Protesters gather to denounce policies of President Donald Trump's that they describe as authoritarian during a "No Kings" rally in Miller Place, N.Y., Oct. 18, 2025. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)
by John Dear
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On this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," I speak with Daniel Hunter, writer and scholar of nonviolent resistance. He coaches and trains movements across the globe; founded ChooseDemocracy.us, which organizes against authoritarianism; and directs the organization Freedom Trainers.
His books include What Will You Do If Trump Wins, Climate Resistance Handbook and Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow. His essays about resistance to growing fascism are widely read.
Daniel Hunter is a writer and scholar of nonviolent resistance. (Courtesy photo)
"How can you help stop authoritarianism?" Hunter said to me. "You stop viewing them as legitimate; you noncooperate and don't comply with their orders."
"We are seeing unprecedented collective action. For example, over 1.5 million people participated in the Disney boycott within hours of Jimmy Kimmel being removed from his show. Disney tracked who was more powerful — the government or the people — and saw that the people are more powerful so his show was restored. … Authoritarianism does not care about polls or the number of activists protesting. Authoritarian power only cares about what it can make us do."
Hunter pointed out upcoming protests, including the national "No Kings" Day March 28 and "May Day Strong" on May 1, which calls for no work, school or shopping.
"This is a good moment," he said. "We're getting ready to take on the biggest supervillain the world has ever seen. Every action, everything we're doing — it's all adding up right now."
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