The Frontier

James clarifies that in the Irish context, a unionist supports Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, not unification with the Republic of Ireland, noting an earlier misstatement in the podcast.

Alee Ayub, a UK-based researcher and journalist focused on the far-right, notes that Northern Ireland's far-right includes a sectarian element tied to pro-Ireland vs. pro-UK stances, unlike England's more transnational, online-driven far-right groups.

Alee explains that the UK government historically armed paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, contributing to a de facto mafia-like structure where violence against people of color today reflects past supremacist ideologies against Catholic working classes. Sectarianization is an active, ongoing process, not inherent.

In response to recent bigotry in Belfast that left over 20 people homeless, thousands across various UK cities, including Brighton, Glasgow, Sheffield, and Liverpool, mobilized for large anti-fascist protests, outnumbering far-right agitators by a significant margin.

Alee argues that the UK media, particularly tabloids, exacerbate racial tensions by framing incidents involving non-white individuals in sensational, often irrelevant, terms (e.g., "asylum seeker vandalizes memorial") to drive engagement and perpetuate the narrative of a "migrant crisis."

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, and the newer Restore UK party compete for the far-right space in the UK. Reform positions itself as a more professional alternative to the Conservatives, while Restore UK, with only 3% support, openly advocates for mass deportation, resembling historical groups like the BNP.

Mia Wong and Vicky Ostrowil discuss how the KOSPI, South Korea's main stock index, illustrates a deeply imbalanced economy, with over half of its valuation stemming from just two chip manufacturing companies, Samsung and SK Hynix. This concentration makes the market highly susceptible to volatility, as KOSPI lost 10% of its value multiple times this year.

The addition of Korean stocks to US retail trading apps like Robinhood has fueled a "stock mania" both domestically and internationally, allowing coordinated retail money to significantly swing smaller foreign markets. This deregulation enables gambling on obscure, formerly "penny stocks" within the AI supply chain.

Mia Wong and Vicky Ostrowil highlight the rise of "leveraged ETFs on a single stock," which defy the traditional purpose of ETFs by focusing on one company. These instruments, described as market "parlays" or "Russian roulette," are so risky that investors are warned not to hold them for more than one day, as they can lead to losses exceeding the initial investment.

Vicky Ostrowil likens Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO to a "crypto rug pull" at a global scale, where retail investors, influenced by online hype, drove the stock price up. Institutional funds, including pension plans, were then forced to buy into the overvalued stock due to its index inclusion, leading to a rapid 10% decline and losses for these funds.

Private equity and tech investors are divesting from other sectors, including commercial real estate and movie production, to funnel all available capital into the AI boom, despite claims that data centers aren't being built as projected. This strategy aims to stave off collapses in other investment areas, creating a massive speculative bubble.

Mia Wong and Vicky Ostrowil contend that the current global economic system relies on two collective delusions: the inevitable profitability of the AI boom and the imminent end of the war in Iran. Both are false, yet they are necessary to prevent immediate collapse and allow wealthy investors to cash out of bad investments, effectively "lighting our money on fire."

Robert Evans characterizes Elizabeth Dilling as an early precursor to modern conservative figures like Phyllis Schlafly, Candace Owens, or Laura Loomer, noting her use of a surprisingly modern, crowdfunded business model.

Elizabeth Dilling's book, "The Red Network," dedicated to "professional patriots," asserted a "communist, socialist, world conspiracy" driven by "atheism, immorality, class hatred, and pacifism," warning it undermined America like a cancerous growth.

Robert Evans states Dilling's book praised figures like Harry Young, who brought the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to the US, and thanked the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as the "best informed body of women" on communism.

Dilling's book argued the US Socialist Party was subsuming the Democratic Party, using the New Deal as an instrument for this takeover, reflecting common conspiratorial thinking of the era.

Dilling labeled 460 American organizations as communist, radical, pacifist, anarchist, or IWW-controlled, and listed 1,300 organizations total, often including male citations to lend authority, believing her own word would be dismissed.

"The Red Network" was a major success among the "crank right," cited as expert testimony in a dozen congressional investigations and used successfully in at least one court case.

*The New Republic* in the 1930s warned Dilling's book carried weight with local law enforcement, who were "only too glad" for a list of suspected communists to harass, fulfilling the book's designed purpose to justify attacks on citizens.

Pioneering anti-fascist journalist Dorothy Thompson described Elizabeth Dilling as "one of the most successful defamers of private character in this country," highlighting her business model of providing excuses for violence against perceived enemies.

Dilling's book was distributed by Nazi sympathizers like the German American Bund and the Aryan Bookstore of Los Angeles, an institution that also published anti-Semitic materials such as the KKK's weekly newspaper and articles on "Jewish ritual murder."

Elizabeth Dilling's anti-communism inherently aligned with anti-Semitism and fascist hatred, a stance evident from her writing in "The Red Network" which claimed Nazi Germany's anti-Semitism was a defensive measure against "revolutionary Russian Jews."

Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and influential radio personality, served as Dilling's primary peer and influence, infamous for propagating racist anti-communist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and vehemently opposing FDR's New Deal.

Father Charles Coughlin, born in Canada, became a Catholic priest and radio personality after leaving the Basilian Order, which required a vow of poverty. He was ordained on June 29, 1916.

Coughlin launched a successful radio show in 1926, which by the early 1930s was picked up by CBS and reached over 40 million listeners, handling millions in donations through his Radio League.

Elizabeth Dilling was radicalized by Coughlin's anti-communist broadcasts, finding his militant approach aligned with her view that only organized political Christianity could defeat the left, unlike mainstream churches she found "nauseating."

Coughlin initially supported FDR's New Deal, even coining "The New Deal is Christ's Deal," but became a fervent opponent after FDR, elected in 1932, declined to involve him in his administration.

Dilling actively campaigned against FDR's 1936 reelection, giving up to five speeches a day and receiving 50% of collected funds, though her primary motivation was agency and fame within her narrow definition of women's roles.

Elizabeth Dilling, fearing a "communist versus communist" election, actively worked to sabotage William Borah's 1936 Republican presidential candidacy, distributing 5,000 copies of her pamphlet "Borah from Within."

After Borah's defeat, Dilling reluctantly supported the "dog shit candidate" Alfred M. Landon against FDR, whose landslide loss (winning only two states) led Dilling to claim validation for her early criticisms.