"Salad bar extremism"
refers to a trend where violent extremists combine and mix ideologies
from various sources, including far-right, anti-government, and
conspiracy theories, to form their belief systems and justify violence. This
"salad bar" approach results in a lack of ideological coherence and
makes tracking and countering threats more complex, as individuals may
draw on contradictory ideas to suit their personal grievances and
worldviews.
Hosts
About the episode
In
the past few years, we have witnessed a frightening spiral of political
violence. We’ve seen the killing of Charlie Kirk; the killing of Brian
Thompson, the health insurance executive; the assassination of a
Minnesota House Speaker and her husband; the shooting of a Minnesota
state senator and his wife; several attempted assassinations of Donald
Trump; an attack on Nancy Pelosi’s home and husband; a plot to kidnap
the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer; and calls to lynch Vice
President Mike Pence on January 6.
- As The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance writes, this is looking to be “an age of assassinations.”
LaFrance, the executive editor of The Atlantic, has written tens of thousands of words, including cover stories for the magazine, on the history of political violence in the U.S.
Today, we talk about
media coverage of political violence before getting to the hardest
question:
How can America survive a period of mass delusion, deep
division, and political violence without seeing the permanent
dissolution of the ties that bind us?
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Adrienne LaFrance
Producer: Devon BaroldiEnd of article
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