EPISODE NOTES

The MPV team is currently hard at work on Beyond Polarization, a limited series where we talk to people who are finding solutions to the increasing polarization we face in the United States. In the meantime, we bring you this episode from our friends at Disrupting Peace, a podcast from the World Peace Foundation about "why peace hasn't worked, and how it still could." 

What beliefs make people willing to commit violence, and what could change their minds? This episode explores what makes individuals vulnerable to white supremacist beliefs, what it means when extremism becomes mainstream, the surprising permeability of these groups, and how to talk to people in your life who express racist ideology.

Peter Simi is a professor of Sociology at Chapman University, and an expert on extremist groups and violence in the US. Among his many publications, he is co-author of American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate, and Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can be Stopped.

Sara Winegar Budge holds a doctorate in Psychology and is a licensed psychologist in Oregon. She is the Director of US Programs at Moonshot, which builds technology to identify and disrupt organized crime, child sexual exploitation, and trafficking, among other forms of abuse and violence. Her clinical work focuses on individuals who are or have been involved in violent extremism. 

Disrupting Peace is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson.