White Identity Is Galvanizing the Right

About this episode

The episode discusses the obsession with anti-white discrimination among the American right, featuring guest Jeremy Carl.

The idea that white people — and white men in particular — face discrimination has become something of an obsession on the American right. It’s a view that my guest this week shares. Jeremy Carl was nominated to a State Department post by the Trump administration, which sparked a lot of controversy. Carl is the author of “The Unprotected Class,” in which he makes the case that white Americans are in danger of becoming “second-class citizens.” I wanted to know what he thinks constitutes anti-white discrimination and whether focusing on it inevitably leads to white nationalism. After we taped this interview, Carl withdrew his nomination, acknowledging that he lacked enough support to be confirmed.

People in this episode

Host: Ross Douthat

Guest: Jeremy Carl

Topics covered

• white identity
• discrimination
• American right
• white nationalism
• political controversy

Keywords

• white identity
• discrimination
• white nationalism
• Jeremy Carl
• Trump administration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trump administration

Books & works: The Unprotected Class

More episodes of Interesting Times

• Trump Is Getting Even Richer. Is That a Crime? · September 10, 2026 · 43 min
• Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein on the Art of Persuasion · August 27, 2026 · 1h 14m
• Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint for a 150-Year Life: Is It Worth It? · August 13, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Scott Galloway: America Abandoned Its ‘Unremarkable’ Young Men · August 6, 2026 · 43 min
• How Older Americans Hoard the Future · July 30, 2026 · 53 min
• Iran, China, Canada? A Defense of Trump’s Grand Strategy · July 23, 2026 · 1h 3m