M. Gessen in Conversation with Ezra Klein for the New York Times

M. Gessen, distinguished visiting writer at Bard College and New York Times Opinion columnist, appeared on the Ezra Klein Show podcast to speak about the Trump administration’s operation in Venezuela, the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, and the broader messages that these displays of force are meant to send. Gessen also discussed how totalitarian leaders will wage war internally by designating an enemy within the country, and expanding who is included in that designation in order to escalate, as well as the swiftness with which this is now unfolding in the US. “It’s comparable to the speed at which countries that experienced an actual violent revolution have transformed that I have studied but not lived through,” Gessen told Klein. “We can use some of the tools from, particularly from the electoral autocracies in Eastern Europe to understand some of what’s happened here. But I don’t have any tools for understanding the rate at which this country is being transformed.”

Post Date: 01-21-2026