The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out)
Written by Tina Nguyen
Narrated by Tina Nguyen
3/5
()
About this audiobook
Her very first job was working for a little-known journalist named Tucker Carlson. She’s chugged Mountain Dews with the first Breitbart writers, poured over conspiracy theories from COVID-19 deniers, and visited the apocalyptic Patriot Church deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. The right is now a MAGA cult. And Tina Nguyen knows because she was raised by it, back when it wasn’t one.
In 2008, in the weeks leading up to the election of Barack Obama, Nguyen was a history-loving, politics-obsessed college student at Claremont McKenna College, drawn there by a boyfriend—and a research institute called the Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom. Swept up by pro-America rhetoric and promises of a career in journalism, Nguyen was drawn into the world of right-wing student activism, and the early days of the movement now known as MAGA. In The MAGA Diaries, she tells not only her story of loving and leaving the conservative movement (well before Trump), but the history of the right-wing, painting a shocking picture of how they recruit, train, and indoctrinate generations of young people in search of opportunity—think dinners with Peter Thiel, conventions that rival Coachella, and the ever-elusive promise of future job security—and shape them into the influential leaders and supporting cast of tomorrow’s Republican party. They are ruthless in building robust networks of power, even if it means demolishing entire civic institutions, from women’s rights to fair elections—and staging a coup when it doesn’t work out.
In The MAGA Diaries, Nguyen pulls back the curtain on the conservative machine for the first time, shining a light on the systematized on-ramp for young Republicans. These are the new leaders of the right, and it’s urgent we start paying attention.
Editor's Note
Full of scary truths…
Nguyen, a political journalist, gives readers an inside look at the machinations of the far right, including how they recruit new leaders. Nguyen’s path into — and away from — extreme conservatism began in college, putting her in the same circles as the likes of Tucker Carlson and revealing the cult-like atmosphere of the Republican Party. Of all the scary truths revealed in “The MAGA Diaries,” perhaps the most frightening is the revelation that right-wing extremists are playing a very long game — and winning.
Tina Nguyen
Tina Nguyen is a national correspondent for Puck, covering the world of Donald Trump and the American right. Previously, Nguyen was a White House reporter for Politico, a staff reporter for Vanity Fair Hive, and an editor at Mediaite. A Brooklyn transplant, Nguyen graduated from Claremont McKenna College and lives in Washington. Follow her on Twitter @Tina_Nguyen.
Related to The MAGA Diaries
Related audiobooks
Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burn Book: A Tech Love Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Personal Memoirs For You
Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Stay Married Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night: New translation by Marion Wiesel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Lucy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Choice: Escaping the Past and Embracing the Possible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Wreckage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The MAGA Diaries
17 ratings0 reviews