Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Discuss 'End Times Fascism' as First CULTURED Book Club Pick
The first selection for The CULTURED Book Club is 'End Times Fascism,' authored by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, and released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This 300-page work delves into how capitalist elites manipulate apocalyptic themes for their political advantage, addressing subjects such as doomsday predictions, AI, and authoritarianism. In a CULTURED interview, the authors likened their writing experience to "writing about a tsunami from inside of it." They mentioned a challenging moment during Charlie Kirk's assassination but found motivation in resistance movements and electoral victories, such as the Mamdani campaign. Taylor criticized tech executives for their complacency regarding AI's destructive potential, while Klein emphasized the importance of grassroots efforts surrounding data centers. The book club invites readers to create groups for mutual support and action against authoritarianism.
Key facts
- Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor co-authored 'End Times Fascism,' published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- The book is the inaugural selection for The CULTURED Book Club, a monthly initiative by CULTURED magazine.
- The book explores how capitalist elites exploit apocalyptic narratives, including AI and doomsday prophecies.
- Klein and Taylor described writing the book as 'writing about a tsunami from inside of it.'
- They cited Charlie Kirk's assassination as a low point during writing.
- Taylor criticized tech leaders Dario Amodei and Elon Musk for accepting a 25 percent chance their AI could destroy humanity.
- Klein mentioned Tucson, Arizona's Project Blue, an Amazon data center, as a site of resistance over water, surveillance, and military contracts.
- Taylor noted Anthropic's claim of $30 trillion in potential revenue as evidence of tech's ambition to dominate the economy.
- Klein highlighted that 1 in 10 Mamdani voters volunteered for his campaign, showing movement infrastructure.
- The interview introduced the 'Stephen Miller test': if you don't want someone like Stephen Miller to have a power, that power should not exist.
Entities
Artists
- Naomi Klein
- Astra Taylor
- J.D. Vance
- Bryce Crawford
- Charlie Kirk
- Mamdani
- Dario Amodei
- Elon Musk
- KeShaun Pearson
- AOC
- Steve Bannon
- Nick Fuentes
- Augusto Pinochet
- Adolf Hitler
- Mark Carney
- Stephen Miller
- Zohran Mamdani
- Donald Trump
- Mark Zuckerberg
Institutions
- Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- CULTURED
- The CULTURED Book Club
- Anthropic
- The Wall Street Journal
- Amazon
- Amazon Cloud Services
- ICE
- Israeli military
- DSA
- Meta
- Flock
Locations
- Tucson
- Arizona
- United States
- Memphis
- New York
- Canada
- Gaza
- Middle East