The Need for a Popular Front: A Conversation With Wajahat Ali

I am so grateful for Wajahat Ali. When I began this journey back in 2015 and 2016, I was quick to understand how dangerous the gathering authoritarian movement was and what the implications were for Americans. What I didn’t understand, but would learn quickly, was how a culture of denial and complicity enabled and worsened that crisis. Wajahat understood too, and along with a handful of others, their kindness, solidarity, and clarity steadied and inspired me. We are incredibly, incredibly lucky to have Wajahat in the world fighting the good fight.

Wajahat and I sat down to talk on Wednesday to address the big tangle of crises we now face, including the threat of Project 2025, the continuing debate over Joe Biden’s candidacy, the rightward trajectory and radicalization of our culture, politics, and media, and more.

I hope you’ll watch our discussion and check out Wajahat’s Substack The Left Hook, an invaluable hub for his thoughts and analysis. And, to support Dispatches From A Collapsing State, subscribe if you haven’t already.

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