Fascism.
Popular Culture and Religion.
Publishing Details
Contact & Outreach
About This Podcast
The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I before spreading to other European countries, most notably Germany. Fascism also had adherents outside of Europe. Fascists saw World War I as a revolution that brought massive changes to the nature of war, society, the state, and technology. The advent of total war and the mass mobilization of society erased the distinction between civilians and combatants. A military citizenship arose, in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner. The war resulted in the rise of a powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines, providing logistics to support them, and having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens.
Fascism views forms of violence—including political violence, imperialist violence, and war—as means to national rejuvenation. Fascists often advocate for the establishment of a totalitarian one-party state, and for a dirigiste economy, which is a market economy in which the state plays a strong directive role through market intervention with the principal goal of achieving national economic self-sufficiency, or "autarky". Fascism emphasizes both palingenesis—national rebirth or regeneration—and modernity when it is deemed compatible with national rebirth. In promoting the nation's regeneration, fascists seek to purge it of decadence. Fascism may also centre around an ingroup-outgroup opposition and demonization of "Others", such as various ethnicities, immigrants, nations, races, political opponents of fascist parties, religious groups, and sexual and gender minorities. In the case of Nazism, this involved racial purity and a belief in a master race. Such demonization has motivated fascist regimes to commit massacres, forced sterilizations, deportations, and genocides. During World War II, the genocidal and imperialist ambitions of the fascist regimes of the Axis powers resulted in the murder of millions of people.
Since the end of World War II in 1945, fascism has been largely disgraced, and few parties have openly described themselves as fascist; the term is often used pejoratively by political opponents. The descriptions neo-fascist or post-fascist are sometimes applied to contemporary parties with ideologies similar to, or rooted in, 20th-century fascist movements.
Podcasting 2.0 Features
Explore Statistics
Recent Episodes
38 - Anti-fascism.
Anti-fascism. Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly…
37 - Criticism.
Criticism. Fascist parties were closely contested by anti-fascist movements from the political centre and left wing throughout the Interwar period. The defeat of the Axis powers in World War II and…
36 - Culture.
Culture. Aesthetics. In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935), Walter Benjamin identifies aestheticization of politics as a key ingredient in fascist regimes. On this point…
35 - Palingenesis and modernism.
Palingenesis and modernism. Fascism emphasizes both palingenesis (national rebirth or re-creation) and modernism. In particular, fascism's nationalism has been identified as having a palingenetic…
34 - Direct action.
Direct action. Fascism emphasizes direct action, including supporting the legitimacy of political violence, as a core part of its politics. Fascism views violent action as a necessity in politics…
33 - Economy.
Economy. Historians and other scholars disagree on the question of whether a specifically fascist type of economic policy can be said to exist. David Baker argues that there is an identifiable…
32 - Tenets.
Tenets. Robert Paxton finds that even though fascism "maintained the existing regime of property and social hierarchy", it cannot be considered "simply a more muscular form of conservatism" because…
31 - Contemporary fascism (2008–present).
Contemporary fascism (2008–present). Greece. After the onset of the Great Recession and economic crisis in Greece, a movement known as the Golden Dawn, widely considered a neo-Nazi party, soared in…
30 - Post-World War II (1945–2008).
Post-World War II (1945–2008). The victory of the Allies over the Axis powers in World War II led to the collapse of many fascist regimes in Europe. The Nuremberg Trials convicted several Nazi…
29 - World War II (1939–1945).
World War II (1939–1945). In Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, both Mussolini and Hitler pursued territorial expansionist and interventionist foreign policy agendas from the 1930s through the 1940s…
28 - International impact of the Great Depression and buildup to World War II.
International impact of the Great Depression and buildup to World War II. The conditions of economic hardship caused by the Great Depression brought about an international surge of social unrest. …
27 - Fascist Italy. Mussolini in power.
Fascist Italy. Mussolini in power. Upon being appointed Prime Minister of Italy, Mussolini had to form a coalition government because the fascists did not have control over the Italian parliament.…
26 - Fascist violence.
Fascist violence. Beginning in 1922, fascist paramilitaries escalated their strategy from one of attacking socialist offices and the homes of socialist leadership figures, to one of violent…
25 - Fascist Manifesto and Charter of Carnaro.
Fascist Manifesto and Charter of Carnaro. In 1919, Alceste De Ambris and futurist movement leader Filippo Tommaso Marinetti created "The Manifesto of the Italian Fasces of Combat". The Fascist…
24 - History: World War I and its aftermath (1914–1929).
History: World War I and its aftermath (1914–1929). At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Italian political left became severely split over its position on the war. The Italian…
23 - History: Fin de siècle era and lead up to World War I (1880–1914).
History: Fin de siècle era and lead up to World War I (1880–1914). The historian Zeev Sternhell has traced the ideological roots of fascism back to the 1880s and in particular to the fin de siècle…
22 - History: Background and 19th-century roots.
History: Background and 19th-century roots. Early influences that shaped the ideology of fascism have been dated back to ancient Greece. Mussolini had a strong attachment to the works of the Greek…
21 - Position on the political spectrum.
Position on the political spectrum. Scholars place fascism on the far right of the political spectrum. Such scholarship focuses on its social conservatism and its authoritarian means of opposing…
20 - Definitions of fascism.
Definitions of fascism. Historian Ian Kershaw once wrote, "Trying to define 'fascism' is like trying to nail jelly to the wall." Each group described as "fascist" has at least some unique elements,…
19 - Legacy and Influence.
Legacy and Influence. Post-World War II Denazification and Anti-Fascism. Denazification was the Allied policy initiated in 1945 to eradicate Nazi ideology and personnel from German and Austrian…
Frequently Asked Questions
Fascism. has published 38 episodes since April 2026, covering topics in Documentary, History.
Fascism. is currently dormant with new episodes hourly. Average episode length is 5m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Fascism., including email and social media links.
