Season 2
Episode 12: Genetics & the American Far Right
Alexandra Minna Stern, PhD
Episode Summary
Alexandra Minna Stern, PhD, author of Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate talks about the emerging political threat of 21st century eugenics ideology and policies and how the American far right views genetics, genetic technologies, eugenics, and science.
KEY TOPICS
How does the American far right view genetics and genetic technologies?
What is the history of the American cultural pursuit of trying to choose smarter children? What has science shown us about the relationship of heredity and intelligence?
How does the idea of eugenics influence the current administration?
How does the American far right use the concept of time?
What is the metapolitic? How did the far right build the metapolitic? How does this influence our political future?
Resources
Alexandra Minna Stern. Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination. Beacon Press. 2019.
Southern Poverty Law Center. Profile: Charles Murray. Accessed July 18, 2025.
Feb. 18, 2025. Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Expands Access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Available at: whitehouse.gov. Accessed July 18, 2025.
C-span clip from Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy News Conference on Autism Rates. Accessed July 18, 2025
Autism Society. Statement on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Comments Regarding the Cause of Autism and Misleading Deadline. Accessed July 18, 2025
Lisa Ko. Unwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States. Independent Lens blog on PBS.org. January 29, 2016
Genetic Frontiers. Episode 6: The Eugenesis of Genetic Counseling with guest, Alexandra Minna Stern, PhD.
Alexandra Minna Stern. Telling Genes: The Story of Genetic Counseling in America. John Hopkins University Press: 2012.