The Throughline Between Authoritarian Leaders the World Over? Patriarchy.
I talk with the legendary Jessica Yellen about how, from Iran to Hungary to Washington, tyrants always target women.
I assume you are all already reading, watching, and listening to Jessica Yellin, because she is amazing, but if for some reason you’re behind the curve, you can subscribe to her substack News Not Noise here. I joined Jessica in conversation about the relationship between authoritarianism and anti-feminism, why ICE officers and US conservatives seemed so particularly enraged at the women protesting mass deportations, and how misogyny has animated regimes from Budapest to Tehran to today’s GOP.
We recorded this before the Iran war, but I think it’s more relevant than ever. I hope you’ll give it a watch:
(You can also find it on YouTube here).
I cannot overstate how important it is to understand that what’s happening in the US right now under Trump is awful but not unique. The glorification of male violence, the overt hostility toward women, the ongoing efforts to strip us of our most fundamental rights — these are features of authoritarian governments the world over. They are the promises that help tyrants rise and the ideologies that keep them in power.
They also do not have to be permanent. Feminists may be on our collective back foot at the moment, but this pattern of progress and backlash is also a feature of movements that existed long before any of us were born and will persevere long after we’re gone.
Also, please excuse my bad camera angle, for reasons of noise and WiFi I relocated to a place that was not my office and clearly I needed to stack up some books or something…
xx Jill
Because they’re weak men, who can’t handle the truth, and that is why to be blunt. I however, argue it’s not patriarchal or matriarchal society that is the answer, but in between the two (I don’t think just handing men power is a good idea either fwiw…but also not women, alone without gauging the individual carefully first to see what kind of person they may be: white or nonwhite too, cis or trans or homosexual btw, as I think we have evil people in power ranging from Trump to Vance to Meloni to Takaichi to MBS to Bukele to Kim Jong Un, across the globe, due to that line of thinking forcing people at polar reverse extremes imo) is what I believe…more lateral thinking, is my two cents.
If by matriarchal society, you mean not discriminating against all men either or the extreme of domination of women like patriarchy, in the motherly sense, then sure otoh I could buy that (anything is better than this system to me, regardless, just about anything as I view this as an issue that transcends partisan lines…this whole thing collapsing is to me a good thing, frankly, in the long term because it is absolutely terrifying imo).
However, what really has me on edge and nervous is Trump has come close to deploying nukes twice now in the last two weeks…April 7th, and now, April 18th, there is a clear pattern Jill that Trump is prepared to go there to win the war he’s lost in Iran and start WW3 if they do not stop him in that 119th Congress (I view it as the most morally bankrupt, ethically corrupted, body elected in the US since the 1850s and even worse still…it’s not just Republicans, no, to be blunt).
For if he goes where people think he wouldn’t go, all bets are off and I couldn’t tell you what’s next other than World War 3 and thermonuclear Armageddon. If not him, too, another factor is what if Netanyahu does it…to be blunt.
Bear in mind, he’s at his new Term 2 all time low today of 40.5% approval only…and with Trump in the gutter his party still managed to yesterday against all the odds get literally 48% of the vote on “Nay” on redistricting only losing by 4% in a state like Virginia…that’s lower than Harris’ margin of victory in Virginia in 2024 which was a Red year in a Blue one in 2026…and way below 2025’s for Spanberger, too, that year is immaterial because partisan Blue states going Blue is not a shocker much less with Trump in office being an additional toxicity for Reps…none.
I really think, and you can laugh but, the polls have it absolutely right on the climate being Redder than 2018 and 2020 but Bluer than 2022 or 2024 in 2026 nationally.
The Dem lead range is back down to just 4 on DDHQ (bearish), but up to about 5.9 on RCP (bullish)…Silver is probably right on this it’s 5.7 (and he’s dead wrong on Trump’s approval rating, he’s bearish vs the others), but as I’ve cautioned multiple times, Dems’ favorability with Trump actually also hit a new low as a party today with Trump at -20.8 net approval to his -16 now…and his party is at -14.7…I’m pretty sure that the country being pissed with everyone like me is in this state of mind, at the moment.
(The range of Dem lead in 2020 was 5.9 at its floor to 8.6 at its ceiling, in 2018 it was 7.0 at its floor to 10.1 at its ceiling across both cycles…in 2026, it is as low as 3.2 at its floor to only as high as 6 at its ceiling this time…think it over carefully, for Dems…so it all depends on Trump, because if he gets out of that hole he’s in by November then a great deal changes…that’s my warning, don’t assume anti Trump or anti Reps is translating into pro Dems or pro Dem pols either for everyone this go round)