The MAGA Diaries

My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out)

By: Tina Nguyen

Narrated by: Tina Nguyen

This explosive “must-read for anyone who cares about the future of our democracy” (Brian Stelter, New York Times bestselling author) chronicles the rise of the MAGA movement from acclaimed political journalist Tina Nguyen, who began her career—and her education—on the ground levels of the conservative recruiting machine.

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 but the history of the right wing, painting a shocking picture of how they recruit, train, and indoctrinate generations of young people and shape them into the influential leaders and the 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 this “sobering, endlessly readable fly-on-the-wall account of creeping fascism” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Nguyen pulls back the curtain on the conservative machine, 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.

Confused

Author's story is worthwhile, but convoluted. It is still hard for me to understand the Why in this narrative.

Loved this

I listened to the audio book here. I recommend you do the same. / This is the first audio book that I did as much binge-listening to. Finished it in a day, which is uncommon for me. / Plus, I actually felt challenged by passages in a way that I believe move me forward in a way I think I’ll be processing for at least a little while. I’m tempted to tell you which chapters made me think (13, but only after reading the context). / While very engaging, I hold back on the 5th star on the basis that a lot of people are locked into their personal ideology and won’t appreciate being challenged about that. I’ll enthusiastically tell my liberal friends about my experience listening to this book. But I’ll also feel obliged to tell them it’s the story of alternate versions of reality to what they’ll want to hear. And the epilogue could have been held for the prologue of a sequel. Which I look forward to. Shit is happening so fast, it’s problematic to try to catch up by adding a forced addendum.

Not sure what to think.

I suppose I was expecting to understand the "and how I got out" byline better by listening to this book.

While there was a wealth of information on the rights early grooming techniques and sources (which was fascinating), I'm not sure the " how I got out" is addressed. There are career path choices made for normal reasons like making a living, but I don't think the term " how I got out " was addressed. As someone desperately trying to understand family Magas (why I chose to purchase it) it wasn't very insightful.

While the attempt is appreciated and the information on the workings on the far right is also appreciated, I'm not any closer to understanding the Maga movement. How you get pulled in as well as how you can get out.

Soooooooo Insightful!

I learned so much about the MAGA movement and its antecedents. I follow the author’s reporting in Puck. So good.

Memoir of a stranger

I heard her on a podcast and wanted to hear more about her journey into and out of the maga movement. What I got was the life story of someone I’ve never heard of, with all the minutiae of her life and education. It felt like the story of her more than the story of a movement. I kept waiting for it to hit its stride but by the halfway mark I was eager for it to be over.

She’s a fine writer but not everyone should narrate their story. This is just my Monk-brain getting hyper focused on a weird thing I notice, but the way she says “stipend” was new to me, and I hated it. But that’s a me problem I suppose.

There are good details in here about some key players in the magaverse, but the way she always connected them to herself or inserted them into her personal narrative was exhausting.

Giving it all 3 stars because it might just be that I’m overly critical of authors that make the story about themselves. But then again, it may just not be a great book.