Podcast Summary: New Books Network – Interview with Carol Mason, “From the Clinics to the Capitol: How Opposing Abortion Became Insurrectionary” (U California Press, 2025)
Date: November 5, 2025 | Host: Sharon Yam | Guest: Carol Mason

Episode Overview

This episode of the New Books Network Gender Studies channel features Dr. Carol Mason, the Otis A. Singletary Endowed Chair in the Humanities at the University of Kentucky, discussing her new book, From the Clinics to the Capitol: How Opposing Abortion Became Insurrectionary. The conversation unpacks the relationship between the anti-abortion movement and the rise of insurrectionary, nationalist politics in the United States and beyond. Drawing on thirty years of research, Mason traces historical evolutions, explores transnational influences, and connects local campus incidents to global far-right movements.

Key Discussion Points

1. Book Motivation and Main Argument

• Catalyst: Mason’s shock at the January 6th, 2021 insurrection ("I both couldn't believe it and had seen it all before." [04:45]) prompted her to articulate the evolution from anti-abortion activism to outright insurrection.
• Core Thesis: Anti-abortion stories, images, and policies have helped prime Americans for white nationalism and authoritarian populism ("...has primed the American imagination for white nationalism and authoritarian populism." [03:46]).
• Scope: The book moves from local (clinic violence, campus protests) to national (legislation, political rhetoric) to international (transnational export of tactics and narratives).

2. Transnational Impact of U.S. Anti-abortion Movements

• The U.S. has exported anti-abortion tactics, rhetoric, and funding abroad since the 1970s, especially casting abortion as emotionally and physically destructive ("...the US has exported anti abortion tactics, rhetoric and personnel as well as funds to other countries." [10:22]).
• Case studies include Ireland, Russia, and the U.S., focusing on their investments in whiteness and national identity ("...all of those countries had a particular investment in whiteness especially." [08:42]).
• Anti-abortion stories exported overseas increasingly rely on emotional affect rather than rational debate.

3. Campus as Microcosm: Created Equal and Provocation Tactics

• Description of the "Created Equal" group’s spatial, nearly horror-movie-like staging on campus, using escalating warnings and graphic images to provoke students ("...what the anti abortion group does with a campus is very similar to what happens in a horror film temporally." [15:13]).
• These groups provoke confrontation, recording interactions in hopes of lawsuits or claims of censorship ("...they are wearing body cams and they are basically trying to provoke physical altercations..." [18:58]).

4. Research Process & Motivations

• Mason’s approach is driven by moments of deep confusion and contradiction, often asking herself, “what the fuck?” as a research method ("...some of the best research comes from the question what the fuck?" [22:30]).
• She details her longstanding inquiry into the paradox of those who kill in the name of "life" ("What does life mean if you can kill for it?" [23:06]).

5. Reproductive Justice Framework and White Nationalism

• Reproductive justice (RJ) discourse transcends the pro-life/pro-choice binary by including how race, gender, and bodily autonomy are policed, linking anti-abortion activism with white nationalist anxieties about demographic change ("...the anti abortion stories and images are often used to convince white people in particular that their children and their offspring are endangered in a systemic way." [12:41]).
• Mason stresses nuance and clearly states: "Not all people who oppose abortion are white supremacists" ([26:06]).

6. Temporality, Apocalypse, and Mobilization

• The far right experiences time differently, often perceiving themselves as constantly living in a moment of revolutionary crisis—a shift from anticipation of apocalypse to the presumption of living within one ("...the apocalyptic narrative had changed a little bit. And it wasn't so much about waiting for an impending apocalypse, but it was more about presuming and seeing yourself already in an apocalyptic scenario." [39:18]).
• Mason uses examples like a wristwatch inscribed “one hour closer to his return” to illustrate this dual experience of time—living regular lives while preparing for “the return" or revolutionary rupture ([35:36]).

7. Rhetoric, Stasis, and Echoing Arguments Across the Political Spectrum

• Mason cautions against viewing the right and left as monolithic or entirely oppositional, identifying that affect, narratives, and emotion often matter more than rational argument ("...that formulation feeds into this apocalyptic narrative mindset." [45:12]).
• She explains how anti-abortion rhetoric migrated from targeting clinics to viewing the federal government itself as the enemy, opening alliances with other far-right actors ("...they decided not to just oppose federal government policies, but to see the federal government as the enemy." [48:56]).

8. Polarization and Resisting Simple Divides

• The manufactured us-versus-them mentality, particularly visible in abortion debates, primes society for authoritarian divides ("...if we buy into that idea, idea that there's an us and there's a them, we're not going to be able to sustain democracy..." [53:13]).
• Mason argues for nuance, connection, and the RJ tradition as models for coalition and empathy—even among those who disagree on abortion.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On seeing January 6th:
  “I both couldn't believe it and had seen it all before. This kind of political combat was not only reminiscent of mass attacks on abortion clinics, but it was also the stuff of the right wing fiction and nonfiction I had read over 30 years of research.” (Carol Mason, 04:45)
• On research motivation:
  “Some of the best research comes from the question what the fuck?” (Carol Mason, 22:30)
• On student reactions to campus anti-abortion demonstrations:
  “What I found about this particular generation of students is that often they aren't convinced by the images...but it angers them.” (Carol Mason, 17:44)
• On temporality:
  “It wasn't so much about waiting for an impending apocalypse, but it was more about presuming and seeing yourself already in an apocalyptic scenario.” (Carol Mason, 39:18)
• On white nationalism:
  “It's important to realize that in this historical moment we are contending with a multicultural and multiracial right. And many anti abortion materials right now claim to oppose abortion as an extension of racial justice or civil rights or even abolitionism...the use of civil rights, like the use of anti slavery rhetoric, is not the same as wanting to have an egalitarian society.” (Carol Mason, 27:33)
• On polarization:
  “If we buy into that idea, that there’s an us and a them, we’re not going to be able to sustain democracy because it is in the authoritarian’s power to pit us against each other as if there were just an us and a them.” (Carol Mason, 53:21)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Book introduction and author’s motivation: 03:46–07:19
• Global export of US anti-abortion activism: 08:06–13:07
• Campus microcosms & protest tactics: 14:04–20:06
• Research method and origin story: 21:55–24:39
• Reproductive justice, race, and white nationalism: 24:39–31:17
• Far right temporalities & apocalyptic narratives: 33:31–41:44
• Shared rhetoric across political spectrums: 41:44–50:49
• Reframing polarization & closing thoughts: 52:19–57:09

Closing Advice

• Against Certainty and Division:
  “It’s really important not to see the right as a monolith ... The more that we read and write and connect with people with an eye toward nuance, the better off we’ll be ... try and figure out how to make connections with people and not to demonize others ... they’re your American family too and that they’ve been lied to.” (Carol Mason, 53:13)

• On engaging with nuance:
  “Departing wisdom is that we need to dive into the nuances despite the fact that sometimes that is very messy work.” (Sharon Yam, 56:35)

Summary Tone

The conversation is scholarly yet accessible, deeply empathetic, and both descriptive and analytical. Mason continually stresses the importance of nuance, emotional intelligence, and historical context, challenging easy binaries while providing grounded, research-driven insights into a phenomenon at the intersection of gender, nationalism, and world politics.

Full Episode Title:
Carol Mason, "From the Clinics to the Capitol: How Opposing Abortion Became Insurrectionary" (U California Press, 2025)
Recommended for: Scholars, students, activists, and anyone concerned with contemporary right-wing movements, gender politics, and democratic resilience.