jane mayer

With the help of Jane Mayer's essential 2016 book, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, your hosts explore the world of right-wing philanthropy and the institutions—from centers at universities to think tanks in Washington, DC—it has funded. What emerges is a startling history of how a small group of incredibly rich families used novel techniques to shelter their wealth from taxation and fund a right-wing takeover of American politics.

Other sources cited and consulted:

• Theda Skocpol, "Who Owns the GOP?" (a critical review of Mayer in Dissent)
• Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism
• Amanda Hollis-Brusky and Calvin Terbeek, "The Federalist Society Says It’s Not an Advocacy Organization. These Documents Show Otherwise." Politico
• Mark Schmidt "The Legend of the Powell Memo," The American Prospect
• Honoré de Balzac, Eugénie Grandet (1833)

A recent blockbuster article by journalist Jane Mayer examines close ties between the White House and Fox News. The piece, published in The New Yorker, spurred the Democratic National Committee to choose not to allow Fox to hold any of its presidential debates. In this broad conversation, Mayer touches on the Fox News article, another piece on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and her book Dark Money. She speaks with Carolyne Heldman, former president of Aspen Public Radio.

Show Notes Register for the Aspen Ideas Festival, and learn more about it. Listen to our episode, The Underground Railroad, featuring author Colson Whitehead. Email your comments to aspenideastogo@gmail.com. The views and opinions of the speakers in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.

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