#1826 The Mechanics of Complicity from Nazis to Newsrooms to Fandoms

Air Date: 10/3/2026

Today we examine the mechanisms of complicity. We're not all complicit in the worst atrocities but we are complicit in something so it's good to know how it works. Good people go along with bad ideas and thoughtful people allow themselves to be thoughtless all the time. The reasons are often structural but they can be resisted on both the personal level and collectively.

Full Show Notes

Transcript

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TOP TAKES

KP 1: How To Live Happily Next to a Death Camp | The Zone of Interest - Life Is A Story - Air Date 2-11-24

KP 2: "Do Not Obey in Advance": Timothy Snyder on How Corporate America Is Bending to Trump - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-20-24

KP 3: Harry Potter Is Manufacturing Your Complicity - Jessie Gender - Air Date 8-30-26

KP 4: Politically Neutral? - PissedMagistus - Air Date 9-15-26

KP 5: Ta-Nehisi Coates: American Culture 'complicit' in Dehumanizing Palestinians - Velshi - Air Date 10-12-24

KP 6: The Paramount/WB Merger Is a Disaster - Adam Conover - Air Date 9-24-26

KP 7: I Quit My Job Because of Harry Potter Part 1 - Hoots Hootman - Air Date 9-26-26

(00:53:31) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The Antidote to Following the Crowd Is One Other Person

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DEEPER DIVES

(01:05:32) SECTION A: LESSONS FROM NAZI GERMANY

A1: Confronting Complicity: Exploring Ordinary Germans' Roles in the Holocaust - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Air Date 2-8-24

A2: Before America's Midterms: Hitler Didn't Rise Because of Democracy - Resistance History with Tad Stoermer - Air Date 9-25-26

(01:22:39) SECTION B: COMPLICITY IN GAZA: MEDIA, GOVERNMENTS, AND CELEBRITIES

B1: It's Not Complicated: The Israel - Palestine "Conflict" - Doomed - Air Date 5-17-21

B2: UK Sanctions Israeli Settlers. A Breakthrough Or A Cop-Out? - Owen Jones - Air Date 9-8-26

B3: Ed Sheeran's "Safety and Sanctuary" - Brenna Perez - Air Date 9-15-26

B4: Documenting the U.S. Media's Complicity in the Genocide of Gaza (with Robin Andersen) - The Chris Hedges Report - Air Date 8-26-26

B5: Theo Von and Joe Rogan Are Complicit - The Serf Times - Air Date 9-25-26

(01:55:10) SECTION C: THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY: MEDIA, MODERATES, AND OBEYING IN ADVANCE

C1: "It Might Not Be Good for America, But It's Good for Us": How the Media Got Rich on Trump's Rise - Democracy Now! - Air Date 11-9-16

C2: How "Moderates" Serve The Right - Second Thought - Air Date 12-17-21

C3: We Don'…