
The Longest Con
How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism
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Narrated by:
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Steve Marvel
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By:
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Joe Conason
About this listen
The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump's path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him.
From the "professional anti-communists" (whose tactics even J. Edgar Hoover despised) to the "populist" grifters of the Tea Party movement and the religious charlatans of the "prosperity gospel" (who provided a pious front for Trump), the right-wing ripoff has remained remarkably consistent, even as personalities change and new technologies emerge: Stir up anger and resentment, demonize political opponents, promise vengeance, and collect donations from the gullible. It's a highly lucrative game that any unscrupulous charlatan can play, as many have-and they are named in this book.
In an unsparing and often comic narrative, Joe Conason explores the right's long, steep descent into a movement whose principal aim is not to protect freedom or defend the Constitution, but merely to line the pockets of pretenders and blowhards whose malevolent tactics now endanger the nation.
©2024 Joe Conason; foreword copyright 2024 by George T. Conway III (P)2024 KaloramaListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, put a horrific closing note on a norm-shattering presidency, as the twice-impeached Donald Trump rode a wave of denial and resentment out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and crashed back at Mar-a-Lago—seemingly wounded, seemingly done. But he wasn’t. And what, exactly, was he building in there? Meridith McGraw vividly chronicles the incredible period of Trump’s exile in South Florida and brings us inside the gilded walls of his private club, where an alternate reality in which the 2020 election was stolen became Republican Party orthodoxy.
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Wish I’d Have Returned Sooner…
- By Deanne Hanson on 09-30-24
By: Meridith McGraw
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Lucky Loser
- How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success
- By: Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters behind the 2018 bombshell New York Times exposé of then-President Trump’s finances, an explosive investigation into the history of Donald Trump’s wealth, revealing how exactly one of the country’s biggest business failures lied his way into the White House.
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Arrogant Jerk Revealed Again. And Again.
- By Joy B. on 09-25-24
By: Russ Buettner, and others
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Black Pill
- How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics
- By: Elle Reeve
- Narrated by: Elle Reeve
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist and CNN correspondent Elle Reeve was not surprised by the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. With years of in-depth research and on-the-ground investigative reporting under her belt, Reeve was aware of the preoccupations of the online far right and their journey from the computer to QAnon, militias, and racist groups. At the same time, Reeve saw a parallel growth of counterforces, with citizen vigilantes using new tools and tactics to take down the far right.
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Great story — uneven performance
- By SSG on 08-19-24
By: Elle Reeve
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Shameless
- Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy
- By: Brian Tyler Cohen
- Narrated by: Brian Tyler Cohen
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In Shameless, Brian Tyler Cohen lays bare the long con of the modern Republican Party. While the radical right continues hiding behind gaslighting maneuvers, artificial slogans, and hollow catchphrases, Cohen’s unflinching narrative illuminates the realities and dangers of the ever-widening gulf between the vaunted Republican brand and their actual behavior.
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Great read and informative!
- By LizzyD629 on 08-29-24
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Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
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The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
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The Impostors
- How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics
- By: Steve Benen
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The award-winning producer of The Rachel Maddow Show exposes the Republican Party as a gang of impostors, meticulously documenting how they have abandoned their duty to govern and are gravely endangering America.
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Three Card Monte Politics
- By J.B. on 06-19-20
By: Steve Benen
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The Conspiracy to End America
- Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Today’s Republican party is not a “normal” political party in the American tradition. It has become an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party. As Stuart Stevens argues in The Conspiracy to End America, if we look away from that truth, we greatly increase the likelihood that the America we love will slip away, never to return.
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Required Reading
- By Arturo Zendejas on 10-27-23
By: Stuart Stevens
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War
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward tells the revelatory, behind-the-scenes story of three wars—Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency. War provides an unvarnished examination of the vice president as she tries to embrace the Biden legacy and policies while beginning to chart a path of her own as a presidential candidate.
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Draws Connections
- By Kyle on 10-18-24
By: Bob Woodward
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Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
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Modern Dictators & President who wants to be them
- By AJ on 07-23-20
By: Anne Applebaum
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Money, Lies, and God
- Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy
- By: Katherine Stewart
- Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down.
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Describes a well funded international fascist cult
- By marwalk on 03-24-25
What listeners say about The Longest Con
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- Tiberius
- 12-01-24
America Needs to Know the Truth and Dangers of Trump
Very sad that America has voted for the worst president to lead our country. Those that voted for at rump have been swept up by a 60 year con. These next 4 years we are doomed.
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3 people found this helpful
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- CG
- 09-17-24
Very interesting wide lens view
This is a very well researched wide lens view of an important subject about which so many should know. Seemingly explaining the present and potentially the future by examining the past is so important.
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2 people found this helpful
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- K. Clark
- 01-13-25
Avalanche of Facts
This is a fact-laden outline of greed, graft, and corruption in the U.S. and specifically the right wing. While very convincing, it doesn’t talk at all about what might be done to combat the culture of lies. It left me feeling pretty hopeless.
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2 people found this helpful
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- CS
- 09-14-24
great research
A must listen for real American Patriots. The truth is needed before a informed vote can be cast for either party.
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- Duane
- 08-11-24
Great History
A well-researched examination into exactly how ‘the machine’ works. The motivation is cash and influence. (power) Yes, there are tens of millions of them out there as the author indicates they are born hourly by the dozens.
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- Izzy
- 02-26-25
Trump king of the Grifters
Traitor Trump has set this country back 50 plus years. With his Grifter family and friends they will cause an economic crisis "like never seem before" Spreading lies and fostering racism and hatred. America has become a laughing stock under his regime. I truly feel some empathy especially for the foolish white people who will lose everything in the future, because they brought into the lie. Thinking that Trump will save them, when he and his administration were raping and robbing them, of not only their money but dignity as well.
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- a abbey
- 02-22-25
Should be curriculum
Although it is very hard to listen to, I very much appreciated the author’s research to help me understand just how bad things have gotten within the Republican Party. I wish that every young person could hear this book so they could understand the many ways other people will try to swindle or trick them. It really should be high school curriculum.
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- Jay Rice
- 08-08-24
This Explains Alot
Ever since the rise of Trump commentators have struggled to explain why he has such a devoted following. Conason gives us a tour of the conservative mental landscape, it's history of turning paranoia into profit. Growing up watching tv and movies like Mission Impossible and The Sting, I thought con men had to be clever and cunning, but Trump proved that the way to gain a marks confidence is to tell him you hate his enemies just as much as he does.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-11-25
the scale of the generational grift that is American conservatism
excellent well told story of the rightwing fantasy world that has been built by grift for grift and how it has undermined, poisoned, and sabotaged American democracy subverted government to private self serving interest and the big lie that excuses it all
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1 person found this helpful
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- CWS
- 03-05-25
Frightening to see what some politicians and some religious leaders get away with!
Liked the writing. Sorry to learn how some politicians and some religious leaders lie to us and mislead us.
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