“Fascism is the term that is everywhere and nowhere in contemporary political discussions. We can talk about right-wing populism — but the type of politics they share with classic fascism is what I call red pill politics.” — David Ost
Please don’t use the F-word. At least to describe the politics of Trump, Orbán, Meloni, Netanyahu, Modi, Farage et al. Rather than fascism, the best way to demystify far-right populism is via the movie The Matrix through its idea of “red pill” politics.
David Ost’s new book, Red Pill Politics: Demystifying Today’s Far Right, argues that to grasp the threat we need to stop stepping out of the Third Reich and into The Matrix. The red pill, borrowed from the 1999 dystopian classic, has been appropriated by the far right as a metaphor for seeing through the liberal hegemony they claim distorts reality. Popping a red pill himself, Ost argues that while today’s far right shares the essential DNA of classical fascism, it nonetheless operates in a world in which outright dictatorship isn’t viable. Mussolini, Ost warns, didn’t become totalitarian until four years after taking power. Fascism, then, is a process. It takes time. Even dystopias require patience.
The book is also a manifesto for left counter-politics. Yes, Law and Justice in Poland and Orbán in Hungary have both been voted out, Ost acknowledges. But in Poland, he warns, the Tusk government won power in 2023 and then governed timidly, afraid of alienating the center, failing its own base on abortion and LGBT rights, and then losing the presidential election. So the lesson from Eastern Europe is that economic left populism, not liberal caution, is the best antidote to red pill politics. Mamdani not Starmer. Otherwise the F-word will once again become a reality.
Five Takeaways
• The F-Word Has Become Meaningless. Every application of “fascism” is met with: “Are we killing you?” The f-word sets the bar at Nazi-level violence and lets the far right off the hook. The actual threat — delegitimisation of institutions, opponents recast as traitors — is already underway.
• Opponents vs Traitors. In a democracy, you have opponents. In far-right politics, you have traitors — people who do not belong, who are working against the real people. This redefinition of legitimate opposition as treachery is Ost’s clearest marker of the transition to something dangerous.
• Mussolini’s Four Years. Mussolini had elections for four years before turning to outright dictatorship. He rigged the game, institutionalised his authority, then closed the door. The pattern of winning through elections and then making removal through elections impossible is not unique to Italy.
• The Tusk Warning. Poland’s center-left coalition won in 2023 and governed timidly. Afraid to deliver on abortion and LGBT rights. Then lost the presidential election. Ost’s verdict: a Biden mistake. When the left wins power, it must be consequentially left populist — not just different in tone, but materially different in what it does.
• Mamdani as Exhibit A. Mamdani campaigned to speak to Trump voters while representing minorities. A universalist left that is tough on economic issues. For Ost, this is the model: economic populism that actually stands for something.
About the Guest
David Ost is an emeritus professor of politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the author of Red Pill Politics (The New Press, May 19, 2026) and The Defeat of Solidarity.
References
Red Pill Politics by David Ost (The New Press, May 19, 2026): thenewpress.org/books/red-pill-politics
Jonathan Rauch, “Yes, It’s Fascism,” The Atlantic
Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:31 Introduction: the f-word and Red Pill Politics
00:01:49 What’s wrong with the f-word?
00:05:15 The far right defined
00:06:13 Orbán’s defeat
00:09:04 Opponents vs traitors
00:11:23 The red pill from The Matrix
00:22:00 Mussolini’s four years
00:32:00 Mamdani as exhibit A
00:40:58 What Eastern Europe teaches America
00:44:27 The Biden mistake
00:45:33 Red Pill Politics as a left manifesto