S8 Ep. 2: Jeff Sharlet on ‘Sanewashing’ and Fascism

fiction/non/fiction

Nonfiction writer Jeff Sharlet joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how mainstream media outlets sanitize Donald Trump’s rhetoric in their reporting rather than straightforwardly describing his words and behavior, an approach recently dubbed “sanewashing” by The New Republic’s Parker Molloy. Sharlet analyzes the term’s usefulness and also its limitations; talks about the need to describe fascism using the word itself; and reflects on who is now at the center of political discourse and who is at the fringe. He also considers whether popular new media influencers like the MeidasTouch Network and YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen are really filling the need to describe Trump as he is. He reads from his book, The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Jeff Sharlet

• The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War
• This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers
• Sweet Heaven When I Die
• C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy
• The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

Others:

• "This genius website captures Trump’s weirdest debate quotes," by Grace Snelling | Fast Company
• Lenny Bruce
• The White Album by Joan Didion
• The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton
• Rick Perlstein
• Brian Tyler Cohen
• MeidasTouch Network
• Jeffrey Ruoff
• Susan Faludi
• Lane Kirkland
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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