The Nazi Experiment, Vol. 11: Dictatorship by Reichstag Fire

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 189 An undeniable part of the Nazi Experiment is that it operated a fascist-style dictatorship for its infamous "racialist worldview." It got this dictatorship not just through the election of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler but through some rapid changes to the law that were made in the first sixty days of Hitler's role in Germany's Chancellorship. Basic liberties were suspended, the Constitution was overridden, and all governing authority was placed ultimately in the hands of the German government and its new Chancellor. All of this had to be done to respond to certain existential emergencies, or so it appeared, following a fire in the Reichstag, the German Parliament, set by arson, allegedly by a Communist as a first stroke in a broader Communist uprising. Within less than two months, Hitler had effectively full control of Germany. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay presents the eleventh volume in his Nazi Experiment podcast series, outlining how this sudden emergency changed the entire course of the history of the world in a span of under four weeks. Join him for what he calls the "schizophrenic discomfort" of the terrifying parallels this period offers for us today. Latest from New Discourses Press! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/ Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames © 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #dictatorship