Having defied long-held assumptions about the nature of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, the Trump era has undoubtedly given birth to renewed discussions about the character of the American right in the political mainstream. Much of the ensuing discourse has, however, proven frustratingly inadequate and incomplete: treating Trumpism as an aberration from earlier forms of conservatism or focusing on personality to the exclusion of the conservative project as a whole. Some liberals, for their part, now even express nostalgia for earlier incarnations of the Republican Party and hope to see some version of it restored.

In response, some on the Left may be tempted to reject critical engagement with the conservative movement out of hand. But understanding its history and ideas remains a crucial task — particularly in the Trump era — and may even yield valuable insights for socialists looking to roll back its political hegemony for good.

Know Your Enemy, a new podcast hosted by Dissent, grapples with conservatism from the left. Its hosts — Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell — joined Jacobin for a wide-ranging conversation on the history and ideology of the American right.