Person
Every book Molly Conger recommended on podcasts
Molly Conger’s most recommended books
- Wild Faith by Talia Lavin
- Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin
- The Turner Diaries by WILLIAM LUTHER. PIERCE
- To Catch a Fascist by Christopher Mathias
- Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism by Spencer Sunshine
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
- My Awakening by David Ernest Duke
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- The Klansman’s Son by R. Derek Black
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Molly Conger appeared on the Behind the Bastards podcast to discuss extremism, politics, and literature. Throughout her appearances on the show, Conger recommended and discussed several books covering current events, investigative journalism, and fiction. She promoted Christopher Mathias's book To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right, encouraging listeners to pre-order the work and highlighting its focus on exposing radical right-wing elements. Conger also recommended Jeff VanderMeer's novel Annihilation during a casual exchange about book and film adaptations. On multiple occasions, she urged listeners to pre-order or request copies from their local libraries for Talia Lavin's Wild Faith, praising the book and noting Lavin's narration of the audiobook. Additionally, Conger referenced Beatrix Potter's classic children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit to provide a whimsical illustration of how rabbits consume crops and garden vegetables when natural predators are removed from an ecosystem. Through these discussions, Conger shared a mix of investigative political reporting, speculative fiction, and classic literature with the audience.
Books recommended by Molly Conger
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Wild Faith
Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin is an investigative book that explores the growing influence and political strategies of the Christian right.
Discussed“Thank you so much for coming on today to talk with me about your new book, Wild Faith. It is coming out in just a few weeks, uh, October 15th, right?”
Where to get it
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Culture Warlords
Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin is an investigative look into the online and physical ecosystems of neo-Nazis, 4chan extremists, and aspiring terrorists.
Discussed“So, you know, your first book, Culture Warlords, was traumatizing for you to craft, right? because you had to spend so much time in these digital spaces in some in some cases physical spaces with you know neo-Nazis 4chan guys um you know aspiring terrorists”
Where to get it
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The Turner Diaries
The Turner Diaries is a 1978 dystopian novel written by William Luther Pierce under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald that depicts a violent white supremacist revolution and the overthrow of the United States government.
Critiqued“The Turner Diaries. We don't have to get super deep into it today. I'm sure it will come up in most episodes of this show, unfortunately. You know, over the last 50 years this book has inspired a lot of race warriors.”
Where to get it
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To Catch a Fascist
To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right by Christopher Mathias is an investigative work detailing efforts to track and reveal extremist networks and far-right political actors.
Discussed“Specifically, I'm talking to Chris Matias about his new book, To Catch a Fascist, The Fight to Expose the Radical Right.”
Where to get it
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Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism
Discussed“So Siege was a newsletter that became a book. People read the book and then the people who read that book turned it back into a zine, right? So it's it's sort of oh to some level, right? It's moving through its phases”
Where to get it
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Annihilation
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer is the acclaimed opening novel of the Southern Reach Trilogy, following a scientific expedition into a mysterious, isolated ecological zone known as Area X.
Recommended“and watch the movie Annihilation or don't ”
Where to get it
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My Awakening
Discussed“But while he was doing his time, he read David Duke's autobiography. Oh. And he had an awakening, right? He read My Awakening and he had an awakening in prison.”
Where to get it
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a groundbreaking novel that depicts the brutal reality of daily survival inside a Soviet forced labor camp during the Stalin era.
Discussed“He also doubts that Bremer was well read enough to make reference to Soljanitson's day in the life of Ivon Denisvich or quip as he crossed the Great Lakes, "Call me Ishmail."”
Where to get it
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The Klansman’s Son
Discussed“Yeah. I mean, that's a window you don't often get, although I guess now we do also have um The Clansman's Son by um Don Black's daughter. Black's daughter or son? She has transitioned. Oh, I did not know that.”
Where to get it
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The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Discussed“What do the rabbits do? Well, they eat crops in part, right? And they come in and eat your carrots, -- as depicted in the Peter Rabbit. Oh, a Peter Rabbit is just tearing the garden apart.”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“um I I just watched blue velvet for the first time ”
“So, there is actually a book describing what you've said, putting the pieces together, and it's called neo-Nazi terrorism and countercultural fascism. Exactly. It's the I think which you can buy today. I mean, like I said, it's it's the only book that I know of that fits these pieces together.”
“Yeah, I think that's the right analogy, right? that it is a a foundational text, but they're not all sitting down and digesting or even understanding it. Yeah. I mean, how many communists have read Dos Cavatal, you know, even just volume one, which I have.”
“Shan Penn plays Boyce's friend, the cocaine dealer Daltton Lee, in the 1985 film adaptation of the book The Falcon and the Snowman about the entire affair.”
“He also doubts that Bremer was well read enough to make reference to Soljanitson's day in the life of Ivon Denisvich or quip as he crossed the Great Lakes, "Call me Ishmail."”