Byline Supplement — Upcoming News Meeting with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
And my Byline Supplement interview with her from today on ‘Toxic Strongmen’
***Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism. Upgrade to a paid membership here or by clicking the green button below.***
“Many autocrats have gone after their own families — it's them or nothing, because they are fanatics. They are in their own way fundamentalists — political fundamentalists — and they are the church. They are the gods of their own religions.”—Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Many of you support me here at Bette, as well as the reader-funded newspaper I work for in the UK — Byline Times and Byline Supplement. And I have met so many of you through our mutual support of Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s work at Lucid.
It’s my great honor to share with you that Ruth will be joining Byline Supplement’s news meeting on Nov. 8, at noon ET. If you already support Byline Supplement, you will have received your invited today. If you would like to attend, please consider subscribing to Byline Supplement, and supporting a small global team of investigative reporters.
Here is an excerpt from my Byline Supplement interview with her:
In weekly meetings with New York University Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat for members of her Lucid substack, I asked her what lessons from her book Strongmen — Mussolini to the Present does she consider most critical to the current temperature of the world.
Without blinking, she said: “Never appease autocrats, shut them down.”
At that moment, an embarrassing and dangerous spectacle was playing out in the US Congress. Those of us who report on these times are aware there are pro-Kremlin, MAGA Republicans engaging in a massive criminal cover up for their roles in the January 6 Insurrection.
What appears to be chaos and incompetence — a messy affair to elect a Speaker of the House — is actually an obfuscation of sedition and an intentional weakening of America — a pleasing of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
In our disarray, the centre cannot hold.
Ben-Ghiat said we can never appease autocrats because it sends the wrong signal to other nefarious world leaders…
I hope you can join us at the news meeting on Wednesday!
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with your generous coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. Some of you prefer making subsidizing donations via venmo, and it’s always greatly appreciated.
Members access all content and receive invites to our weekly Happy Hour, and our Speakeasy guest events, and Founding Members receive a special monthly guest invite.
Founding Members will be invited to our monthly Founder’s Day events — please upgrade to Founding Member if you would like to join us for these special intimate occasions to meet global experts. Our next Founder’s Day on Nov. 5, featuring war correspondent Paul Conroy.
All paid members receive invites to our ‘Speakeasy’ zoom salons, and weekly wellness checkins, Bette’s Happy Hour.
Also, a private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous@gmail.com. 🥹
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
We just have to see that the battle for democracy is broader. It's deeper.—David Pepper
I need people to see they're on the frontline. Wherever you live, if you’re doing this work, you are the frontline.—David Pepper
The message should be a fair deal… fairness everywhere.—Martin Sheil
💘
“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.
“May the viral hope for truth and humanity wash away the chaos of these years.”-S.C., Bette community member
“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, who can hear the invitation of Truth…”-words from a Bette Dangerous community member
“Nothing but blue skies from now on…”-Irving Berlin
💘🤘🏼
