Half the Answer #39: What Is Antifa, and How Do You Catch a Fascist?
Christopher Mathias, author of "To Catch a Fascist," speaks to Caitlin and Trent about the events of 2020, clashes between violent fascist clubs and "community defense" groups. They discuss misconceptions about what "antifa" is and what kinds of activities they are engaged in, the difference between doxxing a teacher who practices inclusivity and doxxing one who is bragging on far right message boards about their mission to convert students into Nazi soldiers, and the Trump administration's demonization of community defenders and antifascists in 2025.
Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube, on Amazon, and elsewhere via its RSS feed.
Resources:
Pre-order Christopher's book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/To-Catch-a-Fascist/Christopher-Mathias/9781668034767
Follow Chris on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/letsgomathias.bsky.social
Mathias on anti-antifa order: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-antifa-executive-order-terrorist-organization-rcna233011
Clay Jackson on outlawing opposition: https://clayjak.substack.com/p/all-opposition-is-now-extremism?r=9qphz&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Natasha Lennard on the need to mount an organized opposition: https://theintercept.com/2025/09/19/trump-charlie-kirk-george-soros-antifa/
Natasha Lennard on unmasking ICE agents: https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/masked-ice-agents-victimization-accountability/
Chicago under siege: https://inthesetimes.com/article/ice-broadview-chicago-tear-gas-trump-blitz-immigration
Trump: am I watching things on television https://presswatchers.org/2025/09/trump-am-i-watching-things-on-television-that-are-different-from-whats-happening/
ICE throws woman: https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-officer-shoves-woman-till-eckert
ICE assaults journalist: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-agents-grab-shove-journalists-nyc-immigration-court-sending-on-rcna234884
Rose City Antifa: https://rosecityantifa.org/
Unicorn Riot's Data: https://unicornriot.ninja/far-right-investigations-desk/
Patriot Prayer: https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/what-we-know-about-patriot-prayer/
Stewart Rhodes: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/stewart-rhodes-convicted-of-seditious-conspiracy-and-released-by-trump-visits-capitol-hill
NSC-131 https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nationalist-social-club-nsc-131/
Blood Tribe: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the--new-look--same-racism--of-blood-tribe
Rise Above Movement: https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/rise-above-movement/
Patriot Front have strong presence in military https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1079700404/1-in-5-patriot-front-applicants-say-they-have-ties-to-the-military
Neo-nazi homeschooling program: https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/what-to-know-about-a-neo-nazi-home-school-scandal/2023/02
Book on campus misinformation: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/campus-misinformation-9780197531273?cc=us&lang=en&
Tom Homan spoke at Fuentes event: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thomas-homan-rnc-white-supremacist-conference_n_669856f6e4b05a9a604f80d9
