Weekly Roundup: They Are Advocating for Fascism (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast) The Axis Mundi Network

Steven Crowder recently released a video titled “The Case for Fascism,” making an explicit argument for fascism rather than merely flirting with the idea. In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Crowder’s argument and ask what it reveals about the direction of the American right.

The conversation connects Crowder’s rhetoric about communism, violence, and “disinfecting” the country to a broader political movement increasingly portraying opponents of MAGA and Christian nationalism as enemies of America. Brad argues that this reflects a deeper shift: if the Christian nationalist right no longer believes it represents a majority of Americans, democracy itself can begin to look like an obstacle rather than a solution. 
Interview: 
 https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/weekly-roundup-they-are-advocating

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'The Nerd Reich' tracks the 'unmasking of Silicon Valley's true politics' (Tonya Mosley, Fresh Air podcast)

Journalist Gil Durán argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have concluded that democracy is in their way — and that they should be governing in its place.

"My book is about a cult of Silicon Valley billionaires who believe that in the 21st century, technology will make democracy obsolete. And it goes back a few decades. In 1997, if you want to know the full root of it, there was a book that came out called The Sovereign Individual that predicted that in the 21st century, technology would result in the end of democracy and nation states like the United States. Specifically, the book said that two technologies - one, something called cybercurrency, which we would today consider crypto, and another called advanced automation, which is basically AI - would collapse the economy and thereby the government itself and would lead to the rise of a new cognitive elite, these sovereign individuals, wealthy individuals who, by making the right investments and the right moves, would be able to profit from the destruction of the United States and other democratic nation states."   

Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/10/nx-s1-5925350/the-nerd-reich-tracks-the-unmasking-of-silicon-valleys-true-politics

John Adams said we were founded as a Christian nation? (Dan McClellan)

Debunking false claims made by Christian nationalists...

Interview:

https://youtu.be/wOWaqUtZflA?si=n5dEM5FfszKsBRYQ

Friendly Atheist News Roundup 8/13/2026 -- Christian Beauty Queen Loses Crown Over Racist Posts (VIDEO Podcast Ep. 648)

0:00 Intro
1:34 Miss North Carolina USA said she lost her crown due to her faith. Then the racist posts surfaced.
10:55 Virginia school district sued after repeatedly changing rules to block LGBTQ student club.
23:10 School officials face charges after trans wrestler controversy fueled by the religious right.
35:15 An anti-trans Christian activist is furious that a reporter quoted her accurately.
43:00 Trump is trying to change childhood vaccine recommendations.
54:30 Oklahoma candidate James Taylor has turned his classroom into a Christian campaign studio.
Interview: 

• With Jessica: https://youtu.be/L7GKDL86puM?si=k9vVJvCIwkiNaC7-

• Without Jessica: https://www.youtube.com/live/W2DLFV6Zssc?si=vQKI4URGylAkDVHr

The race for tech supremacy: The U.S. vs. China (Terry Gross, Fresh Air podcast)

China produces at least 70% of the world’s drones, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells. And with the U.S. stockpile of munitions diminished from the Iran war, would the U.S. have what it needs to defend Taiwan if China invaded? 

Terry Gross talks with New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos about his latest story, “The Future Made in China.” 

“The irony here is that we are in some ways beholden right now to the Chinese factory in order to produce the munitions that we need to defend American interests from China. That’s the exquisite problem that we've found ourselves in,” Osnos says.

Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-5929415/the-race-for-tech-supremacy-the-u-s-vs-china

Hitchens vs. The Church (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)

We hear the brilliant late journalist/intellectual Christopher Hitchens debate an archbishop on the topic “Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world?” and FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens explains what’s wrong with Texas’ new bible-infused public-school curriculum.

Interview: 

https://ffrf.org/news/freethought-radio/freethought-today-august-13-2026/

82% miscarriage rate is absurd. #doctor #miscarriage #womenshealth

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BQvxO1KQ8fo

 

A Christian activist accused a reporter of lying. But HE HAD THE TAPES.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P4OO602Uox8 

‘Devastating’: bulldozers plough through Big Bend national park as Trump’s border work pushes ahead

Heavy machinery seen operating in famous Santa Elena Canyon amid outcry over new wall infrastructure in beloved Texas park…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/14/bulldozers-big-bend-national-park-trump

 

Christian nationalism is not Christianity and it is our greatest threat.

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dCFIM6Y-LQQ

 

Republicans loved DOGE. Then the results came in.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9yYKOiqKfT0

 

US firms that kept DEI policies despite ‘go woke, go broke’ threats thrived

Exclusive: Companies that kept policies did just as well financially, even after Trump’s executive order, as those that didn’t…

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/14/dei-policy-company-performance

 

Brief: The Ceuta Crisis Great Replacement Conspiracy (Conspirituality podcast)

Last week, around 72,000 migrants flooded from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. What really happened? Was a local girl abducted, never to be seen again? Did the Moroccan border guards step aside (or even collaborate) in an organized operation?

Right-wing politicians and pundits were quick to crank up the moral panic machine. This is what open borders look like! They’re heading for our country next. Donald Trump said it was nothing compared to what would happen in the US if Democrats win the mid-terms.

Then came the conspiracy theories. Was Morocco retaliating against Spain for a recent deal with their enemy, Algeria? Were America and Israel behind it as punishment for Spain’s socialist prime minister being staunchly pro-Palestine and refusing to support the war in Iran?

For a few magical days, right- and left-wing conspiracy theorists spread overlapping versions of the Great Replacement Theory.

Julian dives into the diplomatic complexities, ideological contradictions, and historical twists to make sense of relations between Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Israel to ask: are there any good guys or is it colonizers all the way down?
Interview:

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/brief-ceuta-crisis-great-replacement-theory

Zelenskyy warns Egypt of food supply threat caused by Russian strikes in Black Sea

“Ukraine is one of ⁠the largest food suppliers to ​Egypt and to ‌a significant number ‌of other countries in Africa ‌and the Middle East. These supplies are now under serious threat because of Russia’s war,” Zelenskyy said on X. “We are already seeing ‌a significant reduction in supplies, and this could have very ​unpleasant consequences due to rising prices and shortages,” he said, adding that the two countries had agreed to ⁠work on solutions...

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/15/ukraine-war-briefing-zelenskyy-warns-egypt-of-food-supply-threat-caused-by-russian-strikes-in-black-sea

 

Little Bird: this beautiful, moving Canadian drama will fill you with visceral anger

Although fiction, the story is real. Canada’s colonial history includes the Sixties Scoop – the mass abduction of First Nations children, forcibly taken by welfare services and rehomed with white families. Their adoption papers were sealed, effectively giving them no contact with parents or clue as to their heritage. Little Bird’s six episodes examine the long shadow of this cultural genocide through one family. At the end of each episode we are reminded that there are more Indigenous children in the care system than ever before.…

 https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/aug/15/little-bird-canadian-drama-first-nations-children-sixties-scoop-adoptions 

 

Trump threatens to declare strait of Hormuz ‘territory of the United States’

“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said on Friday. “Essentially, that’s what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.” 

 The seriousness of Trump’s remark, and whether it signaled a new policy ​position for his administration, was not immediately clear. 

Responding on X, formerly Twitter, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said Tehran would not ⁠be intimidated by threats, ​or ‌a show ‌of force, by ‌the US – and added that the strait of Hormuz ​would only ​be opened, ​or ‌closed, under Iran’s ​authority…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/14/trump-threat-strait-hormuz-us-territory

 

5 noncitizens charged with voting in 2024 Michigan election

The attorney general's office said it had investigated 38 cases involving suspected noncitizen voting or similar allegations in elections held between 2009 and 2025. In addition to the six cases in which charges were announced Thursday, the office said it had closed 10 cases without charges, and 22 remained under investigation. 

Nessel said her office investigates all claims of noncitizen voting, even though such cases were rare compared with the tens of millions of ballots cast in Michigan during the years covered by the investigations...

 https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-08-13/five-noncitizens-charged-with-voting-in-2024-michigan-election

RFK Jr thinks you’re not smart enough to call out his lies. #doctor

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I_PuIIgTjJc

Openly Refusing Money Laundering Law

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sOKrTKJm3_o

Inflammation Pseudoscience (Conspirituality podcast #321)

Inflammation is an important and necessary part of the body’s healing process. It’s also long been a wellness buzzword used to sell products that do very little to treat it. This week, we look at inflammation through the lens of a new Mother Jones article, “The Great Inflammation Panic,” including an interview with the author, Julia Métraux, in segment two. We’ll also discuss what inflammation is, how wellness influencers weaponize it, and what it represents in the context of Ayurveda.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/321-inflammation-pseudoscience

Satanists SUE Iowa over religious hypocrisy!

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/J64p1CuD5NM

James Talarico DESTROYS Texas Republicans' book-banning bill

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kn2tIQ81ofg

 

At least six people dead and one wounded in mass shooting in rural Michigan

A mass shooting on Friday has left six people dead, including the suspected gunman, in Missaukee county, a rural area of northern Michigan, according to state police. Another person is in critical condition at a local hospital...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/14/michigan-mass-shooting-missaukee-county 

What's Brewing? Medicare for All

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Z7KI3cbhQ

 

66 Books, 40 Authors, 1,500 Years: Does the Bible Hold Up? (Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher; Data Over Dogma podcast on YouTube)

It's everywhere right now: the Bible is 66 books, written by 40 authors, across 1,500 years, on three continents, all saying the same thing.

This week we take that apologetic apart piece by piece — the canon that was never fixed, the authorship attributions that arrived centuries after the fact, the Hebrew that didn't exist yet, and the "three continents" that fit inside a circle smaller than the Mediterranean. One part of the claim actually checks out, and we'll happily give it up.
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/G5ptvRsgyCs?si=Bfep2Iz1gBlMJDC4

Canada’s military ends Christian privilege!

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LKewZ4Ao0o0

 

Why Is My Mac Menu Bar Missing?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8zccukk0Wg

Those Weren't Cops, Donald | Paula Poundstone #shorts

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ww3aAnB9a4Y