Hot History - Why are we obsessed with the Nazis?

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

Hello you, welcome back to Hot History! I’m so excited for our 1st HOT TAKE episode and today, we're looking at WHY we're obsessed with the Nazis. So many of you sent in your take and I've loved deeping this big Q with you guys.Here are the 4 key reasons WHY based on what you sent in:1. Morbid Curiosity2. Nazi Showmanship3. Awful sense of awe4. Time & Scope5. Rise in right wing authoritarianismPLUS we look at when our obsession goes from curiosity (safe) to glorification (danger) and how to be aware of what motivates your consumption.Next week we're looking at the mysterious order of Parisian knights dating back to the crusades who guard Jesus' crown of thorns - or do they??If you're wanting more Hot History content you can follow along on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ and of course, right here!Please take care while listening with the sensitive themes mentioned at the top and should you require assistance please use the below:In Australia, support is available 24/7 by calling or texting 0477 131 114 (lifeline) or 1300 22 4636 (Beyond Blue).In the USA,  support is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988 (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or texting HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line.In the UK, support is available 24/7 by calling NHS 111  (NHS) or  116 123  (Samaritans)

Hi guys, just a quick note from me before we get started. This episode of Hot History does include themes of anti-Semitism, hate speech, violence, and death in relation to both the Holocaust Second World War at large and more. Please take care of yourself while listening, and I've gone ahead and dropped some resources in the show notes, should you guys need them. They are the most divisive political party in history, stars of countless Hollywood blockbusters, responsible for the deaths of millions, and without a doubt, the main spring of evil itself, the National Socialist Party, otherwise known as the Nazis. Established in 1920 and becoming the largest party in the German parliament in July 1932,

Adolf Hitler was then appointed Chancellor in 1933, consolidating power and establishing a dictatorship after the passing of the Enabling Act. From there, they set out for war and expanded living space for the German emperty. The Nazis took Poland in 1939 and by 1945 they had taken the lives of approximately 13 million non-combatant civilians. They were disbanded at the end of World War II in 1945 with the remaining high-ranking members who survived the war being put on trial at Nuremberg for their crimes against humanity. Some killed themselves, others escaped across Europe or to South America, and as for

Germany, while it was split into two under ally control and subject to a swift and strict denatification program. And so Adolf Hitler's dream of the swastikas shadow draped over Europe did not come true. There was no thousand-year Reich and Germany was yet again crippled and diced up with its reputation as the 20th century's warmonger firmly fixed. And here we are now in 2026 with the advantage of retrospect, countless declassified documents, firsthand accounts, and oodles of technology to expose the banality of their crimes, and we're still somehow obsessed with the Nazis.

Now, I want a caveat very clearly and very early at the top here. I do not condone, believe, or support Nazis, and Nazism in any way, shape or form. I will get into why I've chosen the word obsessed for this episode in a moment, but I want to be crystal clear on this. I think the Nazis are the most vile, evil human beings and I do not support them, their beliefs or anything today which looks or sounds like them.

Now, when I say obsessed with the Nazis, I don't mean in like the fangirling sense like we obsess about celebrities. What I mean is that Nazism today really sits firmly at this intersection of morality, modernity, psychology, media and trauma in a way that almost no other historical subject does. It is, in many ways, like history's car crash. It's this thing that we can't help but stop and look at as we're surrounded by the carnage and blood and ash and crushed metal and go, what the fuck happened here? Right? Like, who was involved?

How did we get into this? What's going to happen next? And it's an obsession that I am deeply familiar with because I haven't. Now, the first time I ever heard of the Nazis. I was in the middle of primary school, so maybe like eight or nine years old. And the context in which I heard about them was this series that we all had to read at school. It was like the thing that you're in like year four or you five and you had to read this series. And it was called Once Then and Now by Morris Gleetsman.

Now, if you have not heard of this series, or if you are a parent and you are wondering how to broach the subject of the Nazis and the Holocaust with your children, I cannot recommend this book enough. Without spoilers, it follows two young Jewish children. Their names are Felix and Zelda through Nazi occupied, I believe it's Poland. And they are forced with so many challenges throughout that journey is the three books. They lose their parents, they're sent on marches. They're isolated. Again, I'm not going to spoil it. But please go and read this series because, like, I think everybody should have to read this series one. It should be mandatory in all schools. But go and read this series because genuinely I'm being so serious when I say this series truly changed my life. I've spoken a lot on this podcast in, in general, in life to the media.

about how ancient Egypt was the thing that got me hooked on history as a child. It was big and colourful and they had pyramids and sphinx and it felt so fantastical that it was something out of a story. But it was real and the idea that humans did these amazing things before us excited me. Now, caveat, the Egyptians did some fucked up, horrific, horrible things, but I was about five years old at this point, so I think we can like, forgive me for my narrow-mindedness. But where the ancient Egyptians did amazing things before us, learning about the Nazis

was really the first time. I truly realized people also did terrible things. And just like ancient Egypt, they too seemed so big. and evil and unbelievable that this also felt like something out of a story. But again, it happened. So reading that series and being introduced to the Holocaust and the Nazis changed my life because it was the first time I really started to ask questions

about how and why. And since that point in my life, I have never stopped. Year on year, I dig deeper, read further and, like, really just continue to surround myself with content about the Nazis, because no matter how much I dig, I cannot still, at 27 years old, seem to answer some of those questions I had when I was a kid. Now, I have read firsthand accounts. I've seen firsthand footage. I've spoken to survivors. I've done all the political and philosophical research into understanding what national socialism is, how national socialism came about, the radicalization of the German people, the occult,

like all of that. I've done it. And yet I still cannot reconcile in my brain and in my soul how these human beings were so evil. I understand the facts, right? I get that in my mind, but I cannot grasp it, like I said, in my soul. So I, I continue to consume and consume and research and dig. And it's for that reason, really, that we are here today. Because in my pursuit to reconcile and understand how the Holocaust came into being,

how the Nazis came into power, I have spent, and I'm so serious about this, I have spent almost every single day, at least in the last 10 years, consuming some kind of content relating to the Nazis. I'm dead serious. These undeniably terrible people, and no matter how noble my cause may be, right, wanting to understand, I often think, like, what does this say about me? Is it fucked up that I watch documentaries about Hitler's obsession with the occult when I'm doing my makeup? I literally just did it. Or listening to podcasts about the Nazi camp system while I'm on the way to an event or dinner. Or Gurring's art theft while I'm cooking?

Why do I choose to fill my brain in the limited free time I have with terrible people? In fact, why do we all do it? Think about it. Netflix or Amazon or Stan or Disney or like whatever the platforms are, right? You turn them on and you will come across a plethora of Hollywood blockbusters about terrible people. Let's not forget here, Netflix's first like big smash hit making a murderer. Do you also know how many people watched the Jeffrey Dahmer Monster series? It accumulated over one billion hours within 60 days of its release, making it the second biggest English-speaking series of all time on the platform.

It's the same with the Nazis, guys. You switch on any of these platforms you will find Inglorious Bastards, the Ministry of Gentlemen to Menly Warfare, Monuments Men, the imitation game, the Valkyrie, the pianist, she in like. list, right? The book thief, the boinstripe pajamas. Those are really just to name a few name to name the big ones. In fact, there are 10 people who have won Academy Awards for films about the Nazis or the Holocaust. Roberta Benini won in 1997 for Life is Beautiful. Adrian Brodie became the youngest performer to win a best actor Oscar for the pianist in 2002. Merrill Streep won for Sophie's Choice, Kate Winslet for the reader, Christoph Waltz. of course, played the most notorious TV or movie Nazi in Inglorious Bastards,

and he played evil so well that he won the Oscar for it. These films and documentaries and books and biopics and miniseries have made billions of dollars and defined entire actors' careers because we as a society are obsessed by the. Nazis. The big question is why. Before we jump into that, I want to go back to the word obsessed. Because when I was prepping this episode and looking at my own engagement with World War II content and like I said, the Nazis as part of that, I did question what the right word was to use for this. So I hit the dictionaries, guys. Now the first thing that came to mind

was fascination, right? It's a pretty neutral word. It can be lasting, it can be fleeting, and according to the Collins Dictionary, is to attract and delight by arousing interest. Nothing about the Nazi's delights and more definitions that I looked up. I just kind of find that fascination was basically just interested in bold. If I'm being honest, just felt safe. and really falls short of how I do feel. I'm not just interested. I'm invested in answering the questions I have, and I don't think society at large feels only interested either,

which is how I landed on obsessed. So according to Cambridge, to be obsessed is to be unable to stop thinking about something. Now, on a day today, I am able to think about other things, and society at large is the same. But obsessed felt right in this sense because week on week, year on year, I am unable to stop thinking about the various apparatus of Nazi regime. I continue to search for more information and consume more content

because, one, I have more questions and two, my capacity to understand expanse and society is exactly the same, like I said at the top. The Rising Films featuring Nazis has increased dramatically, especially since 2000. And the reason that they do is because we love to go and watch shit about the Nazis. Key example of this, and it was said in jest, but it's like so fucking true, is Ricky Javis at the 2009 Golden Globes, who said this. Let's have a listen. Well done, Winslet. I told you. Do a Holocaust movie.

the awards come, didn't I? Now again, this is obviously, said in jest, and the Holocaust is not funny, but the fact of the matter is. We have experienced a huge surge in Nazi and Holocaust movies over the years because we love to go and watch stories about the Nazis. And in regards to our thoughts about them expanding over time, obsessed felt like the right word to use here. But the real reason I decided on Obsessed was when I went to Merriam-Webster and Oxford for their definitions.

Now, Merriam-Webster defined obsessed as being preoccupied with or haunted by some idea, interest, etc. And Oxford said it was to be driven or afflicted by slash with something. And that there lies the crux for me. I am obsessed with the Nazis because I am deeply afflicted and haunted by what they did. Right? How this group of human beings could be so cruel and vile and evil to another group of human beings is something like I said I have yet to and don't think I ever. will fully grapple. And if I'm being really honest, I don't think we ever should. There is no reconciliation or balancing of the scales which will ever make the Holocaust or the Second World War

okay and understandable. And for that reason, we should be obsessed with the Nazis because they should afflict us all and they should haunt us all because we should never, ever, ever. And we should never, ever live in a world again where the beliefs and actions of Nazism come into fruition. Which is why the word choice is so deliberate today, guys. And I would hate for anybody to think that I haven't been really intentional with selecting this or being flippant and careless with the verbiage here, because I have really, really spent so long prepping. These episodes usually take me like a week and a half. after prep, this has been three weeks. Now, just because I'm obsessed with the Nazis,

because I find them haunting, doesn't mean this is the reason why society at large is obsessed with the Nazis. That's literally why we're here today. So those of you listening who may be thinking, well, I don't think I'm obsessed with the Nazis. I think I am just fascinated or interested by them and I don't think that society's obsessed with them either. Then I'm, I'm I would like to present to you, Star Wars. Think about it, guys. It's a story of a mad leader, brainwashed followers, dramatic symbolism, advanced technology, elements of the occult,

fancy uniforms, all of which boils down to the ultimate test of good versus evil. The not-so-secret organization of bad guys even has an onymus four-letter. Nickname. Now, this is no secret or surprise to anyone who's seen the films that they are directly inspired by the Third Reich. Everything. From Palpatine's rise from Chancellor to Emperor. Exactly what Hitler did in the 30s.

You have impeccably dressed military officials who are in charge of revolutionary new weapons and technology. Hello Hugo Boss. Hello V2 rockets. Hello, the Messia Smith, ME-26 or whatever the fuck it was called, the first jet engine. I mean, guys, even the Stormtroopers are literally named after the blueprint for the SS, the Palo Military Group, the Storm Trooper. So for anyone listening to this and thinking, I just don't think we as a society are obsessed with the Nazis. Star Wars, aka Space Nazis, has turned over nearly 50.

billion dollars worldwide. And while, sure, half of that is like almost certainly because of Harrison Ford and Hayden Christiansen's hair, the reality is, guys, Star Wars is largely successful because the Nazis still reigns supreme on people's list of worst things to ever happen in the world and we will turn up in droves every single time because we are. obsessed with seeing them or something that looks and acts like them be defeated. So in defense of the term obsessed, which I am and I believe society is too, it is not used to condone or support the exact same way that Nazis popping up in film and pop culture doesn't mean that everyone has like embraced the Third Reich and wants fascism to rule again.

If anything, guys, I really think that our social obsession has shown. just how much the world still despises them. But, and this is a super important caveat here, guys, obsession can turn to glorification very, very quickly. And there is a small but growing contingent of people who are obsessed with Nazism because they do condone it. The rise of right-wing authoritarianism is an undoubted reality in 2026. We have growing extremism, limitation of civil rights, greater distance in

the political divide and leaders who encourage hate speech and violence, or just dismiss it as a second-rate news story. And it's really important when using a word as strong as obsessed and when consuming content about a group as polarising and extreme as the Nazis to constantly check why we're doing it. And like I said, I think about this a lot with myself. What does it say about me that I fill my brain with these terrible evil people? So to help answer this question, I consulted the Oracle, okay, hey, chat GPT, who actually rather helpfully gave me a pretty useful gut check when consuming

Nazi-related content. Now, according to chat, there are two kinds of responses which fall under either curiosity or glorification. To be curious is to be interested because we want to learn, asking questions like how did this happen, why did this happen, who is involved, and like, all in all being analytical and morally guided in our consumption. That's the safe kind of obsession. The next is dangerous, which is glorification. because we believe in the same ideologies and want to replicate them. This tends to evoke the response of they were actually cool or impressive or I think they're, you know, right here or we should be doing that.

Now this is obviously dangerous and the complete wrong reason to be consuming this content. Like not just for you as an individual but for society as at large. And if you are thinking this, like yuck, right? Fuck off. We will be using this gut check for every why with examples of when our obsession is safe and dangerous and I think that's really important for us to come back too because that was actually going to be the topic of this episode. Is it fucked up? But I went with why instead and we're using this gut check to answer that question. So let's get into it guys. Now, I got over 300 responses from all of you who sent me DMs,

comments and emails about why you think we're obsessed with the Nazis. Thank you so, so much. I am so thankful that we have a community where we can discuss things like this. Now, the biggest collective response was similar to these persons, who said, I think it's mostly a morbid intrigue that humans are so prone to be drawn to the Nazis. And I totally agree. But what actually is morbid curiosity?

And why is it our very first why? Well, Colton Scrivener from the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago defines it as a motivation to seek out information about dangerous phenomena. Now, in the case of the Nazis, again, I think that's right. And I think our morbid curiosity comes in two forms. The first is with their crimes, right? the physical carrying out of mass death and genocide. And the second is the psychological element.

How did they do this? What makes someone evil? All of which we want to know, because ultimately, as one of you put it, Nazis really represent the worst of humankind. Literally the pinnacle of evil. They are the perfect villain. Like I said at the top, this was one of the most common responses I got and I do agree.

I think the Nazis are the perfect example in today's day and age of black and white evil. If you're a Nazi, you're a bad guy, a villain, which again is what inspires our moral curiosity. Now, I want to go on a really quick tangent here first, guys, and I know that we're like already pretty far into the episode of this. our first wife, but I got a DM from another incredibly hot historian here who gave reason to take a beat before we go and say the Nazis are the best example of pure evil, period. She wrote, as a black American woman, I think the Nazis are the one example white people can emphasize with because it was evil white people doing fucked up shit to other white people. as a collective, the lives of people of color have always been viewed as less than,

so they, white people, don't allow themselves to admit that the evils towards us, people of color, were worse. I then asked this incredible person if she thought the Nazis were the best example of evil, and she said, no, but it's the best example of evil against white people. I am so glad that she reached out to me because she's absolutely right. After getting this DM, I dug into some of the stats. So I want to take you guys through this. The UN estimates that the transatlantic slave trade claimed the lives of over 15 million peoples of color, which is a conservative estimate.

Meanwhile, the Native American population in the US fell by an estimated 90s, percent from 1492 to 1900s, with four million lives being lost between 1492 and 1776. That's horrific, which when you then overlay with issues of colonization, forced removal of peoples from their homes, and slavery as the institution of literally taking someone and selling them to another human being as that person's property and possessions. So when we say that the Nazis are the best example of evil, we do have to question, is that because, as this follower put it anyway, it's evil white people doing fucked up shit to other white people.

And we're shocked and outraged because we're used to seeing that kind of violence and hate and oppression towards people of color, not modern Western Europeans. So I sat with that for like a week. And I kept reading all of your messages that came through and researching more stats and jumping into discussion boards and chatting with historians and archaeologists. And I do still think that the Nazis are the best example of pure evil, not because they committed like atrocities to other white people or because they killed the most people,

but for the one very specific reason that they were the most effective killing machine in history. They were so targeted and systematic that like they ultimately industrialized murder. And that's shocking to end. anyone who draws breath, including the worst guys on earth, right? And it's for that reason that we really use the Nazis as a moral benchmark, the most extreme case against which other wrongs are measured. But I wanted to call this out to you guys because it is so important to recognize the bias in which we view the tragedies of different peoples throughout history.

because the reality is the Nazis may have perfected mass murder but like it was far from an original idea Hitler didn't just wake up one day and go othering deportation death he and all the odious apparatus of his regime were all inspired by the terrible shit

other white people had done to peoples of colour and other groups before. Hitler made constant comparison how he wanted the German Empire to control its various territories like the British did in India. The Guardians, Rich and Jay Evans, said that Nazi policies in Eastern Europe

drew heavily on Hitler's image of the American colonization of the Great, planes, and so many of you DM'd me about how the Nazis model their whole existence after the Ku Klunker clan, slave catchers and Jim Crow laws. So I was really glad that I got this DM from this gorgeous gal because the whole point of these hot takes is to be challenged by different points of view and experiences and ideas.

And it is so important for all of us to recognize the bias in which we view the tragedies of different peoples throughout history. So let's get in to why the Nazis are largely considered the perfect villains today by looking at our morbid curiosity with the physical carrying out of mass death and genocide. So this first point of our morbid curiosity. So as I already said, with the Translending Slave Trade, the Native Americans, the Nazis did not kill the most people in history. And there are plenty of other regimes and dictators who have committed similar or even worse acts of genocide.

and terror. Hello Stalin. Hello Mao. Genghis Khan, right? So the Nazis aren't just evil because of their death toll. It's the way they carried out this systematic, intentional, industrial murder that touches this macabre, like morbid element in all of us. So the Guardians, Richard J. Evans again, speaks to this. He says, Hitler's murderous policies, cannot be labelled barbarous or medieval like so many others because at the end of the day they approached extermination with precision and method. And the reason for that is because the extermination of the Jewish peoples

and anyone else considered an enemy or an other of the state was organized and operated like a business. there were efficiencies and costs. And ultimately, the Nazis optimized murder so it could be done on mass. The camps were run by thousands and thousands of staff who documented their crimes. And that is like a huge part of our macab fascination because we can just go and type into Google death camps. guest chambers, Auschwitz. And when you do, you are met with graphic, raw, und doctored imagery of piles and piles of human corpses.

It is unbelievable, which is exactly why we need that footage and the archaeology associated with it. But it's also what keeps us looking at it and ultimately searching for more as part of this obsession. and morbid curiosity. Now, when this is done in a way that is making these crimes real and being used as proof of just how odious and evil this regime was, that is safe-ish. But when it is done in a way where you are motivated by looking at the desecration of other human beings' dignity, that is incredibly dangerous. And I do really, really encourage you to take care.

of how much and how frequently you are consuming, like, what are basically crime scene photos. I, I 1,000% think every human being on earth should be shown images of the Holocaust. Because, like, genuinely the amount of Holocaust deniers is insane to me in this day and age because of how much evidence we have. But I do think that you should be sensitive, one, of your frame of mind at the time. And again, really recognize if this is safe or dangerous based on why you're consuming that content. But I do believe that it is important for everybody on earth to see this evidence. Just checking with yourself and question why you're actually doing that.

But coming back to the morbid curiosity piece, a large part of why the Nazis are considered the perfect villains is because, like I said, they documented it so much. And we'll get to this a little bit more later on in the piece. but we have imagery, detailed plans, accounting, and signatures behind the system of mass murder, which was so methodical in its approach, because at the end of the day,

only through such intense logistics could camps like Belzick and Berknow and Treblinka have facilitated the sheer volume of murders. They did. So I agree with Richard J. Evans. It wasn't medieval because it wasn't an act of rage, which has really been this historic norm. It was this scrupulous, cool, rational approach to mass murder, which has been universally understood as pure evil.

Not even the Soviets. Yeah, famed as a nation for killing their enemies and each other in brutal sadistic ways. Stalin killed fucking millions of people. But not even the Soviets could believe what they found. when they liberated Ashwoods-Burkenau. One Soviet soldier said, how can this be in the midst of the 20th century? I cannot comprehend this.

Another said a picture that would make everyone wither away who saw it. The misery was horrifying, and then there is the everlasting, only death rained here. It smelled of it. I still smell it now. So I think that is our morbid curiosity with, like I said, the physical acts of the Nazis. But one of you wrote to me here about the second part of the equation, saying we tend to think that nobody can be that malicious.

So we are shocked but also intrigue as to what makes that person evil. What makes them do something like that to another human being. It's psychology 101. And this is where I think it gets to this like middle intersection where morbid curiosity meets. self-preservation, described best by one of you actually who wrote to me saying there's a dark side of human nature and the Nazis best represent this, so we want to know what it is. I think a large part of the Nazis as the perfect villains is the idea that there is something innately wrong with them. They are so twisted and so evil and so motivated by hate that they

have to be different from us, alien, other. And that makes us feel good because we're the good guys and the bad guys, the worst guys, the perfect villains, are totally different from us. I recently watched the film Nuremberg and there is a scene where Herman Guring, played by Russell Crow, says, will you even acknowledge that we were human? And the reality of the Nazis is that they were no different from any of us. They were warm-blooded, mortal creatures who felt love and anger and surprise and hate and happiness.

They were children. They had children. And they killed children. And the psychology of that, the mortality of these villains, just like you and me, is an absolute mind fuck. Because again, we want them to be different, but they're not. And that ignites a morbid curiosity to know who these people were, what motivated them, why they did, what they did, what makes them different. because if we're being really, really honest right now, I think a large part of the reason we're obsessed with the Nazis

and that morbid curiosity element is we all ask ourselves what we have done in Hitler's Germany. And we all like to sit on our high horses, live up on our moral mountains and say, I would never, but you just don't know. Thank God, right? Like we don't live in Hitler's Germany. But still, there is this morbid curiosity,

and I think we largely consume this content to try and imagine what we would have done in these situations to assure ourselves that we're better. So that's our first reason why we're obsessed with the Nazis. They are the perfect villains. They inspire this morbid curiosity inside of us. Which links in nicely with our second reason for why we're obsessed with the Nazis. And this is how Nazi showmanship brainwashed the German people. Now, one of the key responses I got was how the fuck did so many people join their course?

And it is an earworm of mine that basically requires like an in-depth understanding of the geopolitical landscape of pretty much all of Eastern Europe. Pre-unification of the German states right through to the Wall Street crash in Germany in the 30s, none of which we have time for today. But one of you sent in a fabulous note, which was, it's almost unbelievable how a political party with such truly evil views could come to power, and the people of that nation believe them. And it's a really good point, similar in a lot of ways, like of that kind of second part of more curiosity,

the psychology of the Nazis. But the everyday German, who became radicalized under Hitler, isn't the perfect villain Nazi that we spoke about previously. They don't wear the fancy uniforms or drive around in the Mercedes or have fucking Bavarian party houses.

Right? They were, every day, middle and lower class workers who were crushed after World War I, both economically and nationally, and Hitler told them, it's not your fault. It's all going to be okay because I'm here now and I'm going to make Germany great again. And they believed him.

because as one of you put it, they were very good at what they did, for lack of a good word, they were stylish and organized and attracted millions because of it. And that all comes down to Nazi showmanship. The brand, the uniforms,

the Mercedes, the eagle, the eternal flames, lit at the moment, Hitler finished his speech, perfectly timed as the sun set. It's a moment. a show a production, arguably the most impressive and effective piece of visual branding in human history. It is the reason a Nazi flag is still as recognisable as the Golden Archers or the Apple logo. Pretty good for a brand now defunct for over 80.

years because everything about the Nazis was designed to entertain and impress. And that still stands today. Right? The showmanship is one of the biggest reasons why we're obsessed with the Nazis. And I know I already mentioned Star Wars, aka Space Nazis, but I want to call out a specific scene at the end of a New Hope, the first Star Wars film, where Luke and Hahn are getting their medals, like at the end, right? That scene, almost beat for beat, is based off a scene in the Nazi film,

Triumph of the Wood by Hitler's favourite filmmaker, Lenny Riefenstahl. And the scene is Hitler, flanked by Himmler from the SS and Lutsa from the SA, and they're walking through the stormtroopers, like all in rows, to pay homage at this, like, Grand World War I Memorial. Beat, for beat, it is almost the exact same scene at the end of the first Star Wars film. And this is not in the context of like the empire and the antagonist. This is the film's protagonist, the big heroes. And the showmanship of it all facilitates them having their well-earned moment of pomp and circumstance,

which is exactly what Hitler and the Nazis used it for, because it made them feel powerful and good, which links nicely to our next point. They looked powerful and good. Or as one of you put it, unfortunately, the Hugo Boss strip was timeless, and you're not wrong. I actually remember listening to an interview with,

I'm going to say it wrong, Ralph Fines, Ralph Fiennes, however you say it, right? Voldemort. And he was in Schindler's list, right? He plays the commandant of Auschwitz, one of the most genuinely evil portrayals of Nazis in film. And he said in this interview, those costumes make you feel powerful and because of that, you feel good. And that is what they were designed for. To make the wearer look and feel good and to make the Germans who saw those men look and feel good, because the uniforms like all the rest of the Nazi's branding reflected the strength and power of the empire.

It literally sounds like Star Wars. Like, it's wild. Now, the Nazi uniforms were notoriously made by Hugo Boss, and again, have been one of the lasting elements of the regime incorporated into media and recognized globally. And just like they were designed to be impressive at the time, they are used in film and entertainment now to look slick and sharp and impressive even when they're portrayed like unequivocally there's no question as evil they are adorned with medals and bling

and skulls and like all the bad guy shit right they still look impressive and that's really fucking dangerous like i said even when the men wearing these uniforms are particularly trade so clearly as villains, the whole fascist aesthetic can draw people into this like fundamentally shitty fucked up ideology because it's visually attractive. It is what it was designed to do back in 1930s Germany and really now today. So it is really important for us again to come back to our helpful gut check again here because what may start as this innocent appreciation for the design of uniforms or helmets or weapons or whatever, right, can become a siren song for someone who isn't guarding themselves sufficiently.

So if you're consuming that content as part of the study of Nazi brand and how it was used as propaganda or like strictly with interest in military uniforms throughout the Second World War, I think you're okay. But it's important to recognize when this becomes dangerous. And you start thinking, that's cool. Or I wonder how I'd look in that or we should all dress like that now. That is dangerous obsession. Another huge part of the Nazi showmanship, which we remain obsessed with today,

some more than others, are the rallies. The biggest crowds are huge, right? These rallies. were central to not only the Nazi's brand and iconography, but to the radicalisation of the German Volk, this idea of this racially superior group of German people. Now, the big rallies were held in the city of Nuremberg between 1933 and 1938 at the Nazi rally ground,

designed by Albert Speer. Everything about them. was ritualistic and meant to impose. A central part of the Riley ground here in Nuremberg was the Cathedral of Light, which consisted of, it's like, you can't even say it with a straight face, it's just fucked. Which consisted of 152 anti-aircraft searchlights at intervals of 12 metres, which were aimed skyward directly up, basically to look like a series of like vertical bars of light going up to the heavens.

you have that paired with, again, the uniforms, the salutes. You have very organised blocks of parading people, all flanked by the flag and the piostra resistants, like I said before, Hitler's big speech at the end, right, as the sun's going down and the eternal flames are being lit. Like, it is this, it's this kind of ritualistic procedure, which was essential to toting the idea of the power of the party and the destiny of the German vogue as the supreme race. I mean, guys, even the Olympic torch rally, which we watch every Olympics and feels very ceremonious and grand, like it's literally the climax of the opening of the Olympics,

started in Berlin in 1936 by the Nazis. Because they covered it, this sense of rituals. and public cinema. Now, in researching this, I fell into a Reddit thread all about the Nuremberg rallies, and I want to share some responses with you, which I think show how easy it was for the German people to become radicalised. Again, if one of the reasons why we're obsessed with the Nazis today is because we seek to understand how they brainwashed so many people, this and

answers the question. One user said, Can you imagine being there and how ridiculously patriotic and proud they must have felt? Obviously, the hideousness of Nazi Germany aside. Another said, honestly, it looks so beautiful. It's a pity what they were actually rallying for.

Another continues, saying, could you imagine being all jazzed to have front row tickets but years later you can't tell anyone or enjoy it because it was a fucking Nazi rally? And then there was this. Say what you will about Hitler, but that dude knew how to create ambience. And finally, the Nazis really knew how to sway people

with this superficial feel-good show-offy shit. If we today, right, these were answers in like the last two years, if we today, full well-knowing the Nazis are fucked and again, cavied, still caviting. It's a pity what they were rallying for, or the hideousness of Nazi Germany aside. This all looked cool.

Imagine the impact it had on people in 1930s Germany guys. They didn't just love it. They were radicalized fans. And there are constant comparisons between the crowds of the Nuremberg rallies and, like, mass fan hysteria for the Beatles, One Direction, Brittany, Justin Bieber, right? The Beliebers. Beatlemania. It was this true, emotive sense of deep parosocial hysteria for Hitler,

facilitated by the show, which was really just this big abracadabra, which made the Volk feel good and strong and love. So they believed whatever he told them. You overlay this with paramilitary presence, espionage, disbanding of the free press, risk to one's career and life, and othering of certain people giving a common enemy, and people will always follow. And we today will always be interested why and how, because we think that we wouldn't have done it and still won't. We see through the charade as this Reddit user wrote, the superficial feel good show-offy shit, but we do it from the vantage point of today. Now, I don't know if you guys have ever heard of the Milgram tests,

but they were essentially an experiment in the 60s designed to compare the results of regular American college students and German people radicalized by the Nazis to determine what about the Germans and their culture predisposed them to commit such terrible acts because they were told to. That was like the primary defence at Nuremberg. So this guy, Stanley Milgram, wanted to test that. So basically he had a teacher who would tell these good old-fashioned American students to administer electric shock to a stranger in a chair. The stranger was actually an actor and not being shocked.

they were just pretending. But the idea was to test the compliance of these everyday, red-blooded, good old-fashioned American students against these German Nazis. The hope here was like obviously that these students would do better, right? They're not German. They're not radicalized. They're not Nazis and therefore they're good. They're Americans, right?

But in Milgram's first set of experiments, 65% percent, of students administered the experiment's final massive 450-volt shock by just being obedient to their instructor. There was no government to brainwash you, no rally or showmanship. They did it without having to close the free press, without setting up an enemy to fight against, and without, again, their choice having career or life-threatening effect. They did it because they were told to, but also because they could. Now, these tests have largely been debunked and don't actually tell us anything other than

we're obsessed with the Nazis because we, really at the end of the day, want to understand how they manage to brainwash so many people. And that all comes down to the impact of the show and the mastery of their branding. Now, this is a safe kind of thing to consider, when it's led by curiosity, you're learning to identify this behavior to recognize it today. And again, it's dangerous when you recognize you're falling victim to the appeal. Or, again, you're trying to replicate it in order to deceive people or other,

another group of people using the Nazis' same branding and propaganda tactics. Now, our third why is a bit of a tricky one, because it all comes down to what I have dubbed this awful sense of awe. So many of you sent me messages kind of similar to like that Reddit threat about how the Nazis built big things. They took lots of territory. They made big spectacles, right? Like these huge moves.

One of you put this very well and said, Great is a terrible word to use. Powerful or uncomprehensible might be better. But he, Hitler, changed warfare and science, left mysteries and conspiracies that people still look at today. Another said, the sheer magnitude that the party did when they were at the peak of their power is frightening to think about. It took the biggest nations on earth to stop them. And another said, I think it's because they rose to power so fast, gaining control of everything. I totally agree on all of those points. And it is this like awful sense of awe. You don't really know

what the right word to use is. And it's this kind of like moral quandary, how to address this and how you can recognise this. But I did get a DM which I think sums this up so well and is why this particular reason for our obsession with the Nazis is a precarious and dangerous one. He said, there's a line in Harry Potter that always sticks out to me and makes me think of Hitler and the Nazis,

which is, He who must not be named, terrible. And I think that sums up this awful sense of awe that we as a society have with what the Nazis accomplished. It was evil and horrific and terrible and murderous, but it was effective, fast and on a scale we've not seen in modern warfare. You look at the technology and engineering feats that the Nazis accomplished and like, it is genuinely. impressive, right? The V2 rocket, the U-boat, the first jet fighter in the 1940s, the Autobahn, like even the Eagles Nest. Hitler's like fucking wankfest up in Berkest in which they blew half the mountain side out so that he could have a road and he could

drive up, get in his gold elevator and like visit, I think he visited it like once or twice. These motherfuckers were designing double-decker high speed like transformer-esque trains while German troops are starving and surrounded at Stalingrad. The way the Nazis propelled the world forward in technology, science, and engineering is undoubtedly great, terrible, right? As Mr. Olivander and Harry Potter says in that scene, but great. And that is often the dichotomy of dictators, which is like really difficult to swallow. Caesar, Augustus, Khan, Alexander, all accomplished feats the world thought impossible at the cost of millions of peoples of lives and like general tyranny, right? But there is this awful sense of awe,

particularly with the Nazis' technology and engineering achievements, which adds to their mysticism and fuels our obsession today. If you don't think that the Nazis still impact how we live today, you are genuinely kidding yourself. Right, the V2 rocket, designed and made by the Nazis, was the first human-made object to reach space, directly inspiring early US and Soviet rockets, which laid the foundation for the space raids. Operation paperclip at the end of World War II literally recruited Nazi scientists for this very reason. The Nazis are also responsible for. top gun. Not really, but the Messerschmitt ME 262 was the world's first operation jet-powered fighter plane

and it was made in 1941. For comparison here, guys, right? We didn't get the internet until 1983, but Germany were building jet-powered fighter planes 40 years earlier, which inspired almost like all modern aviation. I can go. on for ages here, guys. The U-boats revolutionized submarine warfare. We also have the Nazis to thank. Well, not really, but anyway, for nerve agents, advancements were made in synthetic rubber, the jerry can. Every time you have a can of fanta, that was from the Nazis, right? It was invented in 1941 by the German Coca-Cola branch because of trade embargoes preventing the import of syrup.

So the fact the Nazis have had such a lasting impact on our modern world through technology, engineering and science is undoubtedly impressive. Which is when our gut check comes back up, right? Mr. Olivander said it, great but terrible. And so many of you again caveated, for lack of a better word, you know, it was obviously terrible but still impressive again like that. thread. So, so when does our sense of awe to what the Nazis managed to accomplish become dangerous? Obviously, it becomes dangerous when we are in awe of the Holocaust. Like, that is undeniable if you're going, well, look, how many people were killed or how many evil things they did? Like, in no world does a normal person look at the Nazis with any sense of, like,

envy or glory? At that point, like, you're just mentally unwell, genuinely. I would say, though, cautiously, it is safe when you are looking at how the Nazis, again, technology and science impact us today. And specifically looking at the link between their development in the 30s and 40s and the developments in the 50s, 60s, 70s, kind of tracking the history of technological advancements through things like Operation Paperclip. And again, I also think there's a case to be made for like military historians, specifically when looking at things like, like the Blitzkrieg or the occupation of Paris or like divisive wins that the Nazis had and using those to better understand like the inner workings of like war and strategy, right?

The art of war has been around for centuries. But again, I do think that becomes murky very quickly when those wins and achievements are glorified in any way, shape or form. But anything that celebrates or makes net positive of the scale of the Holocaust is just fucking evil. One of you wrote in here saying, I believe the reason people focus on the Nazis is because of the massive scale which they committed their genocide. As someone who is Jewish, I want to make sure that they don't rise to power again. And I absolutely totally agree on this.

I think, like everybody in the world agrees on this. Anyone decent? Now, our next reason why we're obsessed with the Nazis all has to do with memory and time. One of you wrote in on this saying, in my opinion, the Nazis aren't actually that interesting. There have been government groups way more brutal and violent in history. The reason people today are so obsessed with them is because it's recent history. It hasn't even been 100 years since they ruled Germany. and like that's what makes it so shocking, right?

So much of the Nazis and the third Reich, again, similar to how I was talking about ancient Egypt at the top, it's, it's stranger than fiction. Like it seems like something out of a story or a movie. So the fact that one, it is real and two only happened 81 years ago is wild. This is exacerbated by the fact that so many of the Nazis victims and the Nazis, themselves lived well into the 21st century as one of you put it here writing in, saying, because my 99-year-old granddad fought the Nazis and still talks about the horrors he witnessed. Another of you said, I saw the pain and suffering etched on my grandmother's face until the day she died.

She carried the Nazis with her as much as she carried the lives she lost in the camps. They were a part of her now. and now they're a part of me. The impact of this group, like of people, right, and ultimately the nation, on not only the world at the time, but our world today is so profound. According to the National Psychotrauma Center,

the impact of the Holocaust is not limited to those who lived through it, with research indicating significant and obvious, right, intergenerational trauma. Just like this incredible listener, said when they wrote in saying that the Nazis are a part of me now, and he is absolutely not alone in this feeling. There is a whole field of study called secondary traumatisation dedicated to looking at the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Defined as PTSD symptoms, anxiety and a haunted sense of empathy which occurs to a helper, exposed to extreme events directly experienced by another,

becoming overwhelmed by the exposure to trauma, however indirect. This is then exacerbated by the pressure of the survivors and their children to carry the legacy of lost family members. I had a lovely World War II archaeologists right in here and tell me about one of the digs she was on, covering one of Easy Company sites, Banner Brothers, if any of you were seeing the TV show. She said she works there every year

and one year someone turned up with a signed copy of Mienkamp they had found in their great aunt's attic. I asked what her reaction was to receiving this, and she said my jaw absolutely dropped. It was signed by many bigwigs of the regime, and it came with photos of the front lines from the Germans POV. I took some photos, but touching the book felt like I was touching a dead person and like I might be sick.

My great granddad died in dash. A lot of historians, archaeologists, conservatives, are often descendants of the Holocaust and inspired to ensure we never forget. And in many ways, this is inspired or as a result of this secondary traumatization. Now, the other side of that coin is something called the double wall of silence. This is a psychological and sociological term coined by Israeli psychologists Dan Barron, which describes a two-sided mutual avoidance of discussing the traumatic, shameful or sensitive events experienced by Holocaust survivors and or perpetrators with their children.

Basically, it consists of like parents not sharing and children not asking. Now, I had a listener, writing, who has asked to remain completely anonymous, and he said, I was clearing out my great-grandfather's attic a few years before he died and found a large locked suitcase. I asked him where the key was so I could check what was inside and decide if we should donate it or throw it away. He started yelling at me, something he had never done in his lifetime. I was a grown man in his 30s and I've never felt so small or shameful, so I completely left it alone. He was obviously very distressed and took several weeks for him to speak to me normally again.

Two years after this, he died and I was helping my parents sought through his belongings to sell the house and rediscovered this suitcase. It wasn't in the same place. My grandfather had moved it underneath a big cabinet up in the attic, and we found the key in another draw. I opened it and found envelopes of photos, documents and letters of him as an SS officer. said you're in the war. We knew he immigrated after the war and I had tried to ask my dad about it when I was younger, but always got the same response. He was a farmer and wanted a better life in Australia away from Europe after the Nazis destroyed Germany. He continues saying I never pressed further and never asked my grandfather. And it turns out, neither had my

dad. We were all so surprised and couldn't believe the kind, mild man we knew was a part of something so evil. I think it's important to ask questions like why we're obsessed with the Nazis, because if we stop asking questions and just accept being told the bare minimum, or only what we learn in school, we can forget or lack the education to ask the right questions. This is the perfect example of the double wall of silence, which only leaves more questions unanswered and more facts lost. So the impact of the Nazis is still felt today. Given, like I said, they only fell 81 years ago, which is obviously devastating. But the other side of that, which ultimately became the thing which allowed the allies to bring those surviving to justice at the

Nuremberg trials is that 80 years ago, we had the technology to document. One of the most famous war photographers of all time is Lee Miller. She followed the Americans across Europe as the war was in its final stages, including the liberation of Dacow. Her photos and the imagery and video footage of other reporters, GIs and like citizens and civilians, are absolutely harrowing. She, of course, is also responsible for the very famous image of her in Hitler's bathtub when she arrived at the dictator's Munich flat the day he died.

The scene was like meticulously staged to act as a victory claim over Hitler and a symbolic cleansing after witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, with Lee intentionally leaving her boots covered in filth from documenting Dachau on his bath mat, which, according to Lee, was to show how she washed the dirt of Dacow off in his tub. But the Allies weren't the only ones recording the Nazis' crimes as they made their way across Europe. The Nazis did it themselves.

Extensively, as we spoke about at the top, an operation like the Third Reich doesn't run without systematic planning and logistical compliance from many. moving parts. And each of those required strict accounting and documentation. So the Nazis did what the Nazis do best. Optimized for mass efficiency. And in doing so, left us with photos, files, train manifest, color-coded reporting many, many signatures. And the name,

corresponding serial number, date of birth, and place of origin of nearly every single inmate held within and murdered in the various cramps across the Third Reich. And they did that for two reasons. One, blind, searing arrogance in their inevitable victory. And two, to document what they believed was their greatest achievements. I mean, like, arrogance doesn't even begin to cover it when you look. at the sheer volume of documents the Nazis produced of their own crimes.

And it wasn't until the very final stretch of the war when defeat was like, absolutely inevitable, that any of them began to think about destroying this evidence. I genuinely like in my brain, I'm like, why are you writing this shit down? The cremator and gas chamber at Birkenau, or at least crematoria, too, and three, were only blown up in January 1945, eight months before the end of the war, as part of this like overall liquidation of the most obvious physical evidence of their crime. But we still have photos, videos, documents manifests by the truckload, which made the proceedings at Nuremberg possible. And what fuels our obsession today?

We can see it. So we have to believe it. no matter how unbelievable it seems. Now, to our gut check for this why, which is like pretty easy to be honest, if you're looking at the 80 years that have passed since the end of the Holocaust and like thank the Lord that we no longer live in Hitler's Germany and consume Nazi content to seek to never repeat this and understand the impact today, totally safe. But when anyone starts talking about those years before 1945, with reference and longing, saying things like,

if only we could go back there or those are the good old days or like any of that fucking garbage, right? That's absolutely fucked and dangerous, which is our last. Why? We all knew it was coming. So, another reason why some of us are obsessed with the Nazis today is because there is a steep rise in right-wing authoritarianism.

which glorifies or is inspired by Nazism. Right off the bat here, guys, there is no gut check. If you are consuming Nazi content for inspiration, to align yourself politically with the party or to educate yourself on their tactics, propaganda, hate speech or crimes, whether you intend to carry them out or not, it is not only dangerous, but like inherently fucking evil. The fact that we have just spoken about the lasting impact of the Nazis on humanity and the undeniable evidence of their banality and cruelty, which are universally accepted and charged in a court of law as a crime against humanity, the fact we have all of that.

And people still subscribe to the beliefs and practices of right-wing authoritarianism and just plain old Nazism is fucking deluded. and genuinely frightening, right? So many of you wrote into me to express your concern about the similarities of our 20s to Germany's 30s, and how this rise in right-wing authoritarianism fuels the obsession with Nazis. One of you wrote on this, collectively we're fascinated by the idea

that a large group of people can be so manipulated and the government can be so grossly mismanaged. We think it'll never happen again, but we're seeing it happen right before our eyes. Now this was in reference to the dehumanizing actions of ice in the US, which was compared with the Gestapo and Nazi Germany. This is a group of government sanction agents going around door to door, effectively saying, papers, please, and then ripping people from where they are standing, mothers from children, elderly wives from husbands, pregnant women on the street, and them just vanishing.

Honestly, what is happening to these people? Where are they going? And before police, anybody says, Well, they're illegal immigrants and they're the right way to come into the country and if you want to be an American, you've got to do it like the rest of us. Like, these are fucking people. Human beings. If you think any of those things, stop listening now, please go block me, right? It is estimated that 420,000 Americans were killed during World War II fighting the menace of tyranny like the Gestapo. and generally the Axis powers, right? But again, primarily Nazis in Europe.

It was American soldiers who discovered some of the most brutal concentration camps around the world in the Third Reich. Audroff, Dachau, Buchenwald, Middlebaldora, Flossomberg, Matt Harrison, all liberated by the Americans. The land of the free. The home of the brave, where the eagle is emblazoned on the President's seal, it was the Americans who led the efforts at Nuremberg to bring justice to recognise the crimes of the Nazis not just as war crimes, but crimes against humanity. And now, there is an increasingly radicalised,

empowered government department that people know very little about, really pulling up in the street and to schools and grocery stores and pulling people into vehicles and those people never being heard of again. Then you have the leader of that nation, under whose authority this group derive their power, posting on social media, what is effectively propaganda? Glamourized by backing track. from top charting artists, visually branded, under the stars and stripes, and we don't see the similarities?

Hate speech, violence, death are all a symptom of the rise in right-wing authoritarianism. Now, I do actually want to take a beat here in case you don't know what right-wing authoritarianism. is, which totally fine. We're going to cover it. So RWA is essentially characterised by submission to established authorities, aggressive enforcement of social conventions and conventionalism, which was really developed by Bob Adelmeyer. He is a Canadian psychologist,

and he developed a scale to identify this behaviour in individuals. Now, those who fall under RWA, right-wing authoritarianism, are people who prefer strict social hierarchy, whether that be by systems of class or gender or race or other, and uniformity in which a strict set of social rules are applied. These individuals almost always display prejudice against other groups and peoples who do not fit their described set of social hierarchies and rules, and will other them in that process, right, which just widens the divide and difference between them,

which then adheres to this strict set of social rules. RWA has been linked to many other political and social beliefs and structures, especially in the last decade, but also before, including conservatism and nationalism, and primarily begins to emerge in response to perceived social threat. Great example of this, which is also like super timely in the Super Bowl is the Super Bowl halftime performance by Bad Bunny, right? This is a everyday example. Now, Benito is a Puerto Rican, which has been identified as part of America since December 10, 1898,

following the signy of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War. As one of the biggest artists in the last few years, Bad Bunny was not a rare man. PIC. Last year, he was the biggest artist globally on Spotify, dethroning Taylor Swift as the most streamed artist, with nearly 20 billion streams. And this was his fourth time at the top. Now, despite his popularity, which, like, again, just based on the stats, just the facts, just the numbers, he's the perfect pick for the Super Bowl.

There were many, including President Trump, who would. were enraged with this pick, calling his performance an affront to the greatness of America. Turning Point USA, the Conservative Non-profit Organization established by the late Charlie Kirk, was so outraged. They decided to host their own Counter-Super Bowl halftime show, marketing it as the All-American Half-Time Show, because Bad Bunny performed his songs in Spanish. despite the fact

despite the fact those songs in Spanish made Bunny the number one globally highest streamed artists in 2025 a pretty clear signal people actually love it but Turning Point USA and President Trump said it was un-American with their show

instead being aired and marketed as a real show for real Americans This is the perfect example of the kind of othering that is prevalent under right-wing authoritarianism, where the correct social norms and hierarchies decided and marketed by bodies like Turning Point USA and endorsed by the most senior government official in the land are decided and platformed as the real America, the good America. Despite the fact, again, just based on facts here, the US. actually has the world's second largest Spanish-speaking population after Mexico coming in at

around 20%, including both first and second language speakers. We see this kind of othering and this increase, not just with Trump, but with administrations like before, right, going back decades and other governments across the globe. where sweeping statements and propaganda through what is essentially rage bait touted out across social media creates this strict set of social rules and systems where the good citizens are over here and the bad citizens are over there. Now, I want to make it very, very clear. I am not saying these people are Nazis, and that's why this kind of wrong.

right-wing authoritarianism is happening. I do think the actions of ICE in the Gestapo are growing increasingly similar day by day. But I reserve the general flippant branding of people that I don't agree with as Nazis with great caution because it is a term and a title that if administered incorrectly, cheapens the memory of the millions of people who lost their lives to real Nazis. And a lot of you wrote in with this same thought. One of you said, I do think that we are too loose with calling someone a Nazi. People like to call anyone they disagree with politically a Nazi, which cheapens the memory of my Jewish ancestors.

With that being said, it's important to be aware that the Nazi ideology is still very much alive and is something to be aware of today. I ask this person for a little more thought here on whether they believe that the term was thrown around too loosely, or if the comparison to our 20s and Germany's 30s means the term is necessary from a Jewish point of view. He said, I feel like calling them fascist or right-wing extremist is something a little more accurate, but the two are not so different in my opinion, given the tactics they are using on people. Another review wrote in saying, as a Jewish person, I really dislike the constant comparison of people you disagree with to Nazis. I think it downplays

the absolutely horrific things they did. And I agree. I think, I think again, this links with our first point we discussed about the Nazis is the best example. of evil. And because we've made them, this universally recognized yardstick of horror and extremism and villainary, it's easy to paint someone you disagree with, with the same brush, and like not really have to explain because people get it. They just understand that's the worst thing someone can be, so they have to be evil, right? Another one of you wrote, They're constantly being brought to our attention by a manipulative political discourse. You demean your opposition by comparing them.

After all, your opponents breathe there just like they did. Again, we have this idea that the Nazis and the German people aren't some like other evil alien species. They're just human beings like you and me. And if evil takes form in them, well, it's easy to call some. someone else a Nazi without needing to back that up, right? Another motherfucker who did this? Putin, who has repeatedly made baseless claims about a neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine as a justification for Russia's invasion of the country. Nazism. Evil. We must liberate. Right? Which ties in perfectly with what this listener had to say, which was. We need history to inform us how the Nazis

rose to power because they are the most extreme and modern example. Again, that concept of just 80 years ago this atrocity happening and how did this happen being so front of mind? And when we see the rise of this right-wing authoritarianism and innate belief in government-defined civil and social structures paired with increasing propaganda and social media access and and flippant misinformation. It's a scary world which doesn't look dissimilar to Germany in the 30s. But again, coming back to our gut check here, it is so incredibly dangerous to throw the term noncy around flippantly to paint someone you disagree with as evil without needn't

to justify it. It cheapens the memory of those whose lives were lost. It diminishes the rightful earned status of the Nazis as that benchmark of evil, and it's often just factually incorrect and inflammatory for rage-bait clicks and headlines. But it is also so important more in this day and age than any other to recognize patterns in behaviour and specific events and treatments of people in the manner which allowed the Nazis to come into power and to call that out as the last. loudly as possible to prevent Hitler's Germany or anything like it ever resurfacing again, which ties in to the very last listener's hot take, which is a fitting and sobering way

to end our episode on why we're obsessed with the Nazis. And she said, History is repeating itself and people are looking back at the past to learn how to act today, to learn how to stay alive. And that's largely the truth. You strip away our morbid curiosity or our want to understand this psychology or our awful sense of awe for the scale of what they did.

And the reason we're obsessed with the Nazis is because we never want to live in a world where all this supposed glory of Western civilization is reduced to a ravening, board of war criminals and fancy-looking fraud committing atrocities in the name of a singular people or a singular country or a singular race ever again. That is not a future that humanity survives.

But it is one. We are day by day approaching. So we should be obsessed with the Nazis, just like I said at the top, because they should haunt us all as to the possibilities of a world where tyranny, hate and misinformation rule, because it is a world that we will not survive. It will be the end of everything. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. Thank you so much, guys, for following along with me on our first Hot Take episode, if you wrote in. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and opinion. with me. I love learning from all of you and understanding a different points of view, especially

for such big, meaty topics like this. But guys, I do need something a little bit smoother next week. So I'm excited for our next episode because we are going to be looking at the mysterious order of French knights who guard the supposed crown of thorns of Jesus. As always, guys, you can follow us on Instagram at Hot History. Club and on TikTok at hot dot history. It has been a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and I will speak to you all next Friday. Thanks guys. Love you. Bye.