Furious Minds

The story of the radical conservative intellectual movement shaping Donald Trump's agendaand how it threatens American freedoms, values, and democracyDonald Trump is not a big thinker, but his 2016 presidential victory presented a grand opportunity for people who are, and it set off a radicalization and reconfiguration of the American conservative intellectual world. In Furious Minds, Laura Field, who spent close to a decade in conservative academic circles, chronicles the rise of the New Rightthe network of academics, public intellectuals, and influencers who provide ideological fuel to Trumpism. This movement includes figures such as Patrick Deneen, Christopher Rufo, Peter Thiel, and JD Vance. Their agenda is built to last, and it has dire long-term implications for liberal democracy.The New Right has precedents in American history, but it is distinct for its youthfulness, misogyny, and extraordinary successesmost notably the elevation of Vance to the vice presidency. The movementwhich draws together associates of the right-wing Claremont Institute, National Conservatives, Postliberals, and the Hard Rightadvocates nationalist economics, tight borders, isolationism, and reactionary social values. It helped to strategize January 6th and created Project 2025. But above all, the New Right is engaged in a vast culture war against modern liberal pluralism. It is determined to harness state power and use it in new, illiberal ways, from college campuses to the international sceneall driven by the fantasy of restoring a pure America.Incisive and urgent, Furious Minds tells the story of the thinkers of the New Rightand their powerful assault on American freedoms, values, and ideals.