Next Comes What

Andrea Pitzer
  • 5.0 (459)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Author Andrea Pitzer reveals what we can learn from the rise of strongmen around the world to thwart Trump and his allies.

  1. 1d ago

    Why You Can't Compromise with Fascists

    As elections loom, resist the calls to throw away your moral compass. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe   Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/don-t-lose-the-plot WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/3Ymu6tZAm0s  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews   With so many pundits calling for meeting Republicans and independent voters where they're at before the midterms, this week's "Next Comes What" considers what that means. Andrea Pitzer discusses how the days in which fringe candidates could be dismissed as irrelevant are long gone. The fringe extremists are running the country now. Andrea looks at the ways that Trump and his advisers are vile actors committing heinous acts, and notes that it's impossible to compromise on the very issue of every person's right to exist without being terrorized by the government and their neighbors. There's no way to compromise on these issues without doing harm to vulnerable people and our political system itself.   Walking listeners through a different approach, she suggests finding a political stance based on values, and then trying to bring other people toward that by addressing needs that they themselves can understand—and emphasizing the policies they, too, will benefit from. The good news, Andrea suggests, is that Trump's agenda is deeply unpopular, and becoming more so. The challenge before us is to offer a better vision of what government, and we ourselves, can be.   00:00 - Midterm Elections and the Threats to Democracy 02:15 - Natalie Harp and Donald Trump's Inner Circle 05:40 - The Rise of Extremist Rhetoric in US Politics 08:20 - Misinformation, Bad Advisors, and Political Control 12:10 - Anti-DEI Backlash and Structural Discrimination 15:35 - Global Impacts: USAID Cuts and Foreign Military Actions 19:50 - The Evolution of the War on Terror and Extrajudicial Power 24:15 - Historical Compromises and the Erosion of Democratic Values 27:30 - The Risks of Unchecked AI and Corporate Influence 30:10 - Why Moral Politics Matter: Staying Grounded Against Extremism

    Why You Can't Compromise with Fascists

  2. Aug 20

    The Torturers' Club & The Business of Barbed Wire

    To help keep concentration camps from becoming a permanent feature, figure out who's in the torturers' club and who sells the barbed wire. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe   Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-business-of-barbed-wire  WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/9jk7gX1RMxY    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews   This week's episode looks at what it means to be in the middle stages of a concentration camp regime—which is where the United States is at now. Andrea Pitzer discusses how the shift from performative incidents of violence and terror at the beginning gives way to a more institutionalized and methodical approach, one in which the bureaucracy of the police state becomes more entrenched and self-sustaining. This explains the transition from theatrical street actions, like those of Gregory Bovino, former face of the Border Patrol, to the lower-profile, more methodical approach of (relatively) new DHS head Markwayne Mullin.   To consider how this quieter entrenchment and creation of a self-sustaining concentration camp machine unfolds, Andrea looks at who makes the physical means of detention and harm, and how the ideas on how to harm are spread. She focuses on two historical examples--that of Oliver Brothers of Pittsburgh, the company that made barbed wire for the first concentration camps in Cuba, and the evolution of the tactic of la parrilla—"the grill"—a form of electrical torture used under dictatorship in Chile a half-century ago. She then turns to modern appliances that aid in atrocities: electroshock gloves, ankle monitors, and omnipresent surveillance cameras. She notes a new airline contract supporting ICE deportations—possibly involving running detention facilities as well. The episode ends with a look at ways to stall, block, and shut down the torturers' club and the businesses that profit from the deliberate infliction of human misery.   00:00 - How Concentration Camp Regimes Actually Form 02:18 - The 1890s U.S. Tech Supply Line Behind Reconcentración 05:14 - The Evolution of Extrajudicial Torture Tactics 07:15 - How Police State Systems Move from Malice to Institutionalization 10:13 - Inside the Modern Private Detention & ICE Expansion 12:12 - High-Tech Surveillance: Flock Cameras & Electric Shock Gear 14:55 - How Local Resistance is Shutting Down Detention Sites 17:42 - Grassroots Tactics: Organizing, Protests, & Documenting Abuse 21:30 - Ending Human Rights Violations at the Local Level

    The Torturers' Club & The Business of Barbed Wire

  3. Aug 6

    Breaking ICE

    A panoramic review of immigrant persecution under Trump 2.0 so far and a look at where we are now. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/breaking-ice WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/cJ-puSPNlHs  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475    This week, Andrea Pitzer reviews what has happened with the Trump administration's strategic violence against immigrants in the U.S. during the year and a half since his return to office. Andrea mentions three crises that the government hopes people will simply ignore, but which are causing tremendous suffering: cuts to USAID, climate change, and the systemic persecution of immigrants. All three are critical to attend to, but for this episode, she focuses on what has happened since January 2025 on the immigration front. Running through the Trump administration's attempts to use wartime laws to deport detainees to a gulag in El Salvador, and Stephen Miller's longstanding dream of building tent cities, she shows how those dreams played out in reality. Those deported to El Salvador faced horrific abuse, and two tent-style concentration camp projects led to Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss in Texas, and the Everglades camp in Florida that the administration named "Alligator Alcatraz." Both camps have inflicted tremendous suffering on detainees. The Florida camp has been shut down, but Camp East Montana still holds thousands of detainees. The tent-city project went badly enough that the government has pivoted repeatedly to other approaches, including a short-lived attempt to use Navy overseas contracting architecture to build concentration camps domestically. This also hit roadblocks. Next, Trump and his allies turned to trying to acquire existing warehouses and retrofit them for Amazon-style mass detention in a nationwide network of concentration camps. Local resistance to these sites was fierce and fast. Now the government is pivoting to building new facilities at sites it already owns or controls, which will make pushing back against them a more complicated and challenging effort. Andrea closes the episode with a few thoughts on how people have resisted thus far, and the innovating spirit that has inspired everyday people to find novel and effective means to put sand in the gears of the deportation machine. 00:00 - Introduction & The Three Growing Crises 03:15 - Day One: Early Moves & Expanding ICE Power 06:42 - Tent Cities & The Everglades Detention Infrastructure 10:15 - Federalizing Police & Los Angeles Deployments 13:50 - Border Operations & Community Resistance Tactics 17:30 - Minneapolis Crackdown & Gregory Bovino's Removal 21:10 - Warehouse Expansion: ICE's Strategic Shift 25:05 - Local Movements Stopping Detention Centers 28:40 - The History of Camp Resistance & Lessons Ahead

    Breaking ICE

  4. Jul 30

    Strongmen, Cockroaches, and Flamingos

    India and Albania reveal how small protests can transform into big movements, creating possibilities for massive change.    Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe    Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/roots-for-real-change    WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/CRVe4pVKoIM   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews    Listen everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475    This week's Next Comes What considers what can be learned from overseas movements for political change. Andrea Pitzer reviews a few big examples she's discussed before, from Brazil and South Korea to Hungary. But she points out that these countries, which were able to prosecute and or expel corrupt authoritarians from power, are examples of the end stages of political movements. For today's episode, she looks instead at countries that are earlier in the same process. In Albania, she traces political protests and dissatisfaction that rose in the wake of parliamentary elections last year. This generalized anger found a flash point and a symbol with the attempts of Jared Kushner and Invanka Trump this year to develop an environmentally fragile part of the country as a high-end resort. Anger over what appears to be government corruption in opening the region to development has galvanized the people and led to what is being called the Flamingo Revolution: massive protests of a kind not seen in the country in decades.   In India, student anger of a lack of jobs and opportunities for the country's young adults exploded after a chief justice described them as cockroaches. Seizing on the nickname, the students formed a Cockroach People's Party. The online movement expanded into physical protests in New Delhi. After police violence against protesters, demonstrations multiplied across India, eventually securing the resignation of the education minister and other promised concessions.   Both movements are still in the early stages, but Andrea highlights the examples they offer for everyday people on ways to make a stand against authoritarian government. The episode closes by outlining how a focus on local issues can be a potent force for fighting Trumpism here in the U.S.   00:00 – Everyday Resistance & The Limits of Authoritarian Power 03:30 – Defeating ICE: How Local Communities Blocked PA Detention Facilities 06:45 – Dismantling Authoritarian Infrastructure: The Closure of Alligator Alcatraz 10:00 – Albania's Flamingo Revolution: Resisting Jared Kushner's Island Development 15:30 – India's Cockroach Janata Party: Youth Uprising Against Exam Scandals & Modi 20:45 – Student Activism Under Fire: ICE Arrests, Columbia Expulsions & UMich Indictments 25:00 – Symbols of Resistance: Lessons from Serbia's Otpor! Movement 28:30 – Organizing for Long-Term Political Change

  5. Jul 23

    Booed, Sued, and Blocked

    Every day, people are showing how we can stop Trump's dismantling of our laws and norms by using both to fight back. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe   Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/what-gets-booed-and-who-gets-sued   WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/FEptYLVSnSU  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews   Our episode this week looks at how the current administration has violated both laws and customs on every front to try to profit from government positions and maximize Trump's power across the board. Andrea Pitzer shows how, from business corruption to ICE detention and the war in Iran, it's nearly impossible to keep track of the ways in which the president is destroying the rule of law and any willingness to respect precedent, in and out of courts. Exploring the use of the rule of law as a weapon against vulnerable and targeted groups since the country's founding, Andrea outlines why the law itself has often been a force for wrong. She nevertheless argues that the history of authoritarianism shows that when existing law is ignored or dismantled through dictatorial power grabs, it consistently exacerbates the crisis faced by vulnerable groups, and others as well.   Andrea then goes through recent broad reviews of everything from ICE detention practices to court cases brought by the DOJ. While precedent is being ground down, and the legal system remains under tremendous strain, Andrea points out how the law is still being used successfully to deny Trump and his allies the unlimited power they want. She looks at how communities are establishing and upholding norms as well. From a refusal of a New Jersey town council to do business with a bank partnering with major ICE contractors to a Baltimore rugby team that is standing by its trans players, there are examples everywhere of everyday people finding effective ways to push back against hatred and corruption.  00:00 — Executive Corruption & The Kazakhstan Mineral Deal   02:30 — Alien Terrorist Removal Court & Iran War Casualties   06:15 — Human Rights Violations in ICE Youth Detention   09:40 — ACLU Report: Law Enforcement Liability & Abuse   12:20 — Supreme Court Forces E. Jean Carroll $5.6M Payout   14:50 — Federal Judges Block DOJ Voter Roll Seizure   17:15 — Failed DOJ Prosecutions: Marimar Martinez & David Hern   20:00 — Holding ICE & Stephen Miller Accountable in Court   22:10 — Grassroots Victories: Montclair $91M Bank Divestment   24:30 — Local Resistance: Communities Protecting Trans Athletes

  6. Jul 16

    Little Gitmos Everywhere

    A new U.S. government call for contractors aims to set up a global network of concentration camps, and your representatives likely don't know about it yet. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/little-gitmos-everywhere  WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/tHHxhiDu5S4  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews LISTEN  Everywhere else: https://pod.link/1779885475    This week's episode of "Next Comes What" looks at a new U.S. government document seeking private contractors for disturbing partnerships. A lot of the "statement of work" describes maintaining an air fleet and permits to support deportation operations, but the document also makes reference to 1,000-bed sites, "detention facilities," and "detainees" in other countries. Andrea Pitzer walks listeners through key passages in the document, first discovered by Charles Davis, and shows how it will lead to the creation of a global network of concentration camps run by the United States. Recounting the Trumpist use of third-country deportation networks, Andrea explains how the improvised partnerships are hardening into trafficking relationships with other countries, soon to be followed by dedicated detention facilities. She explores the history of prior offshore camps, from Guantanamo to Australian payments to other nations for detention on Manus and Nauru. In each case, the lack of oversight and direct access resulted in tremendous harm. The U.S. appears to be up to a year away from executing this plan, giving everyday people a chance to intervene and stop it. The episode closes with suggestions on how to take action now. 0:00 Introduction: ICE's Secret Plan for Global Detention Camps 2:05 Breaking Down the SAM.gov Contractor Solicitation 5:32 What Are "International Staging Areas" (ISAs)? 8:58 The CECOT Blueprint: How El Salvador Became the Template 14:50 Third Country Detention: 21,000 Deported and Counting 16:04 Lessons from History: Guantanamo, Australia's Nauru, and Operation Condor 19:10 The Privatization Problem: Who Profits from Offshore Detention 22:42 How to Stop This Before It's Too Late

  7. Jul 9

    Is Trumpism contagious?

    Support for authoritarianism can spread person to person, like a disease. Here's how to stop it. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/trumpism-as-social-contagion  LISTEN anywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475   WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/TavBG70k3pQ  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  In this week's episode, Andrea Pitzer looks at recent research suggesting that support for authoritarianism spreads socially from person to person. Researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway and the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment surveyed recruits before and after boot camp and found that those assigned to peers with greater support for authoritarian rule would end up adjusting their views to support strongmen too. The authors also surveyed Norwegians outside the original military setting, as well as 25,000 others from nearly 30 countries. Andrea considers the results in light of other ideas about authoritarianism and ponders how the reverse effect might work—whether making others aware of one's rejection of authoritarian rule might likewise be "contagious." The episode closes with a list of ways to think about reestablishing democracy and better safeguarding it in the US. Get ONE LONG NIGHT: A Global History of Concentration Camps by Andrea Pitzer https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-long-night-a-global-history-of-concentration-camps-andrea-pitzer/ea53c06c993f6ad0?ean=9780316303569  0:00 Why Trumpism Is Contagious: Democracy Under Siege 0:25 Rush Limbaugh, Fox News & The Collapse of American Democracy 1:40 How Propaganda Shapes Authoritarian Movements Worldwide 2:26 The Study: Is Support for Authoritarian Rule Contagious? 3:29 Norway Boot Camp Experiment: How Peer Pressure Spreads Authoritarianism 6:32 The Psychology Behind Why People Support Strongmen 8:54 Cultural Backlash: Pippa Norris on the Rise of the Authoritarian Right 13:33 The Three Components of Authoritarianism Explained 16:01 How Populist Rhetoric Destroys Trust in Democracy 19:58 How to Fight Back Against the Authoritarian Contagion

  8. Jul 3

    How NOT to Speedrun a Dictatorship

    Trump's goons got the oppression flowchart backward. Now they're trying to fix it, but we can foil their plans. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/shut-them-down-round-them-up  LISTEN everywhere else: https://pod.link/1779885475    WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/v0Yv7ETEb_o  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  This week's episode looks at the typical arc of concentration camp societies, laying out how authoritarian governments use violence against both scapegoated communities and their political opposition. Andrea Pitzer outlines how strongmen often start with destroying the ability to dissent before rounding up whole communities of scapegoated groups. Then she discusses the ways in which the second Trump administration has reversed this order. Coming out of the gate in 2025 with massive roundups of immigrants into camps, his team didn't successfully clamp down on protests and free speech beforehand. As a result, they revealed their weakness and the strength of the majority of the country that disapproves of their mission or their tactics.   Andrea describes the shift in tactics as Trump's allies try to reverse this error, moving from scattered, mostly incompetent attempts at prosecution into a more targeted and dangerous phase. Their best hope lies in ending dissent before the November elections, so the coming months will likely become even more dangerous. The episode closes with ways to respond, underlining the importance of showing up and speaking out.   0:00 — How Trump's Second Term Tried to End Democracy—and Where It Went Wrong 0:41 — The Speedrun to Authoritarianism: Why Trump's Power Grab Is Failing 2:53 — Mass Deportations, ICE Violence, and the Overreach of Trump's Second Term 5:58 — Ideologues vs. Mercenaries: The Split Inside the Trump Administration 6:14 — How Concentration Camps Get Built: Lessons from History for Today's America 7:52 — Why Crushing Dissent Requires Crushing Opposition First—and Trump Skipped That Step 11:34 — The Crackdown on Protesters: From Sandwich Guys to Terrorism Charges 12:51 — Media Censorship, Algorithmic Suppression, and the War on Free Speech Under Trump 19:47 — The Most Dangerous Moment in Decades: What Comes Next in Trump's Power Grab 24:52 — How to Resist the Trump Authoritarian Project Before the 2026 Elections

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5
out of 5
459 Ratings

About

Author Andrea Pitzer reveals what we can learn from the rise of strongmen around the world to thwart Trump and his allies.

Information

  • Creator
    Andrea Pitzer
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    89
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Next Comes What

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