Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump

by David Neiwert Narrated by Matthew Josdal

Overview

Just as Donald Trump's victorious campaign for the US presidency shocked the world, the seemingly sudden national prominence of white supremacists, xenophobes, militia leaders, and mysterious "alt-right" figures mystifies many. But the American extreme right has been growing steadily in number and influence since the 1990s with the rise of patriot militias. Following 9/11, conspiracy theorists found fresh life; and in virulent reaction to the first black US president, militant racists have come out of the woodwork. Nurtured by a powerful right-wing media sector in radio, TV, and online, the far right, Tea Party movement conservatives, and Republican activists found common ground. Figures such as Stephen Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Alex Jones, once rightly dismissed as cranks, now haunt the reports of mainstream journalism.



Investigative reporter David Neiwert has been tracking extremists for more than two decades. In Alt-America, he provides a deeply researched and authoritative report on the growth of fascism and far-right terrorism, the violence of which in the last decade has surpassed anything inspired by Islamist or other ideologies in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The seemingly sudden reemergence of the far right in America has left many in a state of panic and bewilderment. Alt-America will be essential in helping us to comprehend the depth of its foundations in national life.”
—Angela Nagle, author of Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4Chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right

“Over the last two decades, David Neiwert has been one of our finest analysts of the American far right, paying sustained, serious and careful attention to the seemingly fringe movements of conspiracy theorists and insurrectionists. Now it turns out these movements are not so fringe after all but have helped elect Donald Trump as president. This crisply written book, grounded in his solid reporting, tells the whole sordid story with clarity and force. More than anyone else, Neiwert understands that Trumpism has deep roots in American culture and history. In this book, he lays out those roots for all to see.”
—Jeet Heer, Senior Editor at the New Republic

“For over a decade, David Neiwert has been America’s canary in the coal mine—our national early-warning system on the spread of corrosive, eliminationist, right-wing hatred in our midst.”
—Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

“David Neiwert is among the most astute analysts of the contemporary right.”
—Joe Conason, author of Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth

“Neiwert has not only earned his investigative chops over the past decade or so by exploring the dangerous side of right-wing extremism—he’s proven himself to be one of the more lyrical and elegant writers on the beat.”
—Daily Kos

“An alarming, well-researched account of how the far-right extremist underground became empowered in the era of Trump … A prescient discussion of one of the darkest issues facing America today.”
—Kirkus

“Offers the most comprehensive account of the United States’ renewed extremist cultures … Alt-America excites in its ability to connect the seemingly extraordinary alt-right to the broader culture of wing-nut conservatism, drawing white nationalism, 4chan, Donald Trump, Alex Jones and Fox News together into a wonky negaverse version of political life.”
—John Semley, Globe and Mail

“Neiwert’s book masterfully exposes so many of the interstices between Trump, the far-right nationalists and the toxic manipulators of social media, each feeding off the others.”
—Michael Hirsch, Indypendent

“Tracing the ebbs and flows of this far-right extremism in the United States over the last 20 years, Neiwert argues that white nationalist activity in the age of Trump is simply the latest flare-up of what he calls ‘Alt-America,’ or the segment of the American population that has fed on conspiracy theories, racist misinformation, and deep distrust of federal institutions for decades.”
—J.C. Pan, New Republic

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

The seemingly sudden reemergence of the far right in America has left many in a state of panic and bewilderment. Alt-America will be essential in helping us to comprehend the depth of its foundations in national life. —Angela Nagle, author of Kill All Normies

Kirkus Reviews

2017-08-30
An alarming, well-researched account of how the far-right extremist underground became empowered in the era of Trump.Journalist Neiwert (Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us, 2015, etc.) takes a long view, noting how "most Americans did not realize that far from going extinct, these groups had been growing and flourishing in recent years." To explain this, he returns to the 1990s, "when the radical right first began to try to mainstream itself as a ‘patriot' and militia movement." The author documents how mainstream conservatives helped legitimize such groups while purportedly staying aloof from their bigotry. Simultaneously, a profitable right-wing media juggernaut fed the incivility and provided a constant stream of propagandistic viewpoints, barely checked following movement-related atrocities like the Oklahoma City or Olympics bombings. While militia culture declined during the Bush years, 9/11 ramped up a "nativist backlash…[alleging] that ‘white culture' was under attack in the form of this ‘invasion' of brown faces speaking foreign tongues." As Neiwert notes, Barack Obama's presidency unified the racist right and mainstream conservatism; their denial of his legitimacy inspired the "Birther" movement and, ultimately, Trump's campaign. Concurrently, seemingly trivial online episodes like the misogynist "Gamergate" video game controversy were unifying disparate factions in the alienated, intolerant "Manosphere," communicating through raunchy memes that normalized racism. The author further examines the rise of a young, media-savvy generation of online white supremacists and "academic racists," who connected with Trump's coded appeals to racial grievance. Ultimately, "the interrelated but often disputatious spheres occupied by the followers of these ideologies were united by Donald Trump." The author documents a great deal of violence, committed by those influenced by the universe of bigoted conspiracy theory through which he guides readers. He writes in a clear, cool fashion, aware that this shameful political tale may signal a "potentially dangerous proto-fascist" future, the subject of his epilogue. A prescient discussion of one of the darkest issues facing America today.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170690923
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	10/31/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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