Peter York's Culture Wars House Party
Marci Shore on Fear, History, and the Future of US Democracy
Published: 5 May 2026 at 09:30 Europe/London
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Episode notes
Professor Marci Shore is a Yale historian of Eastern Europe, a scholar of 20th‑century totalitarianism, and, in her own words, “an early panicker”.
We trace her journey from the archive to the front line of political alarm: her Titanic feeling the morning after the 2016 election, and the “epistemological advantages” of studying fascism. We talk about the fantasy of America versus its reality, and whether this is the end of the affair with Europe.
We unpack the new techniques of power, the shameless lack of concealment, and what history tells us about the moment we’re living through—why denial is the West’s most dangerous luxury, and whether there is still time to act.
Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.
@peteryork.bsky.social
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