logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
35m 17s

White Squares Off Against the KKK

SHARON MCMAHON
About this episode

In its fight for a dry, anti-alcohol nation, the Anti-Saloon League recruited the Ku Klux Klan to join its mission to make Prohibition the law of the land. Klan members themselves weren’t specifically pro-Temperance, but they were happy to use dry laws as a way to target and perpetrate violence against Black Americans, immigrants, Jews, and Catholics. But the power of the Klan was beginning to fade…



Hosted by: Sharon McMahon

Executive Producer: Heather Jackson

Audio Producer: Jenny Snyder

Written and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Jul 7
Poverty In America with Matthew Desmond
We all know that poverty is an existing problem in the United States, but what does that really mean in a country with so much wealth? Sharon is joined by Matthew Desmond, Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab. Together, they ... Show More
53m 11s
Jun 30
Modern Democracy with Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky
American democracy is going through a rough patch, and the Constitution, for all its brilliance, has some flaws that limit the power of majorities. So why haven’t we made any real reforms in over 50 years? And what are other democracies doing to fight authoritarianism? Sharon sit ... Show More
53m 13s
Jun 23
The Hate Next Door with Matson and Tawni Browning
Ever wonder how a white supremacist becomes an extremist? Sharon has a conversation with Matson and Tawni Browning about their book, The Hate Next Door. Matt gets candid about his time working undercover in white supremacist groups and what it was like to balance his dueling real ... Show More
50m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2024
The Rise & Fall of the Ku Klux Klan
A far-right hate group known the world over, the Ku Klux Klan emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War. So why did it emerge? Where did it get its name from? And how has its size, focus and influence changed in the years since? To demystify this terrorist organisation, Don spoke ... Show More
30m 16s
Sep 2022
Superman Defeats a Klan Plot Pt. 2
Over 16 episodes, listeners tuned in to hear Superman and his allies battle against the Clan of the Fiery Cross — a thinly veiled reference to the KKK. To strike a blow against the real Klan, producers of the show incorporated intel provided by a man on the inside: Stetson Kenned ... Show More
44m 13s
Jun 2024
The Rise and Fall of the Ku Klux Klan
With a sinister hierarchy of "grand wizards" and "dragons," hooded Klansmen concealed their identities as they unleashed a reign of terror on Black Americans and other minorities across America for almost a century. Dan is joined by Professor Kristofer Allerfeldt from the Univers ... Show More
37m 59s
Aug 2021
Daryl Davis: Reaching out to the KKK
Stephen Sackur speaks to Daryl Davis, a black musician who has spent four decades trying to talk to America’s most diehard racists, the Ku Klux Klan. He claims to have forged friendships with white supremacists and opened their minds, but is reaching out to the KKK a distraction ... Show More
23m 36s
May 2021
The Chicks vs. The Iraq War
Mike tells Sarah about an impending conflict, a dissident singer and America's first internet-enabled cancellation. Digressions include "Freedom Fries" and 1990s record company shenanigans. The co-hosts harmonize for the first time; Mike struggles not to call the Chicks by t ... Show More
1h 30m
Oct 2023
The Origins of the KKK and its First Death in the 1870s
The Ku Klux Klan was arguably America’s first organized terrorist movement. It was a paramilitary unit that arose in the South during the early years of Reconstruction. At its peak in the early 1870s, the Klan boasted many tens of thousands of members, no small number of them lan ... Show More
39m 10s
Dec 2021
White Traitor | ANC
To her colleagues, South African journalist Sue Dobson appeared to be a pro-Apartheid conservative. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, she was a trained paramilitary and secret agent, infiltrating the government's propaganda wing on behalf of the African Nat ... Show More
54m 22s
Jan 2022
The Face of Anti-Fascism
It’s been one year since a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. They were attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election win by preventing theCongressional certification of his victory. As the attack on the Capitol unfolded, people on the internet im ... Show More
29m 18s