16: Ruth Ben-Ghiat

This week, my guest Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert in authoritarianism, democracy protection, and propaganda and author of the bestelling book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. Ruth is both a professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. Outside of the classroom, Ruth frequently appears on cable news to discuss the frightening similarities between early fascism in Europe and current movements here in the United States within the Republican party and abroad. On today’s episode, I speak wth Ruth about our current crop of authoritarian brutes who use corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power and what we can do to stop them. To stay current with Ruth’s thinking, you can subscribe to her substack, Lucid or read her and her insightful opinion column with MSNBC. Contact Booked Up: You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:  BOOKED UP  P.O. BOX 147 NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061 Get More from Ruth Ben-Ghiat Twitter | Website | LUCID Substack |  Author of STRONGMEN Get More from Jen Taub: Twitter | Follow the Money substack| Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY 

Om Podcasten

Booked Up with Jen Taub features intimate interviews with nonfiction authors. Jen’s guests include writers of current bestsellers and beloved backlist books. Conversations cover love, money, politics, early dreams, writing habits, reading tastes, procrastination techniques, self-doubt, and news of the day. Creator and host, Jen Taub is a law professor, advocate, and author. Her nonfiction books include BIG DIRTY MONEY (Viking 2020) and OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES (Yale Press 2014). She focuses on “follow the money” matters— promoting transparency and opposing corruption. Jen’s favorite poem is Prufrock (and yes she knows that Eliot held abhorrent views. She contains multitudes and can separate the dancer from the dance.) Taub was the Bruce W. Nichols Visiting Professor of Law in fall 2019 at Harvard Law School and is now a professor of law at the Western New England University School of Law. A former associate general counsel at Fidelity Investments, she is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.