Welcome back to Global Takes on Trump, a podcast from Global Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. This time, regular host Synne Dyvik is joined by PhD researcher Tanja Weis for a conversation with Melanie Richter-Montpetit about some of the key members of Trump’s coalition: Tradwives and Techbros.

In this wide-ranging conversation, our experts discuss how gender is constructed, how it relates to race, empire, power, and crisis, and how Trump and his tech bro and trad wife supporters stoke these anxieties to fuel their reactionary project.

This episode’s guest host is Tanja Weis, a PhD researcher in International Relations at the University of Sussex. Tanja’s doctoral research examines the attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights across Europe by drawing on critiques of family, empire, and liberalism.

Our expert in this episode is Dr. Melanie Richter-Montpetit, Associate Professor in International Security. Much of her research examines how gender, sexual and racial formations are fundamental to global politics in ‘the colonial present’ with a focus on liberal war and security regimes.

Melanie teaches modules on Sex, Race and Violence as well as the Liberal World Order across our undergraduate degrees programmes in International Relations.

During today’s conversation on the role of gender, sex, race and power, Synne, Tanja and Melanie drew on a wide range of scholarship, reporting and, yes, other podcasts. You can keep this conversation going by reading, watching and listening to some of those resources.

Further reporting:

• Trad Values Meets Tech, from Gaby Del Valle
• The False Escapism of Soft Girls and Tradwives, in Time Magazine
• Kiera Butler’s deeper dive into JD Vance and the 'TheoBros'
• Tradwife Content Offers Fundamentalism Fit for Instagram, by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis

Books and Articles:

• Anne McClintock’s Imperial leather: Race, gender, and sexuality in the colonial contest.
• Gagan Kaur’s Master Thesis from City University, New York (CUNY), Tradwives: The Housewifization of the Girl Boss
• A Well-Trained, by Tia Levings
• Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter’s Reactionary Democracy: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream

Podcasts:

• A Bit Fruity, on Spotify

Against the backdrop of Trump’s threats to annex Canada and Greenland, in our second episode, regular host Dr Synne Dyvik is joined by Prof Alan Lester for a conversation with Dr David Wearing to discuss the past, present and future of the US empire.

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Welcome to Global Takes on Trump, a podcast from the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, based in Brighton, UK, where we ask what Trump’s second term means for global politics today.

Join our regular host, Dr Synne Dyvik and a range of experts from across Sussex as we take on Trump 2.0.

In our first episode, Synne is joined by Prof Peter Newell and Dr Will Lock to discuss Trump’s determination to drill, baby, drill. Together, they explore Trump’s disastrous environmental programme, what America’s retreat from green policies means for the wider world, and where we can find hope in our struggle to navigate the climate emergency.

Guest Host Peter Newell is Professor of International Relations, the co-founder and research director of the Rapid Transition Alliance and author, most recently, of States of Transition (CUP, 2025)

This episode’s expert is Will Lock, Assistant Professor in International Development and Anthropology. Will’s research explores carbon offsetting, reforestation and food systems, and he is the co-convenor of Sussex’s new BA in Climate Justice, Sustainability and Development..

To learn how to fight the climate crisis with Will, Pete and more of Sussex’s world-leading researchers, click here.

Global Takes On Trump is brought to you by the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, based in Brighton, on the south coast of the UK. Join host Synne Dyvik and our Global experts as we ask what Trump 2.0 means for international politics today.

During today’s discussion, Synne, Pete and Will drew on a wide range of scholarship, reporting and, yes, other podcasts. You can keep this conversation going by reading, watching and listening to some of those resources:

Climate Justice BA

• Climate Justice, Sustainability and Development BA (Hons)

Additional Reading

• Petro-Masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire, by Cara Duggett
• The Great Driving Right Show, by the Zetkin Collective
• No Is Not Enough, by Naomi Klein
• Feminist Ecologies by Diana Ojeda, Padini Nirmal, Dianne Rocheleau and Jody Emel
• Dining Across the Divide, in the Guardian Magazine

Podcasts

• Drilled

• Red Media