GOSPEL
of FEAR
COMING FALL 2026
GOSPEL OF FEAR uncovers how fear, exclusion, and identity have been weaponized throughout U.S. history.
Long before the Red Scare and McCarthyism, the groundwork was laid in the 1930s. Amid economic collapse and social upheaval, Texas Congressman Martin Dies rose to prominence by casting progressive reforms as subversive threats. As chair of the first House Un-American Activities Committee, he mastered the use of media spectacle, disinformation, and political theater, branding dissent as disloyalty and codifying a playbook of homegrown authoritarianism.
Those tactics didn’t vanish. They evolved.
From book bans to truth-on-trial politics, from attacks on educators to the discrediting of journalists, GOSPEL OF FEAR traces a recurring pattern in American life: the struggle over who controls the narrative and which truths are allowed to stand. What began as a domestic crusade against dissent and identity has, over time, helped fuel broader authoritarian currents – undermining democratic norms and reshaping civic discourse both at home and abroad.
More than a historical investigation, GOSPEL OF FEAR offers a framework for decoding the DNA of our present moment. By unpacking past efforts to police ideas and silence debate, the podcast shows how these same tactics remain active forces in today’s politics. In a time defined by division and disinformation, historical awareness isn’t just context – it’s clarity.
Produced by Spark Media with support from The Pulitzer Center.
HOSTED by CHRIS HALEY
​Chris is the Director of Research and the Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland at the Maryland State Archives, and a founding member of the Maryland Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first state commission of its kind in the U.S. A historian, filmmaker and poet, Haley co-directed the Emmy-winning documentary, Unmarked, which investigates the preservation of historic African American cemeteries. His work bridging genealogical research and social justice has earned him the Society of American Archivists Diversity Award, the AASLH Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence, and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom’s Robert G. Stanton Award. He serves on the boards of the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, the Annapolis Film Festival, Compass Rose Theatre, and Annapolis Pride, and has authored seven collections of poetry. You can learn more about Chris at www.chrishaleyspeaks.com. ​
PODCAST GUESTS
Douglas Brinkley
Presidential historian, author, and the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University.
Jack Dies
Son of Congressman Martin Dies Jr.
Susan Rubenstein DeMasi
Author of Henry Alsberg: The Driving Force of the New Deal Federal Writers' Project.
Clay Risen
New York Times journalist and author of Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America.
James Shapiro
Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and author of The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy and the Making of a Culture War.
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