Anne Nelson joined us for a timely and wide-ranging conversation that drew on her decades of experience at the intersection of journalism, international affairs, and human rights. A veteran reporter who covered conflicts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Philippines—earning the Livingston Award for international reporting—Nelson has also served as director of the Committee to Protect Journalists and led the international program at Columbia’s School of Journalism, where she pioneered the first curriculum in human rights reporting.
She also discussed her more recent work, Shadow Network, which traces the rise of a powerful, behind-the-scenes coalition reshaping American politics through coordinated media, legal, and religious influence. In Bad Faith, Nelson extends this analysis to examine how Christian nationalism has been mobilized as a political force, often cloaked in moral language while advancing anti-democratic aims. Together, these works helped frame a deeper conversation about how organized networks, messaging, and belief systems can be leveraged to undermine democratic institutions—and why vigilance, transparency, and civic engagement remain essential.
Drawing from her acclaimed book Red Orchestra, which examines propaganda and resistance media in Nazi Germany, Nelson explored how information ecosystems are shaped—and manipulated—during moments of crisis. Her insights offered both historical grounding and urgent relevance, challenging us to think more critically about media power, responsibility, and the role of courageous reporting in defending democratic values today.
Join us as we discuss what we learned from our conversation with Anne in our upcoming DEEscussions on Spoutible, January 2, 2025. We’ll share the Q&A portion of our conversation with her.
Understanding how we got here is essential to deciding where we go next.
Get your copy of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right and remember to go back and take a few minutes to leave a review! I’ve learned so much from this book, I have it on audible and in paperbook. It’s essential reading to understanding this moment we’re in and how we got here.
The work of civic engagement is not just speaking out, but seeing clearly
“Religious language is used to sanctify political goals that are fundamentally about control.”
— Anne Nelson
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