Oct 24, 2026 · 4h 39m
Far-right migration politics meets a widening authoritarian drift
It Could Happen Here Weekly 255
The compilation connects attacks on elections, academic freedom, migration, science, and civil liberties to a broader struggle over democratic institutions.
- 1The Save Europe Act packages ethnonationalist “remigration” as policy while its organizers and promoters push racist ideas toward mainstream debate.
- 2Voting restrictions, militarized immigration enforcement, surveillance, and disinformation show how authoritarian politics can operate through ordinary state systems.
- 3The episode links global unrest and technological dependence to domestic political power, from Alberta separatism to Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink.
Don't miss
The hosts dismantle the claim that “remigration” could be voluntary, arguing that ethnically defined states require coercive displacement.
The brief
The compilation opens with attacks on academic freedom and higher education, then turns to voting restrictions, citizenship lists, mail-ballot rules, and election conspiracy theories.
Its central investigation examines the Save Europe Act, whose language about migration and demographic continuity is presented as a racial project rooted in Great Replacement ideology.
Martin Sellner and Eva Vlaardingerbroek emerge as key organizers, while the episode traces how far-right networks use petitions, social media, and public controversy to normalize “remigration.”
The hosts argue that an ethnically defined state cannot be created peacefully: incentives, returns, and deportations still require coercion and uproot real families and communities.
The closing newscast broadens the frame to militarized immigration enforcement, surveillance, Alberta separatism, Ukraine’s dependence on Starlink, and cuts to women’s health research.
Books & mentions
Some links are affiliate links — PodLume may earn a commission if you buy.
1984
A relevant companion for the episode’s discussion of surveillance, authoritarianism, and control over public reality.
Animal Farm
A concise literary companion to the episode’s focus on propaganda, political betrayal, and the normalization of hierarchy.
Empire of Borders
It extends the episode’s examination of how migration control and border power operate historically and politically.
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