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Aaron J Leonard

@ajleonard.bsky.social
127 followers 146 following 49 posts

Author | Historian

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Reposted by Aaron J Leonard
Green and Red Podcast @podcastgreenred.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
~NEW EPISODE~ The FBI vs. American Communism 🎙️: bit.ly/4xV2xhM In our latest, we talk with author and historian @ajleonard.bsky.social about the Federal Government’s long war against American communism.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
greenandredpodcast.org/2026/09/30/m...
greenandredpodcast.org
“Menace of Our Time”: Aaron Leonard on the FBI’s Long War on American Communism
In our latest, we talk with author and historian Aaron Leonard about the Federal Government’s long war against American communism. Listen in: Guest bio// Aaron J. Leonard is a writer and hist…
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Before 9/11 there was no Department of Homeland Security..... aaronjleonard.substack.com/p/the-repres...
aaronjleonard.substack.com
The Repression 9/11 Gave Us
At the time 9/11 happened I was a writer for the Revolutionary Communist Party’s newspaper the Revolutionary Worker/Obrero Revolucionario (before it became the Revolution website of “All Bob Avakian/A...
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Coming in 2027
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
cosmonautmag.com/2026/07/the-...
cosmonautmag.com
The Long Red Scare: Inside the FBI's Secret War on American Communism with Aaron Leonard
Aaron Leonard and Donald Parkinson sit down for a conversation on Leonard's recent book 'Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Big thanks to the LA Progressive for reprinting my Weatherman piece www.laprogressive.com/progressive-...
laprogressive.com
How the FBI and Mainstream Media Made Weather Underground Famous
The Weathermen’s campaign of political violence failed to build a revolution, but COINTELPRO, television coverage and decades of cultural fascination turned the group into an enduring radical brand.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Some background on SDS, Weathermen, RYM II, etc., on reading Zayad Dohrn Ayers memoir. aaronjleonard.substack.com/p/you-dont-n...
aaronjleonard.substack.com
You Don’t Need the Weathermen
He wants to be the synthesis—he is a composite error.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
This seemed a good day to repost this one....happy 85th Bob! truthout.org/articles/new...
truthout.org
Newly Uncovered Documents Reveal the FBI’s Campaign Against Bob Dylan
The US impulse toward repression didn’t die with the Cold War, as current attempts to suppress support for Gaza show.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
aaronjleonard.substack.com/p/warsaw-and...
aaronjleonard.substack.com
Warsaw and the Ghosts of the 20th Century
Notes on my time in Poland.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
What I wrote about Country Joe (et al) in my book, Whole World in an Uproar.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
open.substack.com/pub/aaronjle...
open.substack.com
The FBI and the Shattering of Students for a Democratic Society
Aaron J. Leonard
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Worth a second look (IMHO) Listening to the Clash After the Election open.substack.com/pub/aaronjle...
open.substack.com
Listening to the Clash After the Election
Listening to the Clash After the Election
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
www.instagram.com/p/DT-fgrdjPNa/
instagram.com
Freakout Bookshelf on Instagram: "Whole World in an Uproar: Music, Rebellion and Repression – 1955-1972 by Aaron J Leonard @repeaterbooks This book is not a nostalgic trip through 60s music, it’s a d...
155 likes, 6 comments - freakout_bookshelf on January 26, 2026: "Whole World in an Uproar: Music, Rebellion and Repression – 1955-1972 by Aaron J Leonard @repeaterbooks This book is not a nostalgic t...
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
My latest Substack entry: open.substack.com/pub/aaronjle...
open.substack.com
Capitalism, the infernal machine: An interview with Fredric Jameson
Some years back, I had the privilege of interviewing Fredric Jameson for the Canadian newssite, Rabble.ca. Given the current intoxication with AI among the billionaire class, proceeding side by side w...
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
I had a great talk with Brian Becker on the Socialist Program Podcast. open.spotify.com/episode/2S31...
open.spotify.com
From the Palmer Raids to COINTELPRO: The War Against American Socialism and Communism
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Over the next period I will be posting on my Substack page my writing for Truthout on music and musicians – with a particular focus on those of whom I’ve obtained FBI files. _______ Newly Unearthed FBI File Exposes Targeting of Folk Singer Dave Van Ronk open.substack.com/pub/aaronjle...
open.substack.com
Newly Unearthed FBI File Exposes Targeting of Folk Singer Dave Van Ronk
Files on the late musician offer a disturbing window into the US’s long tradition of political suppression.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Nebraska, and the Disintegration of the American Dream open.substack.com/pub/aaronjle...
open.substack.com
Nebraska, and the Disintegration of the American Dream
They don’t have much consideration for human miseries.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
www.patreon.com/posts/episod...
patreon.com
Episode 502: Red Scare | TrueAnon Podcast
Get more from TrueAnon Podcast on Patreon
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
This is Woody talking to "Weaver's" Fred Hellerman and Lee Hayes, who asked how he was doing -- while being hospitalized for Huntington's Chorea during the Second Red Scare. (From my book Folksingers & the Bureau)
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
histoireetsociete.com/les-communis...
histoireetsociete.com
Les communistes défendaient la liberté d’expression que menaçait le FBI - Histoire et société
9 septembre 2025 Un jour, on ne peut qu'en être convaincu, le travail que découvre ce chercheur sur
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
A great review from Ron Jacobs at CounterPunch: www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/09/t...
counterpunch.org
The Communists Defended Free Speech, Not the Feds
The Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) has been oft-maligned by those to its left and to its right. To the casual observer the attacks from the
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
My latest in Truthout: truthout.org/articles/how...
truthout.org
How a Century of Anti-Communism Cleared the Way for Trump’s Authoritarianism
This trope has long been used to justify repression of anarchists, communists, liberals, immigrants, and unions.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Aaron Libson, a closeted gay communist was a target of the FBI’s COINTELPRO-CPUSA. When they facilitated publicizing his arrest on sodomy charges, he tried to kill himself but was thankfully unsuccessful. For the FBI... it was a win, he was driven out of the CP, and the group was “embarrassed.”
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Coming... September 9, 2025.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
[From my upcoming book].The period of imminent revolution the Comintern declared in 1928 ended abruptly when Adolf Hitler assumed power in 1933. To their peril, the communists & social democrats of Germany held to the idea that the Nazis were a temporary phenomenon... #stopfacsism #resist #handsoff
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
A generous endorsement from Professor Roberts: "The sordid story of the intense and prolonged repression of American communists has never been told better. Aaron J. Leonard’s compelling and highly illuminating book is a must-read for everyone interested in US political history."
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Pasadena high school students walking out to protest deportations
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Rutgers just sent me the cover for the new book—coming September 9, 2025.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
I've not yet seen the Dylan film, though Elijah Wald's book, which it is somewhat based on was helpful in working through my own analysis. For a sample you can see the Literary Hub excerpt.https://lithub.com/how-bob-dylan-became-a-counterculture-icon/
lithub.com
How Bob Dylan Became a Counterculture Icon
“A song satirizing the John Birch Society was barred from Ed Sullivan’s television show on Sunday night by the Columbia Broadcasting System, which said it was controversial.” –New York Times, May 1…
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
In "Meltdown Expected" I write, that while Jimmy Carter came into office as a champion of human rights, by the end of 1979 he had begun funding Islamist guerillas in Afghanistan, developed the MX missile, embraced the despised Shah of Iran, and tacitly supported the Pol Pot regime against Vietnam.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Movie of the year you ask? Here's mine: truthout.org/articles/wha...
truthout.org
What Does Dystopian Film “Civil War” Say About the Current Reality in the US?
Beyond serving as harrowing entertainment, the film explores real fears about social divides in the contemporary US.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
I have just been given a publication date from Rutgers University Press for my next book, Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism. It will be on the streets starting September 9, 2025. Get ready! @rutgersupress.bsky.social
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
If the new Dylan movie (A Complete Unknown) has your interest - personally I find biopix problematic, they project a twisted view of things, that the uninformed then internalize as the truth- I found some pretty fascinating stuff in the FBI files on him last year. truthout.org/articles/new...
truthout.org
Newly Uncovered Documents Reveal the FBI’s Campaign Against Bob Dylan
The US impulse toward repression didn’t die with the Cold War, as current attempts to suppress support for Gaza show.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Thanks for this @rutgersupress.bsky.social !
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
I had a great conversation with Dick Price & Sharon Kyle, of the LA Progressive, about the FBI's sordid history, the state of the US economy, and what the future may portend. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOWj...
youtube.com
Trump Harris Battle Ignored Real Economic Crisis Like most Campaigns
YouTube video by LA Progressive
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
My thought on the fraught state of the USA www.laprogressive.com/economic-equ...
laprogressive.com
Listening to the Clash After the Election
The country that existed in the aftermath of World War II is fading further with each passing year.
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Nice to see "Meltdown Expected" on the list: www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/democracy/
rutgersuniversitypress.org
Democracy - Rutgers University Press
Now that the results of the U.S. presidential race are clear, we thought it would be helpful to highlight some of our books on democracy and the threats
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Looking forward to speaking at LA's All Power Books w/All Power Musicians Org, on December 3, 7pm (about Folk Singers & the Bureau). The image of Woody Guthrie is from his NY FBI file, taken by an informant in Spokane, Washington. All Power Books 7pm—4749 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
I don't know what the [Trump] years ahead hold--though I'm inclined to think they will be more crisis racked, and contentious, than some are projecting. Regardless, I thought this was worth a repost-reread. jacobin.com/2024/08/nazi...
jacobin.com
Understanding the Rise of Fascism
Popular accounts of Nazism often claim that Hitler rose to power democratically. But, historian Richard J. Evans argues, German fascism relied on armed militias, made up of disaffected veterans inspir...
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Excellent graphics from allpowerbooks.org Looking forward to speaking on Dec 3. #woodyguthrie #peteseeger #folkmusic
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Looking forward to this! allpowerbooks.org
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Aaron J Leonard @ajleonard.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Recently talked with ABC Radio (Australia) about Folk Singers & the Bureau. You can listen here: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... (Photo is from Guthrie's FBI file, for a vagrancy arrest in Ohio) #woodyguthrie #peteseeger
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