AI Summary
5 min readIn 1934, a Chicago socialite named Elizabeth Dilling published The Red Network: A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots. It was a phonebook-sized list of people she had identified as communists or communist sympathizers—a pre-McCarthy kill list that would later be cited in the McCarthy hearings themselves. Dilling was not a marginal figure. She was a wealthy, well-connected woman who had private audiences with the Pope, traveled the Orient Express, and used her inheritance to build a career as one of the first major female far-right influencers in America. She is, in many ways, the original template for figures like Candace Owens and Laura Loomer.
The Making of a Reactionary
Elizabeth Eloise Kirkpatrick was born in Chicago in 1894, the same year and city as the Pullman Strike, a landmark moment in American labor history. Her family was on the other side of that struggle. Her father was a famous surgeon, her mother came from a line of Anglican bishops, and her brother traveled the world with Baron von Zeppelin. The family was wealthy enough that when her father died young, her mother simply took over running things, and their financial comfort never wavered. This created a strange dynamic in young Elizabeth: she grew up seeing a woman in charge, yet she would spend her life advocating for traditional values that kept women at home.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (06:06) **Introducing Elizabeth Dilling** - Robert frames her as the "first Candace Owens" or "first Laura Loomer," a crucial early female far-right influencer who has been overlooked by history.
- 2 (06:14) **Birth and Background in a Labor Hotbed** - Elizabeth Dilling (née Kirkpatrick) is born in Chicago in 1894, the same year and city as the Pullman Strike, a pivotal moment in labor history.
- 3 (11:04) **A Privileged Upbringing and a Strong Mother** - Her father dies young, leaving her mother in charge, which instills in her a conflicting view of traditional values and female independence.
- 4 (17:04) **First Fascist Boyfriend and Ideological Awakening** - In 1917, she meets a young army officer who introduces her to Nietzsche and Hegel, but also tells her women are not human beings.
- 5 (19:15) **Marriage to Albert Dilling** - She marries Albert Walwick Dilling, a lawyer and engineer who is ideologically malleable and allows her to take the lead while maintaining a public facade of male authority.
- 6 (24:15) **The Vow to Keep America Out of War** - After a trip to post-WWI Europe, she is offended by anti-American attitudes and vows to prevent the US from ever helping Europe in a war again.
- 7 (33:19) **The Soviet Union Trip: Horrified by Nude Bathers** - In 1931, she tours the USSR on a government-managed trip and is horrified not by Stalinist horrors, but by atheism, lack of luxury, and nude swimmers near a church.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Robert sits down with the magnanimous Katy Stoll to discuss the predecessor of Phyllis Schlafly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones: Elizabeth Dilling
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