Despite living in a global age, the rise of political extremism reflects a world that has never been more divided – we only need to look at the storming of the US Capitol to see the great rift that exists between the ‘left’ and ‘right’. How did we get here, and where to next? 

In this episode, Amelia is joined by Dr Ben Rich and Michael Wieteska from the Curtin School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. They unpack what makes someone a political extremist and explore the rising appeal of political extremist groups. They also discuss some of the defining characteristics of the left and right, and the problems that occur when we solely label ourselves as one or the other. 

• Political extremism and violence [01:24]
• Determinists vs free agents [03:40]
• The role of education in extremism [11:05]
• Terrorism in the US [14:15]
• Treating social problems as terrorism [17:24]
• The extreme right and the ‘nostalgic past’ [25:44]
• Political extremism after Trump? [30:44]

Learn more

• Dr Ben Rich research profile
• Mr Michael Wieteska contact

Got any questions, or suggestions for future topics?

Email [email protected].

Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of the university.

Music: OKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

You can read the full transcript for the episode here.