logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
45m 30s

Meet the Man Driving the Right’s Culture...

THE INTERCEPT
About this episode

The Republican Party’s full embrace of the culture war as a political tactic — from drag queen story hour to critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives — has been chiefly guided by activist and polemicist Christopher Rufo, author of the new book “America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything.” But is the effort fundamentally nihilistic? And is it overly obsessed with sex while claiming to uncover pedophiles everywhere in our midst? This week on Deconstructed, Rufo joins Ryan Grim to defend his approach and his philosophy.


If you’d like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give, where your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.


And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. And please go and leave us a rating or a review — it helps people find the show. If you want to give us additional feedback, email us at Podcasts@theintercept.com.


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

Up next
Feb 2025
Intercepted: Trump and the Future of the Ukraine-Russia War
The war in Ukraine was supposed to be a short conflict. But it has been three years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, killing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying huge portions of the country. Now, the Trump administration has signaled that it wants to end the war i ... Show More
46m 45s
Feb 2025
Intercepted: The Meaning of the Genocide in Gaza
During a recent press briefing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump floated an idea for the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip, while expelling the surviving Palestinian population from the territory.While outlandish, Trump’s statement ... Show More
44m 52s
Dec 2024
Intercepted: The Civil and Proxy War Reignites in Syria
Joe Biden has just weeks left in his presidency. Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza is continuing at full force. In Lebanon, the so-called ceasefire was one-sided by U.S. design, meant to require only Hezbollah to cease its fire. A U.N. peacekeeping force official told CNN Tuesd ... Show More
1h 7m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
Fighting For Truth In The Age Of Leftism | Chris Rufo
Christopher Rufo is a writer, filmmaker, and Senior Fellow and Director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory at the Manhattan Institute. His writings explore many issues such as gender ideology, identity politics, addiction, crime, and the decline of American cities. In this ... Show More
59m 58s
Sep 2025
Trump's chief culture warrior
Christopher Rufo is leading a ruthless — and successful — counterrevolution against American elite culture. What does the country look like if he wins? This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and A ... Show More
25m 54s
Oct 2021
Episode 33: The FBI v Parents: Chris Rufo on the Fight Against Critical Race Theory
<p>Critical race theory is now center stage in the culture war between left and right. It’s infecting the government, the workplace, our schools. And now the FBI is mobilizing to target parents who oppose critical race theory being taught in their children’s classrooms. This is a ... Show More
58m 1s
Oct 2022
Culture Wars, Fake Populism & the Reactionary Rabbit Hole, w/ Chapo’s Matt Christman
<p><b>With the Democratic Party hopelessly incapable of doing anything to address our many crises, the far-right has managed to brand itself as subversive using oligarch funding for anti-woke and pseudo-populist campaigns. The result is to send more and more lost and alienated pe ... Show More
1h 20m
Apr 2025
The Conservative Activist Pushing Trump to Attack U.S. Colleges
<p>This week, we interviewed two people with leading roles in the rapidly escalating conflict between the Trump administration and American higher education.</p><p>Today, we speak with Christopher Rufo, who led the conservative critique of, and assault on, critical race theory an ... Show More
43m 49s
Feb 2021
Staving Off the Death of the Republican Party with Dinesh D' Souza
Salem Radio Network's newest podcast host, and longtime friend of the show Dinesh D' Souza joins Charlie to unpack what the future of the Republican Party may look like. What is "populism?" Should the GOP fight dirty—much like the Democrats do, or should we play within the rules? ... Show More
41m 3s
Feb 2023
335. Imposing Limits on the Woke? | Christopher Rufo
In this episode, Dr Jordan B Peterson and Christopher Rufo discuss the creative left, the world of documentary filmmaking, how ideology has seeped in and taken hold of academia, and how Rufo among others are taking an active role in fighting back through legislature.    Christoph ... Show More
1h 40m
Nov 2021
80: The American Experiment Hangs by a Thread
Host Reed Galen is joined by Jeff Timmer (Lincoln Project Senior Advisor) and David Daley (Author of Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy and Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy) to discuss all things redistricting, ... Show More
32m 57s