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cover of episode The Red Scare Returns? Lessons from McCarthyism in the Age of Trump 2.0

The Red Scare Returns? Lessons from McCarthyism in the Age of Trump 2.0

2025/7/3
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Clay Risen
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Kara Swisher
卡拉·斯威舍是一位知名的媒体评论家和播客主持人，专注于科技和政治话题的深入分析。
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Kara Swisher: 特朗普及其共和党同僚还在用“共产主义”这个词来攻击任何稍微进步的事物，这让人感觉麦卡锡主义可能正在卷土重来，甚至可能更糟。这让我非常担忧，因为历史告诉我们，这种政治恐吓会对社会造成极大的伤害。我希望通过与Clay Risen的对话，能够更深入地了解麦卡锡主义的根源、运作方式以及对当今政治的潜在影响。我认为，只有充分认识到历史的教训，我们才能更好地应对当前的挑战，捍卫我们的价值观和自由。 Clay Risen: 我认为将社会主义与共产主义、反美主义等同起来是可笑和令人沮丧的。现在很多人用commie这个词已经变味了，任何你不喜欢的左派事物都可以称之为commie。这是一种非常危险的趋势，因为它模糊了概念，制造了恐慌，并为政治迫害提供了借口。我们需要警惕这种语言的使用，并坚持理性、客观的讨论。我认为，我们需要对历史有更深入的了解，才能避免重蹈覆辙。我们需要认识到，麦卡锡主义不仅仅是历史，它仍然以各种形式存在于我们的社会中。我们需要保持警惕，捍卫我们的自由和价值观。

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President Trump and other Republicans keep throwing around the C-word — Communist — to smear anyone slightly progressive, including Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s new Democratic mayoral candidate. But right-wing fearmongering isn’t the only reason it feels like McCarthyism is on the rise again. 

So, just in time for the 4th of July, Kara speaks to New York Times reporter and author Clay Risen about his latest book, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America). They unpack Joseph McCarthy’s insane antics, parallels between the Republican party of the 1940s/50s and today — and what lessons, if any, we can learn from McCarthy’s ultimate downfall.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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