Episode Description
This has been a hard week, which means this is going to be a bit of a hard episode. We’re going to dig into some uncomfortable, painful stuff. If that doesn’t feel right for you, feel free to skip this one.
See, when I initially planned this week’s episode, I had wanted to talk about youth far-right radicalization.
A teen in the Quebec City area was recently charged with a terrorism-related offence. According to the RCMP, he had allegedly making propaganda for the militant accelerationist neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen.
But then, something truly unthinkable happened.
In the small B.C. community of Tumbler Ridge, an 18-year-old shooter opened fire on a school and, over the course of the incident, took the lives of six children and two adults.
It is devastating. And as if that cruelty, that unbearable pain wasn’t enough, some people immediately twisted this news to vilify and demonize the transgender community.
This wasn’t just fringe twitter accounts. It included major newspaper columnists, elected politicians, and influencers who had recently been invited to the conservative party convention.
All of it a cruel, selfish distraction from what actually matters: the victims and their families.
Today, we’re going to talk about all of this: youth radicalization and the danger it poses, misinformation in times of crises, and vicious transphobia.
To help me do that, I’ve got two incredible guests — people I’m extra grateful for this week, because these conversations aren’t easy.
Amarnath Amarasingam is an associate professor at Queen’s university and is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. He’s written several books and his study of extremism and radicalization has seen him directly interview members of major international extremist groups, as well as their families and friends.
Fae Johnstone is an iconic tour de force who is doing some heavy lifting in saving our world. She’s the executive director of Queer Momentum, a non-profit advocacy organization powering queer political action across Canada. She was once on a chocolate bar, which made the worst people really mad. She’s probably your least favourite person’s least favourite activist.
I hope you find today’s conversation interesting.
See, when I initially planned this week’s episode, I had wanted to talk about youth far-right radicalization.
A teen in the Quebec City area was recently charged with a terrorism-related offence. According to the RCMP, he had allegedly making propaganda for the militant accelerationist neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen.
But then, something truly unthinkable happened.
In the small B.C. community of Tumbler Ridge, an 18-year-old shooter opened fire on a school and, over the course of the incident, took the lives of six children and two adults.
It is devastating. And as if that cruelty, that unbearable pain wasn’t enough, some people immediately twisted this news to vilify and demonize the transgender community.
This wasn’t just fringe twitter accounts. It included major newspaper columnists, elected politicians, and influencers who had recently been invited to the conservative party convention.
All of it a cruel, selfish distraction from what actually matters: the victims and their families.
Today, we’re going to talk about all of this: youth radicalization and the danger it poses, misinformation in times of crises, and vicious transphobia.
To help me do that, I’ve got two incredible guests — people I’m extra grateful for this week, because these conversations aren’t easy.
Amarnath Amarasingam is an associate professor at Queen’s university and is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. He’s written several books and his study of extremism and radicalization has seen him directly interview members of major international extremist groups, as well as their families and friends.
Fae Johnstone is an iconic tour de force who is doing some heavy lifting in saving our world. She’s the executive director of Queer Momentum, a non-profit advocacy organization powering queer political action across Canada. She was once on a chocolate bar, which made the worst people really mad. She’s probably your least favourite person’s least favourite activist.
I hope you find today’s conversation interesting.