A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast

ANOWS PODCAST SEASON 2 FINALE We’ve been teasing this one for a while now. Want to know how you go from a crazy idea to preparing a professional pitch for Hollywood producers? Jay and EJ talk to Justin Isett about developing the A Nazi on Wall Street project. Spies, G-Men, femme fatales, and more! You don’t want to miss this one. Photo by Gemma Evans on Unsplash

EMERGENCY PODCAST: Jay and EJ digest the news of twice impeached former president Trump’s indictment and pending criminal charges. As every news agency under the sun has observed, this is an unprecedented moment—but perhaps a predictable one. This is a rapidly evolving story and by the time you hear this, there may be more indictments, charges, or unpredictable reactions. Tune in! (warning: salty language) [Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash]

Whether historians like it or not, our identities and histories are often tied up in intense contests of competing narratives—which greatly affect the way we talk about history in public, such as at museums and historic sites, and in our entertainment and media. The A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast is public history, too--but what does that really mean? Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo talk with John Heckman aka “The Tattooed Historian” to get a better understanding of public history and why it’s so important.

The A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast has been going strong for nearly two years! As we near the end of our second season, we cover a topic that has affected all of us during this period: the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to his work as a historian, Dr. Jay Weixelbaum works with scientists all over the world for his day job and shares some insights about COVID-19 research in this episode. EJ and Jay also discuss how the pandemic intersects with the current state of politics, conspiracy theories, and populism. We hope you’ll tune in.

We made it! Jay and EJ process the unfolding results of the 2022 US Midterms as the so-called "Red Wave" fizzles out. Has there been a democratic resurgence? This episode explores election ramifications for the House, the Senate, and what might be in store for US politics in 2023. Tune in and get up to speed on the state of play in America's existential struggle against fascism. [image by Joshua Sukoff]

Following on our last episode on the media in the battle between the forces of democracy and fascism, the ANOWS podcast takes on Fox News-one of the largest platforms for rightwing and fascist messaging on the planet. EJ and Jay talk with Juliet Jeske, an expert in grassroots fascist groups and producer of Decoding Fox News, which deeply analyzes how rightwing propaganda on that station operates. If you want to understand the battle for our minds and how Fox has become so powerful--as well as what we can do fight back--you won't want to miss this episode. [Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash]

For a while now, the A Nazi on Wall Street podcast has been building toward a conversation about the role of the US media in the existential battle between democracy and fascism. This episode, EJ Russo and Dr. Jay Weixelbaum are blessed not with one expert, but three! Dr. Weixelbaum interviews Mark Jacob, Cliff Schecter, and John Stoehr in an entertaining and nuanced discussion about our current media landscape and how we might all help improve it to protect our democracy. You don’t want to miss this one! Also, make sure to check out the work of our excellent guests here: Mark Jacob: https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/people/mark-jacob/ Cliff Schecter: https://www.youtube.com/user/cschecter John Stoehr: https://www.editorialboard.com/

Last year, Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo closed the first season of the A Nazi on Wall Street podcast talking about what it’s like to live in a paradigm shift: when fundamental changes in the world lead to a “new normal.” Back in 1940, the world was in cataclysmic change -— and many would say we are today, too. In fact, things are changing so rapidly that EJ and Jay decided to record another episode taking stock of just how much has happened since the last time they talked about paradigm shifts in November. There’s a lot at stake and the two don’t mince words (CW: For any salty language). You won’t want to miss this one!

One of the consistencies of rightwing extremism is the intertwining of Christian ideology with hypernationalist violence. The U.S. is no stranger to this scourge, and other western nations face this danger, too. To solve a problem as deep and pervasive as this one, we need to dig in and understand it better. EJ Russo and Dr. Jay Weixelbaum unravel this topic with Dr. Thomas Lecaque, an expert in Christian Nationalism and how it worms its way into our popular culture--normalizing bigotry and continuing cycles of violence. Tune in! You don't want to miss this one.

EJ Russo and Dr. Jay Weixelbaum sit down with former journalist and law student Megan Geuss for an impromptu live discussion about our reaction to the Dobbs v. Jackson decision and what we can do moving forward.

The A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast returns for a second season! In this premier, EJ Russo and Dr. Jay Weixelbaum take on a topic on everyone’s mind these days: Midterm Elections. We’re living in a time of change and it seems like the issues we care about are culminating all at once. What can we expect in November? And what were midterms like during the 1930s and 1940s at another time when it seemed like the world had turned upside-down? We’re joined by political strategist Adam Slater to help us make sense of it all.

There’s only one thing historians know for sure: times change. But how would you know if a new era was unfolding before your very eyes? Join Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo as they discuss the idea of “paradigm shifts” and what they mean for our current times. It’s also the end of an era for the Nazi on Wall Street Podcast--this is the final episode of Season One! Jay and EJ tie together everything you’ve heard over the past nine episodes. Stay tuned, though—Season Two is right around the corner.

This one is a blast from the past! In preparation for our final episode of the season, the A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast crew wanted to share with you an early recording made at near the beginning of 2021. In this episode, Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo compare the Trump administration of 2020 with the Herbert Hoover administration. In both cases there was a spiraling crisis, which was met by mostly ineffective, haphazard action. With some hindsight, we can see just how important steady leadership is when things get chaotic in the face of a serious problem, such as a depression or a pandemic. You'll want to tune in for this one, if only to see how Jay and EJ manage to incorporate fluffernutter sandwiches into the discussion. See you there!

Continuing the theme of exploring rightwing populism, Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo discuss the anti-socialism and anti-communism at the heart of this ideology with Austin Clements, a PhD candidate at Stanford University. What they discover is that fascists and the far right use some of the same rhetoric today to attack everything they don't like as they did generations ago. Join Jay, EJ, and Austin as they investigate the roots of these arguments and how they interplay with what's being said in the present.

This episode is a blast from the past. Recorded in March of 2021, Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo discuss the disturbing 2018 summit in Helsinki between Trump and Putin. In this meeting, Trump infamously told the world that he believed Putin when he said Russia had not attacked the US 2016 election, even though some of Trump's own campaign officials would later be convicted for such activities. Drawing parallels, Dr. Jay discusses his own research on American businessmen giving Nazi leaders the public benefit of the doubt prior to US involvement in World War II. After so many interesting conversations during the first season of A Nazi on Wall Street podcast, it's time to finally dig into some of the research behind the fascinating and dramatic story Elusive Films is developing. We hope you'll tune in!

Like Covid, populism cannot be reasoned with. It dresses itself in slogans. It's fixated on outrage. It won’t be won over by facts. It’s inherently suspicious of expertise. It wallows in conspiracy theories. And it's been with us for a long time. Populism can present itself as both right- and leftwing varieties, but the most dangerous version is fascism, which is a key topic in the A Nazi on Wall Street story. We join Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo to discuss the corrosive politics of populism with expert Dr. David Walsh. Tune in!

The A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast is a discussion about current events, their historical context, and building the world in which the A Nazi on Wall Street story takes place. Even though the Civil Rights Movement primarily takes shape after the 1940s, the Elusive Films team made a conscious choice to include this topic in our series after the historic Black Lives Matter marches inspired in part by the death of George Floyd in 2020. We could not reflect on recent current events without talking about these historic forces. They are essential to understanding where we are and how we got here. To our great fortune, Pulitzer Prize winning civil rights author Taylor Branch joins Jay and EJ to discuss this important topic and reflect on the differences and similarities between Black Lives Matter and the movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, SNCC and others in the 1950s and 1960s. We hope you'll tune in to this timely and salient topic with us.

The A Nazi on Wall Street podcast discusses current events and explores their historical context with experts. We want to help listeners understand an earlier time in the American 20th century. In this case, Jay and EJ talk about a disturbingly relevant and familiar parallel: white nationalist gangs. Just like the Proud Boys today, groups led by Nazi admirers like Gerald LK Smith espoused antisemitism and violent bigotry in the mid-20th century. Join Jay and EJ as they discuss this history with Dr. Alon Milwicki, one of the foremost experts on white nationalist groups. This isn't an easy history. But we know that every time history repeats, the price goes up. You don't want to miss this one.

The A Nazi on Wall Street Podcast isn’t just to promote our film project; it is also a conversation about the parallels between our current era and earlier histories of America. In order to understand the world of the 1930s and 1940s, we have to talk about antisemitism. Hate against Jews has cropped up periodically, but discrimination used to be codified in U.S. law, as well. Dr. Jay Weixelbaum and EJ Russo join Dr. Britt Tevis, an expert in American legal history, to discuss how Jews were discriminated against in the U.S. legal system. Meanwhile, Dr. Jay and EJ connect the modern day hate of Charlottesville and the Tree of Life shooting to this history. In a time where we hear so much about Critical Race Theory, which describes structural racism in our legal system, this is a timely conversation we hope you’ll tune in to.

What is the backstory of A Nazi on Wall Street? In order to tell the story of Nazi spies in New York in 1940, we started with FDR and the New Deal last episode. Now, we take on Henry Ford. And, of course--always with an eye toward what's happening in the present day. In this second episode by Elusive Films, EJ Russo and Dr. Jay Weixelbaum discuss the current problem of "fake news," propaganda, and conspiracy theory that has run rampant through the Trump era and the pandemic. They are joined by Dr. Victoria Woeste, author of "Henry Ford's War on Jews" to learn about the dramatic episode of the defamation case against Ford and his propaganda newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. We ask: How do we help our fellow citizens think critically about what they read online? Join us as we unpack the Fairness Doctrine, the rise of rightwing media outlets, and how the echoes of Ford's vicious antisemitism has echoes online today.