Part Two: Elizabeth Dilling: The Original Candace Owens
Summary
This episode of Behind the Bastards covers Elizabeth Dilling’s influential 1930s book, *The Red Network*, which falsely labeled hundreds of organizations as communist to justify harassment and violence. The hosts analyze her alliance with Father Charles Coughlin, noting how their anti-communist rhetoric masked deep-seated anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathies. They also detail Dilling’s failed political interventions, including her efforts to sabotage Senator William Borah’s candidacy and her disastrous involvement in Alfred Landon’s 1936 presidential campaign against FDR.
Topics discussed
Intro, ads, and episode setup
Elizabeth Dilling and The Red Network
Dilling's tactics and Nazi connections
Father Coughlin's rise and ideology
Coughlin's biography and radio career
Dilling's smear campaigns and fundraising
1936 Election: Borah and Landon
The Union Party and Social Justice
Ads and host banter on supplements
Coughlin vs. the Vatican and Kristallnacht
The Octopus and anti-Semitic propaganda
America First protests and post-war legacy
Dilling's later years and outro
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