Next Comes What

A look at what the astounding election victories—and even some of the losses—mean in this new world of hope. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/after-the-flood LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7705239013082418445  YouTube: https://youtu.be/nTpNNQdv6cA  This week's episode celebrates the pivotal moment for the US delivered by Tuesday's elections. Andrea Pitzer considers the massive shift in both houses of Congress, and explores the leeway it will give Democrats to act. Significant change is possible, and where a presidential veto may prohibit it, foundations can still be laid. Andrea looks at the importance of creating guardrails to keep democracy from failing in the ways that it has before, and encourages widespread investigations in the new Congress. She also emphasizes the importance of enshrining rights at the state level under the new Democratic governors and legislatures. Tracing the route taken by the reproductive freedom constitutional amendment that passed on Tuesday in Virginia reveals the long path to lasting change. In this episode, Andrea also returns to Roanoke and her friend Beth Macy's campaign to flip a ruby-red congressional seat to blue. Despite the community's sorrow that the wave was not quite big enough to get the campaign to victory, Macy's words and the town's inspiring fight show how the project of changing America isn't a matter of one election but an ongoing fight to protect everyone. Huge gains were made, even in Virginia's sixth district. The episode ends with a laundry list of what people can do right now and in the coming weeks to take advantage of this electoral earthquake that came about because people rose up against Trump. 0:00 The Post-Election Shift: What the Midterm Sweep Means for the Future 3:15 Grassroots Organizing and Local Power After the Midterms 6:30 Historic Firsts: Groundbreaking Wins in State Legislatures and the Senate 9:45 Fighting Back Against Voter Suppression and Election Interference 13:00 Inside Beth Macy's Campaign and the Grassroots Movement in Virginia 16:15 Holding Power Accountable: Investigations, Oversight, and Guardrails 19:30 Protecting Civil Rights, Reproductive Freedoms, and Vulnerable Communities 22:45 Rebuilding Democracy: Lessons from the 2026 Midterm Results 26:00 Defending Public Education and Restoring Classrooms Nationwide 29:15 What Comes Next: Navigating the Aftermath of Political Shifts

Around the world and at home, a global democratic movement is making huge strides toward freedom and accountability. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/doing-the-work-at-hand LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter  This week, Next Comes What considers recent elections in Serbia and Brazil, and how they're part of a global movement that matters very much in the United States right now. It can be easy to look at the rise of far-right governments or parties in places like France, Germany, and the U.S., while missing the successful opposition to these movements at home and abroad.   Andrea Pitzer walks through the many reasons we should follow international political shifts, and the ways the fates of other countries are directly bound up with the stability of democracy in the U.S. She considers the exuberant student movement that expelled longtime Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vučić from power on Sunday, as well as the defeat of Flávio Bolsonaro by Lula da Silva in Brazil the same day. The late surge toward Lula after Bolsonaro initially received more support in the first round of voting revealed an uprising that rejected the extreme authoritarianism Brazilians had previously shut down in the twentieth century in favor of liberal democracy, freeing themselves from dictatorship. In the Serbian case, opposition appears to be more focused on breaking up the cult of personality and defying a corrupt regime than massive democratization. Andrea ties both approaches to a broader range of resistance seen in other countries, from South Korea and Poland to Hungary earlier this year. The episode closes with a look at the No Kings marches held in the U.S. days ago, and encourages everyone to make these last days before the election count—and to get out the vote. 0:00 Global Reactionary Movements and Democratic Resilience 1:25 Serbia, Brazil, and Hungary: Rejecting Authoritarian Rule 3:50 Saluting the No Kings Marches and Grassroots Power 5:15 Roanoke Election Preview and Fighting in Ruby Red Districts 7:40 Foreign Interference, Tariffs, and International Autocratic Networks 11:15 Historical Parallels: Operation Condor and the Fight for Democracy 14:50 The Digital Battlefield: Starlink, Meta, and Social Media Censorship 18:30 Economic Justice and Affordability with Economist Isabella Weber 21:10 Early Voting Surges and the Impact of Mass Protests 24:00 Conclusion: Preventing Authoritarian Control and Protecting Our Institutions

People are waking up to the profiteering at the heart of the administration. We can use the resulting fury to build a movement. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-corruption-umbrella LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter  This week's episode looks at the many ways that corruption underpins every part of Trump administration policies. Andrea Pitzer considers the deliberate choice to inflict suffering in the U.S. and abroad, which has been done across the board for direct personal or political gain. She notes that the catastrophic shifts in U.S. policy that set the stage for much of what is happening today took place in response to the 9/11 attacks, but that Trump 2.0 does not even have that flimsy fig leaf of a justification, given that the president has intentionally created the crises now engulfing the country. All this has led to illness, hunger, war, and death.   Andrea explores the realms of immigration, citizenship, voting, democracy, law, wars, and international alliances, showing how the current administration's corruption is the common element underpinning every disaster. She also assesses the ways that oligarchs' expanding control over media has likewise corrupted democracy and our access to information--all in favor of expanding authoritarian rule in the U.S. Yet this corruption, she suggests, is now being recognized by voters across the board, as the profound harms Trump has unleashed are affecting everyone directly in highly visible ways. Using corruption as the battle cry for regaining control of government and cleaning house, Andrea believes, is a path to building a coalition of voters without throwing anyone under the bus. The episode closes with a look at how an anti-corruption coalition could work in defeating the expanding police state here at home.     0:00 The Anatomy of Trump 2.0 Corruption 2:15 Weaponizing Democracy, Law & the DOJ 5:40 ICE Contracts & The $2.8B Detention Grift 9:20 The Maduro Deal & Untracked Oil Revenue 12:35 Putin, Sanctions, & The Diesel Trade Betrayal 16:10 Oligarchs Buying the News & Information Ecosystem 19:45 Smears, Bigotry, & Manufactured Election Threats 23:30 Forcing AI and Toxic Data Centers on Communities 27:10 SNAP Benefits, Food Scarcity, & Hurting Families 31:00 Building an Anti-Corruption Movement to Fight Back

FIND A NO KINGS OCTOBER 17 VOTE EARLY EVENT NEAR YOU: https://www.nokings.org/  We can send the people pushing fascism on us back into their holes without buying into hate. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-clampdown-continues LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475    WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/bny4YMWYJ6U  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  The latest episode of Next Comes What opens with a reminder to get to a No Kings event this weekend. Andrea Pitzer then considers how some authoritarian element is always bubbling away in any society and will crawl out given the opportunity. But sometimes you have to pay attention to see it. She notes how easy it is for millions of Americans to not notice ICE operations now that senior officers aren't making a big national spectacle of everything they do. Nonetheless, arrests and detentions have never stopped--and in many places have gotten worse. On a global scale, Andrea notes the moment she realized the same rhetoric and ideas used to defend the 2003 war in Iraq had come from the Vietnam war decades before—and are now being used to support Trump's war in Iran. When trying to defeat the fascist impulse seizing so much of the country right now, we do have to think strategically. But being heartless isn't the same as being strategic. Noting the increasing number of Democratic politicians supporting anti-trans bigotry, Andrea argues for learning how to talk to voters who have bought into propaganda without further entrenching the bigotry inherent in that propaganda. The episode closes with thoughts on how to buckle up for the long haul in changing our institutions, while recognizing that the November 3rd election holds the possibility of a tidal shift. Andrea encourages everyone to get out and vote. 00:00 Mass Deportations & ICE Arrest Surges 03:10 USAID Cuts & Global Food Security Crises 05:30 Authoritarianism, Protests & the Midterm Threat 09:20 Russia Dealings, Putin, & Zelensky Tensions 13:10 Parallels to Vietnam & The Costly Invasion of Iraq 15:45 U.S. Aggression vs. Iran's 92-Million-Person Civilization 19:15 Elon Musk's DOGE, Starlink Shutdowns & Political Spending 22:30 The Transgender Rights Battleground & Political Retrenchment 26:15 Building Pro-Democracy Movements & Distinguishing Cowards from Enemies 28:00 Closing Thoughts & Call to Action

The roots of everything that ails the country go deeper than Trump, so we need to think beyond November 3rd. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/killing-zombie-trumpism LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/YiGxv_x0MKo  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7694661127610830094  This week's episode considers three recent news events and how they reveal the larger challenges facing the county. But first, Andrea Pitzer turns toward the November 3rd elections and the No Kings march coming up October 17. She encourages listeners to plan for both and so as much as possible to help defeat Trumpism at the ballot box. Victory there is critical, she suggests, but not sufficient. Andrea then looks at the botched execution of Christa Pike last week, the horrors of the Cornell Seven assault case, and the revelation that U.S. Senator Dr. Roger Marshall, an obstetrician, sued hundreds of his own patients and had them arrested. The instigating events of all these instances of deep animosity toward women in our country happened when Trump was not president. Andrea then turns to the recent elections in Brazil, which in recent years saw its institutions hold against the rise of authoritarianism. The judicial system acted against president Jair Bolsonaro, barring him from running for office until 2030, due to his attempts to subvert elections and foment a coup. Last weekend, his son ran in his place, and won the first round of voting. The runoff will take place later this month. Andrea discusses the ways that the authoritarian-industrial complex is hard to eradicate, in part because the real movers behind the politicians are those with money and power. And they want more of both. The episode closes by looking beyond November 3rd to the greater changes we'll need to make, and a nod toward the value of performative actions in long-term success. 0:00 Keep Your Hands Off Our Vote 3:15 The Lame Duck Reality in DC 5:40 Roots of the Crisis: The Reagan Precedent 7:20 Botched Executions and State Cruelty 13:10 Women as the Social Safety Net 16:45 The Breakdown at Cornell 20:30 Predatory Medical Debt and Systemic Inequality 23:15 The Orange Wave and Brazil's Global Far Right 28:00 Why Ending Trump Isn't Enough 31:30 The Authoritarian Industrial Complex

Authoritarians reveal themselves, even to followers who prefer not to see. And that leaves an opening for change. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/opening-the-blinds LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7692115338934127885  YouTube: https://youtu.be/p8YBYcAtXxs  This week, Next Comes What looks at the disillusionment that eventually takes place for most people who succumb to the cult of personality in an authoritarian society. Andrea Pitzer looks at events in recent weeks that are providing the spark for that awakening among many Trump supporters. With higher gas prices driving the point home, we also see everyone from next-door neighbors to judges and Republican politicians beginning to stand up against Trump, or at least to edge away from association with him.  Andrea compares this growing repudiation of the president and his policies to the case of Mitsuye Endo, a Japanese American U.S. citizen who was fired from her state job in California and detained in camps with her family during World War II. In other cases brought by Japanese Americans, a majority of justices on the Supreme Court rubber-stamped the bigotry of the day while rationalizing actions they understood were wrong. But when it came to Endo—a U.S.-born Christian with no ties to Japan or even the Japanese language—the judges could find no pretext at all to provide cover for what was, at root, a detention program based simply on racial exclusion. Seeing many recent examples of people recognizing that their faith in Trump was wrongheaded or even immoral, Andrea suggests that we've come to a similar moment in which Americans are being forced to choose. Not everyone will walk away from Trumpism, but many will, for reasons that may be ethical or practical—or both. The episode ends with suggestions on how to respond to those who do. 00:00 Introduction: Shifting Public Opinion & Political Dynamics 02:48 The Rising Costs of Living and Cracks in the GOP Coalition 05:36 Institutional Capitulation and the Defense of Democratic Norms 08:24 Leaving MAGA: Personal Realities and Disillusionment Stories 11:12 Human Toll: Immigration Crackdowns, ICE, and Affected Families 14:00 Legal Pushback: How Judges Are Challenging Federal Overreach 16:48 Historical Echoes: The Mitsuye Endo Case and Wartime Detentions 19:36 The Midterms and the Ripple Effects of Raging Unpopularity 22:24 Complicity, the Thanksgiving Table, and Long-Term Cultural Shifts 25:12 Conclusion: Guardrails for the Future and Continuing the Fight  

Corrupt power will always inflict more harm if it can benefit from that additional suffering. But we don't have to let it happen. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/there-is-always-a-box LISTEN   Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475  WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7689199426488831246  YouTube: https://youtu.be/zJSTfGsCWzc  This week's episode of Next Comes What looks at an inspector general's report on Alligator Alcatraz, describing the uses there of a form of solitary confinement known as "the box"—a violation of the rules of detention. Andrea Pitzer gathers accounts of far worse use of the box than was described in the reports, explaining how detainees were beaten, shackled, and left in the cage alone in the hot sun. She then traces the use of "the box" in the early stages of other concentration camp systems, including Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and Vietnam during the war. The box, however, predates modern concentration camp systems. In the US, it has deep roots slavery, prisons, and the contract labor system that rose up to fill the need for workers after slavery was abolished. The box has been used in countless places across centuries, and Andrea shares a story of one prisoner, Arthur Maillefert, who died in "the box" in Florida in 1932.    Despite the limitations of the inspector general's report, Andrea argues that its findings can be a vehicle for further investigation and accountability. And that accountability is crucial, because as long as corrupt powerholders exist, they will aim to have a new worst place to put demonized people and targeted groups to make examples of them. The episode ends with thoughts on how we can take action close to home to end a form of abuse that occurs daily around the country and around the world. 00:00 Inside "Alligator Alcatraz": The Reality of Modern Detention Camps 03:15 Why Every Lawless System Relies on Solitary Confinement 05:40 From the Soviet Gulag to the Box: A History of Camp Isolation 08:20 The US History of Solitary: From Quaker Experiment to Prison Abuse 11:10 The Dark Legacy of the Sweatbox in American Prisons 14:35 Concentration Camps as an End Run Around Due Process 16:50 The Business of Mass Detention: Private Prisons & ICE Contracts 19:10 Trump 2.0, Third-Country Deportations, and Stateless Detainees 22:45 The Gap Between Official Rationale and the Reality of Torture Boxes 25:10 The Danger of Normalizing Lawlessness and the Final Trap

Companies and agencies are spying on everyone they can. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/when-your-tv-watches-you WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/YK380ux7pTk  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7686874023271206158   Our episode this week gathers a series of recent surveillance scandals, in which everything from public cameras to your AI agent and even your television may be monitoring you. To put the current snooping in context, Andrea Pitzer looks at the history of mass political surveillance. In the Nazi era, Heinrich Himmler dreamed of having five men to track every individual suspect. East Germany hired or co-opted more than one in seven citizens to spy. And the U.S. has its own history on this front, with a massive surveillance operation put into place during the civil rights era, with the goal of targeting Black Activists, Native Americans, and feminists.  In the modern era, Andrea notes that governments often have willing partners in tech companies, using tools that far surpass twentieth-century capabilities. Corporations are typically more interested in collecting data to increase their bottom line, while governments want surveillance to secure power and target public opposition. But in the end, companies are prone to collaborating with governments, especially if they can profit from it—even if doing so lets law enforcement take unethical or illegal actions. The problem of tech and AI isn't that they're aware or human (they're not). From China to the US, the real threat is the oligarchs and aspiring dictators who would happily eliminate our freedom for another dollar or an ounce of power. 00:00 Introduction and Recent Tech Surveillance 02:55 The Fallibility of AI and Stolen Discoveries 05:10 Human Contractors and Data Privacy 07:20 Historical Precedents of Authoritarian Surveillance 09:10 The Panopticon and East Germany's Stasi 12:00 COINTELPRO and the Erosion of Privacy Guardrails 14:30 China's High-Tech Xinjiang Surveillance Model 17:30 Historical Parallels of Surveillance 20:00 The Role of Tech Monopolies and AI in Modern Surveillance 22:30 Policy, Resistance, and Actionable Steps Forward

Here's how to take on the global right-wing nostalgia for the glory days of fascism. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-global-fascist-reboot-trap WATCH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  This week's Next Comes What looks at the victory of the authoritarian, reactionary party AfD in last weekend's election in eastern Germany. Andrea Pitzer considers a few of the regional specifics of that election, and considers other universal aspects of the global rise of neo-Nazi and Nazi-adjacent movements. What the twenty-first century models have in common is the open demonization of immigrants. There is no way out of the current political crisis, Andrea suggests, without addressing that demonization head-on.   Summarizing a recent Syracuse University study, she explores the ways that various kinds of media function, not only providing misinformation and disinformation, but also setting moral frameworks that make an argument about whether immigrants are seen as fully human. The Syracuse researchers found that fact-checking statements does not automatically adjust the underlying moral narrative the original misinformation was supporting. Andrea argues that defeating the authoritarian threat cannot happen through attempts to moderate a few of the right's most extreme tactics. A long-term solution requires friends of democracy to directly address perverse frameworks and messaging by offering not only substantially different policies but also a narrative that directly counters the one that fascists have been selling. 00:00 Introduction: The Arc of Right-Wing Sabotage and Fascist Ideology 03:15 The Role of Anti-Immigrant Paranoia in Modern Right-Wing Politics 06:40 Case Study: The Rise of the AfD in Germany and MAGA Parallels 10:15 Deliberate Propaganda: How Disinformation is Created and Spread 14:35 Incidental Propaganda: The Media's Role in Amplifying Far-Right Narratives 19:10 Moral Disadvantage and Partisan Media Exposure (The Syracuse Study) 23:55 Economic Anxiety, Tariffs, and Industrial Decline in the US and Europe 28:20 Historical Parallels: Nostalgia for Fascism and the Concentration Camp Tendency 33:10 The Global Wave of Apocalyptic Fever and Tech Oligarchs 37:45 A Long-Term Framework and Strategy to Defend Democracy

The data center revolt and the pushback against detention camps have something in common. The public is realizing it has power. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/complete-control WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/o5Hf7Q9TGfw  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7681458790838914318  This week, "Next Comes What" considers how the oligarchs driving the AI boom and the president of the United States are all driven by a desire not just for wealth but for unlimited power that gives them control over humanity itself. Andrea Pitzer looks at Donald Trump's attempt to use the entire apparatus of the federal government to make reality whatever he says it is, with disastrous consequences for the country and the world. The CEOs pushing the AI boom portray themselves as the saviors of humanity, but in reality are inflicting tremendous damage by steamrolling communities and workers with new tools of technology that cannot deliver on the disingenuous promises being made by the tech titans. Meanwhile, both the president and the CEOs are warping the global economy.   Yet what they demand is not inevitable. Just as with the local--and occasionally even bipartisan--pushback on ICE's attempt to convert existing warehouses into concentration camps nationwide, the data center revolution is now facing resistance from unhappy Americans across the political spectrum. Andrea looks at what it means when people wake up to the power that they have, considers the risks of any big social reaction, and explains why it's important for the anti-data center movement to become bigger than simple backlash. Before the current momentum can get diverted to benefit those who seek only more exclusion and control, supporters of self-governance need to harness this revolt and build a coalition that embraces democratic values, linking the health and stability of local communities to a bigger concept of what kind of country we ought to be. 00:00 - The Illusion of Power and Real-World Harm 03:45 - Manufactured Reality: Renaming Lake Ontario to Erasing Public Health Data 07:12 - Billionaire Philanthropy, Tech Oligarchs, and the Drive for Absolute Control 11:05 - The Reactionary Playbook: How CEOs and Politicians Conflated Cultural Grievances 14:50 - Gil Duran on The Nerd Reich, The Sovereign Individual, and Tech Governance 18:30 - The Grassroots Anti-Data Center Movement: A Cross-Partisan Populist Revolt 22:15 - Risks of Unchecked Resistance: Avoiding Scapegoating and Isolationism 26:00 - Corporate Encroachment, Public Resistance, and the Fight for Democratic Accountability