on the right seems only to have grown in the first year of Trump's second term. To help us understand him, we turne...

9 Feb 1h 16min

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.The shocking execution of Alex Pretti occurred after we recorded our last episode for subscribers about Minneapol...

2 Feb 5min

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

Last week, all eyes were on Davos as President Trump unfurled his deranged desire to buy or take Greenland from Denmark—just weeks after the United States kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro...

26 Jan 1h 13min

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Matt and Sam discuss the January 7 killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, the promising signs that...

19 Jan 4min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
stopp-verden
forklart
i-retten
popradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
grasoner-den-nye-kalde-krigen
e24-podden