The Listening Well

Qanon is a far-right extremist group that has moved out from the fringes to the forefront, gaining more faithful followers as people were isolated and online during the pandemic. The group’s presence was clear and prominent in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

While Qanon has been tearing at the fabric of our nation, it has also been tearing individual families apart. Many sons and daughters of Qanon faithful, for instance, say they feel they have "lost" their parents into the rabbit hole of the beliefs.

Daniel Green wrote and produced this episode as part of our series "Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When things Fall Apart." In this episode, we meet one man who says it feels like he’s grieving because he lost his parents to Qanon. He is still striving to bring them back to reality.

Our national story, the historical narrative taught to our children, has been at the forefront of some raging rhetoric. The issue includes how this nation teaches history, and which part of history is taught in schools.

Right-wing media has raised loud objections to teaching Critical Race Theory. Many point out that the criticism over critical race theory is simply not logical and only serves to fire up animosities and spark growing fears.

As part of our series "Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When things Fall Apart," Johnny Dorcil gives us a look at how California recently approved a controversial ethnic studies curriculum and how the fight in California has become emblematic of the national battle.

Violinists Etienne Gara and YuEun Kim, fix up a VW bus, paint it candy-apple red and drive up the coast. Their goal is to bring a little music and a little joy to farmers, winemakers, and anyone else they meet along the way. They call this project MusiKaravan. 

As part of our series “Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When Things Fall Apart,” Polina Cherezova takes us along their musical journey. 

You can follow them further on their YouTube channel as they post episodes about their travels. There’s more on their Instagram, at DeliriumMusicum.com, and at MusiKaravan.com.

More and more people have been facing real-life dangers after posting political content online. 

As part of our series “Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When Things Fall Apart,”  Elizabeth Islas introduces us to one person who has faced this danger. A teenager on TikTok. This 17-year-old TikTok creator has nearly 300,000 followers and built social media fame by creating political content. But last year, he received death threats that were no longer limited to just the cyber world…

With the pandemic, came a rise in anti-Asian violence and hate crimes, largely sparked by political rhetoric. Now, members of the Asian American community have been coming together in efforts to fight back ... and break away from the perceived tradition of enduring, stoically and silently. 

As part of our series “Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When Things Fall Apart,” reporter Christine Kim follows members of the Asian American community as they raise their voices together on social media and out on the streets.

Some of the organizations featured in this episode include: Asians with Attitudes, Stop AAPI Hate, #Hate is a Virus.