National Review on Kevin Phillips, 1978 / The Argument on JD Vance 2026. Plus ça change!
Joshua Tait
@joshuatait.bsky.social
Ph.D in US history from UNC | Associate Editor at The Bulwark | Writes about the history of conservatism and conservative thought | Irenic | joshua.a.tait at gmail dot com | https://joshuatait.substack.com
As soon as I heard about the border crossing at Ceuta, I knew we were in for Camp of the Saints discourse. And sure enough, here's Juliette Heinzlef on the one novel everyone on the anti-immigrant right claims to have read. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-dystop...
The Dystopian Novel Fueling the Far Right’s Migration Myths
From Ceuta to Washington, hard-right leaders regularly cite Jean Raspail’s 1973 novel to transform real-world border events into apocalyptic threats to Western civilization.
thebulwark.com
The easiest political pitch in the world right now is probably: “everything is too expensive, Trump is ripping us off, we gotta hold him accountable, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.”
"I’m too old to change my ways. No Dale Carnegie for me. But perhaps some Democratic politicians could benefit from a dose?" @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social on Blanche and @joshuatait.bsky.social on the right's conflict over postliberalism in today's Morning Shots lnk.thebulwark.com/4yVMUZm
The True Texas Project and Young Republicans are hosting multiple events in Texas next month with the head of a self-styled white nationalist "think tank," the White Papers Policy Institute. WPPI promotes mass deportations and "remigration." It has strong ties to major white nationalist groups.
The Dink isn't a good movie, but it did have a great subtle gag. Two people talk about a new (fictional) Malcom Gladwell and one of them says it argues The Beatles were so good because they practiced.
I don’t remember posting this but it’s funny and I was right.
Joshua Tait@joshuatait.bsky.social · last yr.The answer both now and in 1959 is West Coast Straussians.
I was in the i Paper yesterday on the tech right and how they found their way to Trump---and what might happen next. inews.co.uk/news/world/t...
Why the tech bros really backed Trump - and why it could backfire
Silicon Valley's elite gambled on the President, but the unregulated surge of AI and crypto could see a political backlash
inews.co.uk
Oh hey it’s me in the Bulwark going after the Bridge Colby aka The Cheese for his very dumb approach to strategic alliances.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3w ago"He volunteered to launder Trump’s bellicose, bizarre acts by finding an intellectual coherence that isn’t there." And he's not that good at it. @joestieb.bsky.social on Elbridge Colby:
In recent weeks, people have talked incessantly of the new “Odyssey” movie. They have argued and fought. The below essay by @joshuatait.bsky.social is about passions surrounding Tolkien. What more could a literary artist want, than to be fought over ad infinitum? www.thebulwark.com/p/how-the-te...
How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor
The history of the American right’s long romance with J.R.R. Tolkien, from earnest fandom to arms-industry branding exercise.
thebulwark.com
thoughts on finishing Andor season 2: benjamin bratt is so good as bail organa the show is great but i would have loved to see more of the internal politics of the rebel alliance that are highlighted somewhat in the final episode we need a show centered on the mon calamari
I had great fun writing this for The Bulwark, combining the type of conservative intellectual history I relish with culture commentary and some (sub-)Devil's Dictionary-type gags thrown in for good measure. How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor
The history of the American right’s long romance with J.R.R. Tolkien, from earnest fandom to arms-industry branding exercise.
open.substack.com
On the messy, often contradictory, history of the love of J.R.R. Tolkien on the American right—from the old days of 'National Review' to the obsession a lot of Peter Thiel-affiliated tech types have with naming businesses after LOTR things. www.thebulwark.com/p/how-the-te...
How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor
The history of the American right’s long romance with J.R.R. Tolkien, from earnest fandom to arms-industry branding exercise.
thebulwark.com
I had great fun writing this for The Bulwark, combining the type of conservative intellectual history I relish with culture commentary and some (sub-)Devil's Dictionary-type gags thrown in for good measure. How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
How the Tech Right Learned to Love Mordor
The history of the American right’s long romance with J.R.R. Tolkien, from earnest fandom to arms-industry branding exercise.
open.substack.com
Look, as nuts as the right has been on The Odyssey, this is just a regular day at the office for Armond White. You can’t extrapolate from this.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · last mo.They’re having a completely normal one over at the National Review this weekend
Maybe if the Daily Wire had spent all that money on a super-duper historically accurate Odyssey film, it wouldn’t have been such a financial disaster!
A very smart but also very fun piece. A real labor of love about Warhammer (and its dark appeal to the right.) open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, There Is Only Culture War
How a forty-year-old satire of fascism became a meme for Trump, a flashpoint over women in sci-fi, and—for some fans—an actual political ideal.
open.substack.com
Several books about the Odyssey have been timed to come out along with Christopher Nolan's new movie. Here—in her Bulwark writing debut—is Alyssa Rosenberg with a review of two: one by anti-liberalism icon Patrick Deneen, the other by classicist Joel Christensen. www.thebulwark.com/p/are-we-rea...
Are We Reading the Odyssey Wrong?
Two new books try to tame Homer’s hero. Neither succeeds.
thebulwark.com
This kind of John Birch Society rhetoric used to be the sort of thing most Americans laughed at. Now it’s just standard issue GOP talking points.
Absolutely stoked to publish one of my favorite critics and culture writers today. www.thebulwark.com/p/are-we-rea...
Are We Reading the Odyssey Wrong?
Two new books try to tame Homer’s hero. Neither succeeds.
thebulwark.com
Possible foreign policy implications from Graham’s sudden death: no guarantee that the next SC senator won’t be an America First isolationist rather than a turbo hawk.
Thank you to @joshuatait.bsky.social and @thebulwark.com for publishing my take on JD Vance's recent defense of Richard Nixon. I couldn't help myself, especially since the speech took place down the hall from my old job. www.thebulwark.com/p/vance-and-...
Vance and Rufo Want You to Know That Nixon Is Back, Baby, and He’s Better Than Ever
The disgraced former president is undergoing a revival among the aggro New Right types, who admire his worst features.
thebulwark.com
Nixon---ironic, unfiltered, prejudiced, resentful---has become an avatar of the MAGA right, as Michael Koncewicz shows. www.thebulwark.com/p/vance-and-...
Vance and Rufo Want You to Know That Nixon Is Back, Baby, and He’s Better Than Ever
The disgraced former president is undergoing a revival among the aggro New Right types, who admire his worst features.
thebulwark.com
Everyone eventually makes some sort of neocon explainer chart or device, and I am glad to have found this glossary from the Rothbard-Rockwell Report. Some things never change!
A short libertarian quiz, courtesy of Murray N. Rothbard. Are you a paleolibertarian or a nihilolibertarain/modal libertarian?
I can't believe Trump radicalized conservatives on immigration.
Check out our new book, Frontiers of American Reaction Vol. 1! This ebook collects essays written from 2022 to 2026 and takes on themes ranging from myths and MAGA to the tech right and liberalism. Download it for free now! www.illiberalism.org/frontiers-of...
As an American history professor, I regularly read new books, articles, and dissertations, and also evaluate unpublished manuscripts for journals and book publishers. I would not categorize the recent and emerging historiography in the binary way that Ezra Klein does.
