A Conspiracy So Dense: Richard Hofstadter’s “Paranoid Style”
It’s critical to revisit the cultural moment that gave rise to the elite-baiting, conspiracy-mongering turn of the modern right. Introduction At the outset of the Trump era, historian Leo Ribuffo declared that “Richard Hofstadter’s famous catchphrase, the ‘paranoid style in American politics,’ should be buried with a stake in its heart.” It’s safe to say[…]