Autocracy in America – “Reality Reshaped”

The Atlantic – January 23, 2026
Host: Anne Applebaum
Guests: Joan Brugge, Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Episode Overview

This episode investigates how the second Trump administration is reshaping the reality of American public life by targeting science, medicine, culture, and education. Anne Applebaum explores how funding cuts, verbal attacks, and policy changes are being used to control knowledge and foster distrust, drawing parallels with authoritarian regimes throughout history. The discussion features firsthand testimony from a leading cancer researcher and deep analysis by historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Attacks on Science & Funding Cuts

• Personal Impact on Research:

  • Joan Brugge, a distinguished cancer researcher, recounts her shock and devastation when her lifesaving research funding is summarily cut for reasons unrelated to the quality or progress of her work.
    • Quote: "I never imagined that it would be possible that funding for life-saving research would be terminated for issues that were totally unrelated to the quality of the work or the progress that we had made in the work." – Joan Brugge [00:30]
  • The sudden cut resulted in staff losses and a paralyzed work environment, with immediate negative impact on vital cancer research.
    • Quote: “Since last May, seven people have left the lab, but I've only had sufficient funding to be able to replace two of them… It's just so difficult. It doesn't feel right that Americans are going to be deprived of the outcome from this research.” – Joan Brugge [03:08]

• Aggressive Rollback in Multiple Fields:

  • Cuts and setbacks are widespread, affecting not just medicine but also education and climate research.
    • Quote: “We have a very focused and intense effort across the board to set America back a generation, at least for education, health research, climate policy.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [04:19]

2. The Autocratic Playbook in Action

• Speed and Scope:

  • The Trump administration’s rapid, sweeping changes outpace even historical authoritarian precedents.
    • Quote: “There are two things that stand out as new to me. One is the speed of change, really, the speed at which institutions have been destroyed… It doesn't correspond to any other example. I know where the leader came to power via elections.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [05:07]

• Coordinated and Planned:

  • Changes are not arbitrary but the result of long-term planning, leveraging conservative institutions like The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
    • Quote: “They used their power when they were out of office beautifully. And by partnering with the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 when he won the election, they were able to hit the ground running.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [07:13]

• Purpose: Control and Realignment:

  • The aim is both to neutralize critics (through purges) and fundamentally reshape institutions and their values to fit authoritarian goals.
    • Quote: “You want to make educational institutions into places where you don't have free thinking, critical thinking, and curiosity… Instead, the education institution itself becomes a place that breeds the values of authoritarianism, suspicion, hostility.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [08:06]
  • Analogy to informers in classrooms under totalitarian regimes.

3. The Unique Threat to American Innovation

• Why Attack Science and Universities?

  • Applebaum questions why a government would stifle the country’s own “engine of innovation.”
  • Ben-Ghiat points out that it’s not just about science but about controlling the broader intellectual and cultural output that challenges authoritarian narratives.
    • Quote: “A very terrifying void opens up that is filled by fear, by conspiracy theories, or by nothing… So it's really almost a totalitarian… effort to change the mindset of people away from science and fact-based research across the board.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [11:22]

• Comparison to History:

  • The only historical analogy with similar scale and intent is Maoist China’s Cultural Revolution, which devastated scientific and academic progress through ideological purges.
    • Quote: “During Mao's long tenured Cultural Revolution… people who have studied this talk about an entire lost generation of scientists, engineers as well… The entire enterprise of science had to be wrecked. That's the only example I can think of…” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [12:56]

4. The Symbolism of Targeting Prestigious Institutions

• Harvard as a Target:
  • Harvard and other elite institutions are attacked to send a message and instill fear in the entire academic community.
    • Quote: “The higher, more prestigious your target, the more… bringing them down… sets… a message to everybody else.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [14:38]
  • Smaller institutions are left feeling even more vulnerable.
    • Applebaum’s reflection: “If they can destroy Harvard, they can destroy anyone.” [15:24]

5. Redefining Culture and History

• Control of Cultural Institutions:
  • Federal influence is shifted to rewrite American history in a manner that centers white Christian nationalism and erases the nation’s diversity.
    • Quote: “You purge the content of histories that you no longer want or people you no longer want featured, and instead you promote your own sanitized, mythological version of history.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [17:42]
  • Attacks on cultural funding and rerouting of resources to orchestrated spectacle (e.g., the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) are part of this strategy.
    • Quote: “Trump in particular is a man of spectacle… It will become an excuse to intensify a kind of rewriting of American history, but also remapping of the way that Washington, D.C. looks as the power center.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [20:11]

6. The Logic of Authoritarian Showmanship

• Changing National Identity and Memory:

  • The erasing of Black history, immigrant stories, and inclusive narratives is a totalitarian move to monopolize historical memory.
    • Quote: “History itself has to be rewritten. And in this case, we have white Christian nationalist history, which in a totalitarian framework does not permit the coexistence with other histories.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [18:42]

• Spectacle, Legacy, and Omnipotence:

  • Autocrats obsess over their legacy, remaking capital cities, and constructing monumental symbols of power to compensate for their deep insecurity.
    • Quote: “They know where the enemies, who their enemies are, and the depth of hatred that they foster with their violence and their corruption. And so they build these safe spaces for themselves…” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [21:25]

7. Undermining Democracy and Building Distrust

• Link to Elections and Democratic Functioning:

  • The rewriting of history and destruction of knowledge institutions serves to erode trust in democratic processes, especially elections.
    • Quote: “There's been a concerted and very relentless attempt to change the way that Americans feel about authorities, to change the way that they feel about American institutions. And elections are the most important of those institutions…” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [23:25]
  • The long game is to delegitimize elections so thoroughly that large swathes of Americans stop believing in electoral outcomes, as happened after the 2020 election.
    • Quote: “He managed to convince tens of millions of people of a very easily verifiable fact that he lost the election. Instead, he convinced tens of millions that he was the rightful winner.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [23:38]

• Weaponization of Distrust:

  • When trust in facts, institutions, and each other breaks down, autocracy becomes easier to entrench.
    • Quote: “Ultimately, destroying trust is the currency of autocrats, and it's one of the saddest things. And we know when autocracies finally fall, rebuilding that trust is one of the most difficult things to do.” – Ruth Ben-Ghiat [25:27]

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Joan Brugge on Funding Cuts:
  “My knees basically buckled and I had to sit down… It's shocking and demoralizing to have to deal with this.” [00:30–03:08]
• Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Speed of Changes:
  “There are two things that stand out as new to me. One is the speed of change, really, the speed at which institutions have been destroyed.” [05:07]
• Comparison to Cultural Revolution:
  “During Mao's long tenured Cultural Revolution, et cetera, science was put back by generations… The entire enterprise of science had to be wrecked.” [12:56]
• On Attacking Harvard:
  “The more powerful an entity is, the more they must be made an example of.” [14:38]
• On Spectacle and National Memory:
  “Trump in particular is a man of spectacle… It will become an excuse to intensify a kind of rewriting of American history.” [20:11]
• On Authoritarian Distrust:
  “Ultimately, destroying trust is the currency of autocrats, and it's one of the saddest things.” [25:27]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30 – Joan Brugge details personal impact of research funding cuts
• 04:19 – Ruth Ben-Ghiat on the breadth of the rollback in science, education, and policy
• 05:07 – Speed and scope of Trump’s changes vs. other autocracies
• 07:13 – Project 2025 and planned assault on institutions
• 12:56 – Historical analogy: Mao’s China and the destruction of science
• 14:38 – Why Harvard is targeted as a symbol
• 17:42 – Cultural institutions, spectacle, and rewriting history
• 23:25 – Links between destroying institutions, eroding democracy, and 2026 midterms
• 25:27 – The weaponization of distrust as a method of control

Tone and Language

The conversation is reflective, urgent, and laced with historical insight. Anne Applebaum strikes a tone of concern and analytical detachment, while Ruth Ben-Ghiat brings academic gravitas, providing context and warning drawn from decades of research on authoritarian regimes.

Closing Reflection

The episode draws a chilling portrait of a systematic effort to undermine America's engines of knowledge and trust—science, culture, education, and democracy itself. Through firsthand testimony and deep analysis, listeners are reminded that such actions are not just about policy or ideology, but about reshaping reality and power in fundamental ways.