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Craig Franson

@craigfranson.bsky.social
340 followers 372 following 727 posts

English professor/democracy enthusiast--18/19th century, popular culture, critical theory, writing & rhetoric. Sometime podcaster & substacker at #AmericanId, former photojournalist & actor, Idaho expat. #Politics #Romanticism #PopCulture #Tolkien #Buffy+

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Craig Franson
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Just reading about the millions in direct oil & gas $$$ going to the pols most vocal in deflecting blame for wildfire onto “forest management.” My representatives signed this. You can check if yours did, too, or if they’re getting paid to incinerate the future. nofossilfuelmoney.org
nofossilfuelmoney.org
No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge
It’s past time for our politicians and political candidates to reject support from the fossil fuel industry and protect the health of our families, our climate, and our democracy.
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Reposted by Craig Franson
Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
This is the natural evolution of Zuckerberg’s first project, harassing college girls by putting their faces next to each other and having the campus rate who was hotter.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
1920s-30s fascists called themselves the "Third Way"--a nationally unifying "middle path" between the evil extremes of communism & capitol. Fascists won elections because liberals, democratic socialists, & communists fought each other, rather than their common enemy.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Hasan Piker's antisemitism is building a bridge to the far right.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Mike, stop trying to make 'Bircher' happen. It's not going to happen.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Tom Emanuel has a new piece debunking fascist appropriations of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Strongly recommend.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Finally watched The Order (2024). Better than I'd heard, though not so good as I'd like. A mostly realistic depiction of a forgotten story that led us to now. The landscapes are exceptional, as is the cultural reconstruction the Pacific NW in 1983-84. I kept feeling like I actually knew Jude Law.
theguardian.com
The Order review – Jude Law does solid work in vehement account of white supremacists’ takedown
Nicholas Hoult plays a wannabe far-right martyr, and Law and Tye Sheridan the feds on his tail, in a well-cast if anticlimactic true-crime tale
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
(Reposted from Substack) substack.com/@americanid/...
substack.com
Craig Franson (@americanid)
@Jonathan V. Last & @Jon Lovett just had a great, big-picture discussion of JVL’s “Unified Theory of Trumpism.” Sharp intuitions worth some further thought. I hope they spend more time plumbing the de...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
All of this buttresses JVL’s point that America (to some degree) really “wanted” exactly what Trump is delivering. But not just because it’s “human nature.” Rather, because it’s American history.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
US anti-communist policy and ideology were expressly PRO-fascist, just as they were expressly racist/colonialist, antisemitic, anti-gay, & Christian nationalist.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Starting in Italy in 1947, American military intelligence (now the CIA) hired former nazis & fascists to train, arm, & dispatch neofascist terrorists & paramilitaries that they subsequently activated all over the globe (until at least the 1980s).
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
More importantly, however, for the immediate subject of Trumpian fascism, the consensus era did NOT see consensus opposition to fascism. To the contrary, America played a huge role in actively building the post-war international neofascist movement—on purpose.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Jon & JVL waxed nostalgic over consensus era, bi-partisan opposition to communism in the “before times.” But that so-called “consensus” wasn’t at all an opposition to other forms of extremism. The US had a whole spectrum of bi-partisan supremacisms (wealth, white, male, hetero, able-bodied, etc.)
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
One important oversight jumped out at me, though.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Closer to the now-times, Lovett predicting a return of phrenology follows sociologist Oliver Rollins’s important work on the “new phrenology” movement in neuroscience (see his book ‘Conviction’).
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Their discussion of Miller & Rubio’s disgusting descent into degeneration phobia leads us up to the concept of “aesthetic politics” that Walter Benjamin gave us (& on to the tentative solutions that Adorno, Bloch, & Brecht fought over with Lukacs in the 1930s).
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
And Lovett on the step-by-step radicalization of the GOP is basically Bill Buford’s paradigm-shifting argument from ‘Among the Thugs’ (an absolute must-read for the accelerating radicalization of our moment).
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
JVL’s insistence that part of America just really “wanted” all THIS (Trump destruction) is all of those above thinkers, along with the tragically neglected George Lakoff (esp. ‘Moral Politics’).
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
JVL despairing over intransigent “human nature” echoes Freud’s WWII dispute with Einstein. And Lovett’s sense that MAGA fascism is mostly a psychological disposition butts right up against Eco & Paxton on fascism, Sartre & Kristeva on antisemitism, & Adorno & Bob Altemeyer on authoritarianism.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
As they were talking, I couldn’t help but hear some missing reference points—references that might help lead us to an even more thorough-going diagnosis of the national crisis. For example…
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
@jvl.bsky.social & @jonlovett.bsky.social just had a great, big-picture discussion of JVL’s “Unified Theory of Trumpism.” Sharp intuitions worth some further thought. I hope they spend more time plumbing the depths together. (analysis in thread) audioboom.com/posts/893500...
audioboom.com
A Unified Theory of Trumpism
Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, stops by the show to talk to Lovett about his "Grand Unified Theory of Trumpism" — that Trump's opponent "will always choose surrender over ...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Here's the episode link. audioboom.com/posts/893500...
audioboom.com
A Unified Theory of Trumpism
Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, stops by the show to talk to Lovett about his "Grand Unified Theory of Trumpism" — that Trump's opponent "will always choose surrender over ...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I'm going to have to repost with the correct episode. Crooked's page shifted back to the last one. Here's the one I'm talking about. audioboom.com/posts/893500...
audioboom.com
A Unified Theory of Trumpism
Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, stops by the show to talk to Lovett about his "Grand Unified Theory of Trumpism" — that Trump's opponent "will always choose surrender over ...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Their discussion of Miller/Rubio on degeneration nearly gets to Benjamin, Adorno, & Brecht on fascist aesthetics. Also, Lovett predicting a return of phrenology follows sociologist Oliver Rollins's important work on the "new phrenology" movement in neuroscience (see his book "Conviction").
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
US anti-communist policy & ideology was expressly pro-fascist, just as it was expressly racist/colonialist, antisemitic, anti-gay, & Christian nationalist. This buttresses @jvl.bsky.social's point that America wanted what Trump is delivering. But not just bc it's "human nature." Bc it's our history.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
One oversight, though. The lauded consensus era saw joint opposition to communism, but not fascism. In fact, America fed the international neofascist movement--on purpose. Starting in Italy (1947), the CIA got Nazis & fascists to train, supply, & dispatch neofascist terrorists & paramilitaries.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
JVL on human nature echoes Freud to Einstein; Lovett's sense that fascism is a disposition butts up against Sartre, Adorno, Eco, Paxton, & Altemeyer; JVL's insistence that part of America just wanted THIS is Lakoff (plus all the above); & Lovett on GOP radicalization is Bill Buford's "Thugs."
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Absolutely. If you haven't yet read it, I rec. Andreas Malm's White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism. Truly prescient.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
How did the hippies lose their hold on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth? Part of the answer is William F. Buckley Jr.'s National Review.
americanid.substack.com
America’s Heartland… Middle-earth?
My 2019 paper for the Popular Culture Association conference
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Reposted by Craig Franson
Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Posted a few preliminary thoughts on Andy Serkis in a longish Substack note. May circle back with a fully-formed piece. substack.com/@americanid/...
substack.com
Craig Franson (@americanid)
Breanne gives a great response to Andy Serkis’s clumsily racist interview with the BBC. Be sure to read it if you’re thinking about wading into the social media fray. If you’re happily NOT on X thes...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
What a silly, anachronistic, equivocation.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Posted a few preliminary thoughts on Andy Serkis in a longish Substack note. May circle back with a fully-formed piece. substack.com/@americanid/...
substack.com
Craig Franson (@americanid)
Breanne gives a great response to Andy Serkis’s clumsily racist interview with the BBC. Be sure to read it if you’re thinking about wading into the social media fray. If you’re happily NOT on X thes...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
More context for those unsettled by the fash-net's enthusiasm for Serkis's clumsy evocation of a Middle-earth whitopia.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Thanks.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It's a good piece. I wish I had followed my gut and written something just like it to Tolkien Studies back in 2010.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
An important piece to think through before you jump in to defend Serkis's take on race in The Hunt for Gollum. #Tolkien #LOTR #TolkienStudies
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Reposted by Craig Franson
Anti-Fascism and Far Right @ffrafaction.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Idaho labor economist ran anonymous accounts promoting pro-Russian, far-right views Online researchers recently identified Wolkenhauer as the anonymous poster behind large Substack & X accounts that often traffic in Nazi imagery and amplify far-right organizations. cdapress.com/news/2026/ju...
cdapress.com
Idaho labor economist ran anonymous accounts promoting pro-Russian, far-right views
Sam Wolkenhauer ran anonymous accounts that generated thousands of dollars in subscriptions while posting pro-Russian commentary, slurs and Nazi imagery
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Looks like a must read.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Thanks @timmiller.bsky.social for giving me a new go-to text for teaching fallacy analysis. Piers delivered a Gish gallop fit to rival Kellyanne Conway's on Meet the Press.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Dude with a totenkopf on his chest has skeletons in his closet & we're surprised? Dems have a serious will to ignorance...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
If you wanted to build a single rule designed to eradicated the humanities & social sciences, kill all private liberal arts colleges, & completely disempower your work force for generations, this is how you'd do it.
ed.gov
U.S. Department of Education Issues Final Rule to Hold All Colleges and Universities Accountable for Low-Earning Programs
Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced a final rule establishing a long-overdue postsecondary education accountability framework. Under the new Student Tuition and Transpar...
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Seriously, what is wrong with Dem. leadership?
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Research quandary for the day: why don't we talk more about all the Nazi & neofascist skeletons US conservative luminaries had in their closets?
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Reposted by Craig Franson
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
Conservatives Want the Antebellum Constitution Back
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are in trouble.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The center does not hold.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The center does not hold.
politico.com
Centrist Democrats are freaking out about progressives’ winning streak
After romping in New York City, progressives are staring down more key primary tests.
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Reposted by Craig Franson
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
It’s great how this administration has hired people to create explicitly white nationalist propaganda for them, and then simply mentioning this fact in a classroom can get you fired.
Tom Sauer
@thomasbsauer•6h
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How have I never heard this song before, and why is it the most based thing I've ever listened to?
Been playing it on loop this morning and now Natalie is getting annoyed, so I turned up the volume.
(h/t@no_one_quits)
WE'LL HAVE OUR HOME AGAIN
JOIN.ICE.GOV
旦x
90
L> 474
2.6K
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Posting to read later. Understanding Schmitt is essential for understanding the post-liberal wing of the new American right. www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-nazi-p...
theargumentmag.com
The Nazi philosopher behind the postliberal right
Carl Schmitt wrote the legal justifications for Hitler's seizure of power. His ideas are now in the White House.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
The name isn't finalized, but it's an edited volume with McFarland press on Tolkien and race, likely out early next year.
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Craig Franson @craigfranson.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Looking forward to your chapter, too!
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