Reign of Error with Sarah Posner

In this episode of Reign of Error, host Sarah Posner speaks with Matthew D. Taylor, visiting scholar at Georgetown University and author of The Violent Take It by Force, about the growing influence of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and charismatic Christian nationalism within Trump’s political machine. The conversation traces how figures like Paula White, Lance Wallnau, and Ché Ahn are mobilizing spiritual warfare theology, mo...

On this episode of Reign of Error, investigative journalist Sarah Posner unpacks the implosion of Donald Trump’s White House Religious Liberty Commission after a chaotic hearing at the Museum of the Bible exposed deep fractures inside the MAGA coalition. Former beauty queen and recent Catholic convert Carrie Prejean Boller sparked outrage with antisemitic rhetoric tied to right-wing influencer Candace Owens, igniting a public feud ...

This week on Reign of Error, host Sarah Posner examines the Department of Homeland Security’s use of neo-Nazi and white nationalist imagery in ICE recruitment ads—and what it reveals about the deeper ideological currents shaping Trump’s second term. In conversation with political theorist Laura K. Field, author of Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, Posner traces how once-fringe intellectual movements have consolidated...

Last week, the Department of Justice escalated its prosecution of anti-ICE activists at a St. Paul, Minnesota church by arresting two journalists who were covering the protest: Emmy Award–winning independent reporter Georgia Fort, vice president of the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, and Don Lemon, a former CNN host now reporting independently. Charging journalists with conspiring to violate worshipe...

Host Sarah Posner examines Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s escalating campaign to remake the Pentagon in the image of a militant, hyper-masculine Christian nationalism—from dismantling small-business contracting as “DEI,” to purging diversity programs, hosting monthly Christian prayer meetings inside the Pentagon, and framing U.S. military power as divinely sanctioned. As Trump rattles the global order with threats against NATO al...

One year into Donald Trump’s second term, his administration is openly reframing civil rights as a threat to white Americans. From attacks on DEI to the gutting of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Trump has moved to turn the federal government away from protecting equality and toward enforcing white grievance—under the banner of combating “anti-Christian bias,” “woke ideology,” and defending gun rights. This episode ...

Reign of Error is a weekly podcast hosted by acclaimed journalist and author Sarah Posner, exploring how religious and ideological extremism—especially white Christian nationalism—has become central to U.S. politics in the Trump era and beyond. Bridging investigative journalism and interdisciplinary scholarship, the show unpacks current events, uncovering their historical and ideological roots to illuminate the forces fueling the s...