Common Sense, Ep. 64: Extremism in the Pacific Northwest
And how we can fight back against the disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy theories that distort our shared reality
Episode synopsis:
In this episode I interview reporter and author David Neiwert. Neiwert has covered extremism in the Pacific Northwest since the start of his career decades ago in the Idaho panhandle, where he first encountered the Aryan Nation. He has authored many books, on this subject and others, and offers insights on the link between conspiracy theories and extremism. We also talk about how we can fight back against the pernicious falsehoods that undermine the very foundation of our republic.
Intro
Hello and welcome to episode 64 of Common Sense! I’m Dominick Bonny and in this episode, we’re going to be hearing from longtime reporter and author David Neiwert about his decades of experience covering extremism in the pacific northwest. He was born and raised in Idaho and his first job right out of college put him right down the road from the budding Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, in the panhandle. As I said, he’s covered the topic for decades now and his latest book is titled Alt-America, and I also recommend checking out a copy of his book before that, titled: “Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us” from your local library.
Let’s jump right into that interview now.
Interview segment I
Stay tuned for more after the break.
Commercial break
Hello and welcome back to Common Sense. Let’s jump right back into my interview with reporter, author and expert in extremism in the pacific northwest David Neiwert right now.
Interview segment II
I’d like to thank David Neiwert for joining me as my guest for this episode. It’s important to know and understand how misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories work in our increasingly online world because democracy only works when we the people are literate and engaged in our own government. Conspiracy theories and misinformation cause apathy, which results in citizens disengaging from the democratic process. They gum up the works of a republic like ours with nonsense and lead ultimately to us mistrusting each other to such a degree that we can’t accomplish anything together. I recommend picking up Neiwert’s book “Red Pill, Blue Pill How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us” and giving it a read.
That’s all for this episode, join me next week and we head to the Wenatchee Valley YMCA and learn about upcoming changes for that organization. I’m Dominick Bonny and that’s next time on Common Sense.
Sources:
Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump by David Neiwert: https://bit.ly/3qy9BBf
Red Pill, Blue Pill How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us by David Neiwert: https://bit.ly/3D7pgwu
The Tale of the Ayran Nations, a Twitter thread by David Neiwert: https://bit.ly/3IAh4WG