Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor use a stark phrase for the period they believe we are living through: “end-times fascism.” In an extended interview on Radical Thinking, they discuss what that idea means and why the present moment demands a different way of understanding history.
The conversation does not treat today’s troubles as isolated emergencies. Klein and Taylor argue that the world is not simply lurching from one crisis to the next. They describe a new and dangerous moment in history, one that connects the crises into a wider pattern.
A question about the present moment
The central question is direct: “Are we really living through ‘end-times fascism’?” Klein and Taylor ask it together, turning the phrase into the starting point for a longer discussion rather than a final answer.
That question gives the interview its focus. Instead of examining each crisis as a separate event, the conversation considers what it means to live through a period that Klein and Taylor see as different from the past. Their argument is that the current moment should not be understood as a simple sequence of disruptions, each replacing the one before it.
The phrase “end-times fascism” carries two ideas at once. It points to the danger Klein and Taylor see in the present, while also suggesting that the crises around us form part of a larger historical shift. Their discussion asks listeners to consider whether the world has entered a new period, rather than remaining trapped in a familiar cycle of crisis and response.
Why the interview matters
Klein and Taylor discuss various global crises through this wider frame. The conversation links those crises to their claim that history has reached a dangerous turning point. They are not describing the present as ordinary instability; they argue that something new is taking shape.
That distinction matters because it changes the question being asked. If societies are only moving from one crisis to another, each emergency can be treated as a separate problem. If the crises belong to a new historical moment, the task becomes understanding the pattern that connects them.
The interview stays with that challenge. Klein and Taylor’s view is that the current period calls for more than a short-term reaction to each event. It calls for a clear account of the kind of history people are living through and the dangers that history may hold.
The discussion also shows why language matters when people try to describe political danger. “End-times fascism” is not presented as a neutral label. It is a forceful description of the moment Klein and Taylor believe has arrived, and the question at its center invites listeners to test that description against the world around them.
A new series from The Guardian
The interview appears in Radical Thinking, a new series from The Guardian. Aditya Chakrabortty is the presenter, with Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor as guests.
The format gives the discussion room to develop its central idea. Rather than offering a brief exchange, the extended interview follows the meaning of “end-times fascism” across a broader conversation about global crises and historical change.
For listeners, the value of the episode lies in the argument it puts forward: this is not only a story of repeated emergencies. Klein and Taylor think the world has entered a new and dangerous moment, and they use the interview to explain why that claim deserves attention.
Radical Thinking therefore begins with a question that is difficult to ignore. Are the crises of the present separate shocks, or are they signs of a deeper transformation? Klein and Taylor argue for the second view, describing the period as “end-times fascism” and asking what that means for anyone trying to understand the history unfolding around them.
The interview is part of the new series from The Guardian and is presented by Aditya Chakrabortty. It brings together Klein and Taylor for an extended discussion of the idea that the present is more than another turn in a familiar cycle.
The episode is dated Sun 11 Oct 2026.
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