Black Pilled

Elle Reeve's new book grabbed my title before I could. Suggestions?

Ouch! Somebody just came out with a book using my proposed title.

The CNN correspondent Elle Reeve has done a fantastic job covering the same militia movements and authoritarian extremists I write about. And she recognized the power of their phrase, “the black pill.”

Many Trump supporters say they have taken a red pill, like the hero of the The Matrix, and woken up to the reality that Trump is their savior. But the more radical, nihilistic elements of the far right mock these MAGA normies as naive. Trump isn’t radical enough for them. They “took the black pill,” because only violence and destruction will work. Being “black-pilled” is a boast.

Reeve is a major player, (her Charlottesville reporting was superb). Her new book is already out, so I’m going to need a new title.

But I’m only changing my title. I remain confident that my book is different, deeper and larger, with a mix of political theory, first-person militia reporting, social science and psychology, and my global perspective on the violent politics of countries that have already been through civil wars, dictatorships, and authoritarian collapse.

Any suggestions for a new title?

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Review | ‘Black Pill’ is a disturbing look at how ‘meme magic’ captured the GOP

Elle Reeve’s deeply reported book explores the slippery irony and dangerous absurdities at the heart of what was once the alt-right and is now Trump’s GOP

By Becca Rothfeld

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/07/10/black-pill-elle-reeve-review/