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Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh

Radio and the Rise of Conservatism

Right-wing radio stations are tied to an increase in conservatism among listeners.
William F. Buckley Jr.

The Evolution of Conservative Journalism

From Bill Buckley to our 24/7 media circus.
Releases of the Republican National Committee’s Press Relations Department, 1939

Possibilities for Propaganda

The founding and funding of conservative media on college campuses in the 1960s.
Picture of Tucker Carlson on Fox News.

3 Tropes of White Victimhood

Leading conservative pundits today are pounding themes that were popular among opponents of Reconstruction.
illustration of a traditional housewife in the kitchen, baking for her husband

No, Rush Limbaugh Did Not Hijack Your Parents’ Christianity

White evangelicals have long been attracted to the conservative media's militant politics and regressive gender roles.
Collage of a radio and Rush Limbaugh's mouth.

How Rush Limbaugh Broke the Old Media — and Built the New One

Whether you like Rachel Maddow, Stephen Colbert, Joe Rogan, or Sean Hannity, you're engaging the media world created by the late radio host.
Rush Limbaugh at a Trump rally

From Limbaugh to Trump: A Historian of the Right Wing Explains Rush’s Real Legacy

In so many ways, Limbaugh helped sow the seeds of the pathologies we're now living through.
A shot from behind of Rush Limbaugh giving a speech at a Make America Great Again rally.

The Right’s Reign on the Air Waves

How talk radio established the power of the modern Republican Party.
Rush Limbaugh.

From Entertainment to Outrage: On the Rise of Rush Limbaugh and Conservative Talk Radio

How the alienated margins arrived at the center of American politics.

The Difference Between Nixon and Trump is Fox News

Fox News shields President Trump, but his love for their conspiracies might bring him down.
Rush Limbaugh sits next to Newt Gingrich during NBC's "Meet the Press" taping on Sunday Nov. 12, 1995.

They Just Wanted to Entertain

AM stations mainly wanted to keep listeners engaged—but ended up remaking the Republican Party.
Donald Trump, holding microphones, surrounded by shock jocks

The Trigger Presidency

How shock jock comedy gave way to Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
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Thank Sean Hannity for the Trump Presidency

The conservative media made this president, and the conservative media will keep him in office.
Barry Goldwater giving a speech at the Republican National Convention.
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The Republican National Convention That Shocked the Country

The pulsating anger in San Francisco 60 years ago became the party's animating spirit.
An image of the "Pine Tree Flag," a revolutionary era flag, waving over a crowd. On the flag is written "An Appeal to Heaven."

Revival and Revolution

A controversial historical claim grounds MAGA evangelicalism's embrace of the "Appeal to Heaven" flag.
William F. Buckley Jr. at a press conference.

An Implausible Mr. Buckley

A new PBS documentary whitewashes the conservative founder of National Review.
Aftermath of Oklahoma City bombing.

American Carnage

A new book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing traces the path from Ronald Reagan’s antigovernment ideology to today’s radicalized right.
Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole standing alongside an elephant on Capitol Hill, 1995.

Myths of Doom

Can the origins of today’s right be traced to the 1990s?
President Clinton pursing his lips, while Newt Gingrich looks at him from behind.
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Midterm Elections: How 1994 Midterms Set Off an Era of Divisive Politics

Economic and social issues with roots in the 1994 midterms are still being debated today.
Minnie Mouse waves to visitors at the Hong Kong Disneyland
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The Right Worries Minnie Mouse’s Pantsuit Will Destroy Our Social Fabric. It Won’t.

Of mice and men.
Anti-vaxxer holding a sign that says save our children

School Board Meetings Used to be Boring. Why Have They Become War Zones?

Conservatives can’t turn back the clock. But they can disrupt local meetings.
Newt Gingrich and applauding Republicans

My Front Row Seat to the Radicalization of the Republican Party

As a political reporter, I've seen four Republican revolutions — Reagan’s, Gingrich’s, the Tea Party’s and Trump’s — each of which took the party farther right.
Graphic of white man with image of Derrick Bell superimposed

The GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Obsession

How conservative politicians and pundits became fixated on an academic approach.
Mitch McConnell wearing a mask
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McConnell’s Task: Purging the Crackpots and Bigots

The impeachment exposed the need for Republican leaders to banish the extremists and bigots from their movement.
Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater at the 1964 Republican National Convention

How the GOP Surrendered to Extremism

Sixty years ago, many GOP leaders resisted radicals in their ranks. Now they’re not even trying.
Ronald Reagan

The Fairness Doctrine Sounds A Lot Better Than It Actually Was

A return to the fairness doctrine wouldn't curb the damage caused by the far-right media ecosystem fueling much of America's conspiracy-driven politics.
William F. Buckley, Jr. being interviewed on What’s Happening Mr. Silver.
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On the Right: NET and Modern Conservatism

In the 1960s, the precursor to PBS explored the burgeoning conservative movement, providing a remarkable window into the history of conservatism.

Conservatives Say We've Abandoned Reason and Civility. The Old South Said That, Too

The ‘reasonable’ right’s persecution rhetoric echoes the Confederacy’s defense of slavery.

Behind Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Demand: A Long History of Rejecting ‘Different’ Americans

From Germans and Irish to blacks and Jews, new Americans often have been told to “go home.”

It's Time to Stop Talking About a 'National Divorce'

The right's eagerness for a "peaceful separation" of the nation echoes pieces of race war fiction.

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