Jeff Schoep, former commander of the largest Nazi party in the United States, joins us for an hour-long conversation on his experience, deradicalization, and the parallels he sees between Islamists and neo-Nazis, along with the alarming trend toward extremism in American politics in a post-coronavirus world.
Over the next hour and a half, we cover:
Conspiracy theories in the time of a virus pandemic.
Will the coronavirus bring on the "boogaloo"?
Is America headed toward the climactic war that extremists want?
Are we becoming radicalized and cult-minded?
We discuss whether psychological violence is the connective tissue between radicalization and violent extremism.
Are extremists prophets of social breakdowns?
How do propagandists find marketing opportunities in crisis and violence?
What needs to change within our culture and society in order to dissolve the lure of extremist ideologies?
How the "grey space" between black and white is an opportunity to create something new.
Identity markers prime us for extremism.
A desire for glory and remembering what it means to be a hero.
How legacy got Jeff into...and out of...the Nazi movement.
Fascination as a gateway to hate?
The alarming behavior parallels between Nazis and Islamists.
What is made up of the wall that extremists put up to block out human dignity and empathy?
The skepticism and challenges of renouncing Nazism.
What does peace mean to Jeff?
About Shireen Qudosi
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing.
In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism.
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community.
