Dr. Roy Casagranda Podcast
The Dr. Roy Casagranda Podcast is dedicated to unerasing the erased peoples of the world. Too often, history is written by the powerful, leaving entire communities, cultures, and truths out of the dominant narrative. This show seeks to tell those stories.
Through these conversations, Dr. Casagranda digs for the truth, weeds out misinformation, and challenges conventional wisdom. The conversations span politics, world history, philosophy, and culture, always with an eye toward justice and a deeper understanding of where we've been, where we are, and where we are heading.
This is the official podcast of Dr. Roy Casagranda and Sekhmet Liminal Productions, FZCO.
Dr. Roy Casagranda Podcast
Modern Ideologies
Ideologies are powerful tools, but also deeply flawed. Dr. Roy explains how the human brain processes fear and emotion, why leaders exploit hatred and fear to gain power, and more. From Napoleon’s use of nationalism, to socialism’s fight against capitalist exploitation, to the rise of liberalism and its sub-ideologies, Dr. Roy traces the evolution of modern politics. He also covers communism’s revolutionary promises, Mussolini’s fascism, and religious fundamentalism, while urging us to replace tolerance with a genuine celebration of others’ existence.
Takeaways:
- How our brains filter information, and why fear and hatred mobilize voters better than reason.
- The difference between factions and ideologies in monarchies versus electoral republics.
- Nationalism: from Napoleon’s mobilization of the French Revolution to Nazi Germany.
- Socialism: born as a pushback against capitalism’s harshness in 19th-century factories.
- Liberalism: the ideology created to defend capitalism, with its four sub-branches (conservatism, populism, libertarianism, and liberalism).
- Communism: a more radical socialist path advocating violent revolution for rapid change.
- Fascism: Mussolini’s reaction to modernity and his dream of reviving the Roman Empire.
- Fundamentalism: the religious equivalent of nationalism, rooted in superiority and intolerance.
- Why ideology today is breaking down, with politics increasingly dominated by emotional manipulation rather than coherent ideas.
Resources & References:
- Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (2002 Nobel Prize in Economics)
- Richard Thaler, Nudge (2017 Nobel Prize in Economics)
- The French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte
- The 1848 Revolutions in Europe (nationalist and socialist uprisings)
- U.S. Great Depression: Hoover vs. Roosevelt (and the New Deal as a “vaccine” against socialism)
- Federalist Paper No. 10 (James Madison on factions)
- Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)
- Benito Mussolini and the creation of fascism after WWI
- Spanish Flu pandemic (1918-1920)
Beyond the podcast:
- Want to watch this lecture? Check out the full video.
- Want to support the show? Buy Dr. Roy a coffee!
This lecture was originally recorded at the Museum of the Future for the series Lessons from the Past (2025).
