Guest: Dr. Christopher Phelps, associate professor U. Nottingham & author 

Recorded: December 11, 2018

For non-subscribers, here is a 25+ minute preview of Radio War Nerd episode #161 on the original Populism of the late-19th c. America, the myths about the original populists, and the hollowing out of the meaning of populism in current mainstream usage. The word "populism" gets thrown around a lot today in the mainstream press, usually meant as a pejorative to describe far-right reactionary, anti-democratic politics that threaten the so-called "liberal order." But "populism" at its root—"of the people"—is just a synonym for "democracy." Populism has a concrete historical origin & meaning that's completely at odds with the current abused usage of the same word. This episode, the War Nerd and Ames talk to intellectual historian Christopher Phelps to sort out myths from facts, and what the word means today in Europe and in the official US media. Throughout the discussion, we reference Lawrence Goodwyn's classic book: "The Populist Moment".  

Would you like to know more? Subscribe to Radio War Nerd here on our patreon page, to listen to the entire episode 161 and all previous locked episodes. Depending on your pledge, you can also get our downloadable RSS feed for your podcast app, the Radio War Nerd Newsletter, Show Notes and more...  

Read Christopher Phelps' books Radicals In America: The U.S. Left since the Second World War and Young Sidney Hook: Marxist and Pragmatist. Check out his articles in The Nationand Jacobin.