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On today's episode, the director of the Bard Center for Study of Hate and author of "Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debates," Ken Stern, joins me to discuss the events of October 7th and how the Antisemitism Awareness Act is being used to censor speech. A scholar who developed the working definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Ken offers discussions about how political discourse is a more effective way of combatting the hatred of Jews. In the episode, we also touch upon the history of Zionism and whether it is essential for Judaism.

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Kenneth Stern Website
Staff: Director Kenneth S. Stern – Bard Center for the Study of Hate

Kenneth Stern Book
Amazon.com: Stern: The Conflict over the Conflict: 9781487507367: Stern, Kenneth S., Strossen, Nadine: Books

Articles about Kenneth Stern

•  The Problem with Defining Antisemitism | The New Yorker 
•  Colleges Use His Antisemitism Definition to Censor. He Calls It a ‘Travesty.’ (chronicle.com) 
•  Author of a definition on antisemitism: It wasn't meant to chill speech (bostonglobe.com) 
•  ‘The Conflict over the Conflict’ | Penn Today (upenn.edu) 

•  The Origins of the Rothschilds Conspiracy Legends & Rise of Modern Antisemitism w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com) 
• The Evolution of Far-Right Terrorism in the 21st Century w/ Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware (buzzsprout.com)
•  Antisemitism: The Conspiracy Theory of the Enemy Above (buzzsprout.com) 

•  The State of Antisemitism in America 2023: AJC's Survey of American Jews | AJC 
•  Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza (gallup.com) 

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On today's episode, Mike Rothschild returns to discuss his new book, Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds & 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories. We go over the history and legacy of the Rothchild's name in Judaism and how they became target number one for antisemitic narratives.  We also speak about the current state of antisemitism and whether the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2024 is the best way to reduce the hatred of Jews.

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Mike Rothschild Twitter/Website

• Mike Rothschild (no relation) (@rothschildmd) / X
• Mike Rothschild – Conspiracy theory researcher and debunker (themikerothschild.com)

Mike Rothschild Book
Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories: Rothschild, Mike: 9781685890643: Amazon.com: Books

McNally Jackson Bookstore
McNally Jackson Books |

Recommended Episodes 

• Here Comes the Storm: The Origins of QAnon w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com)
• Antisemitism: The Conspiracy Theory of the Enemy Above (buzzsprout.com)

References

• 'Who elected George Soros to dictate laws?': El Salvador President Bukele blasts global elites (youtube.com)

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On today's episode, lecturer and researcher on conspiratorial beliefs Ilya Yablokov joins me to discuss Russia Today's usage of conspiratorial ideologies and how that has helped the Kremlin villainize the U.S. He shares his thoughts on how U.S. and Russian conspiracy theory culture is similar and different. As well as address the effectiveness is news media literacy.

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Ilya Yablokov's Book and New York Times articles 

• Russia Today and Conspiracy Theories: People, Power and Politics on RT - Kindle edition by Yablokov, Ilya, Chatterje-Doody, Precious N. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
• Opinion | How Putin’s Propaganda System Keeps Him in Power - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
• How conspiracy theories help to maintain Vladimir Putin’s grip on power in Russia (theconversation.com)

Recommended Episode

• News Media Literacy: An Educators Tool Against Misinformation w/ DeMario Phipps Smith (buzzsprout.com)

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In today's episode, Royce Hutson, Ph.D., joins me to discuss the role of social workers in addressing political extremism and the effectiveness of violent extremism prevention programs. We also discuss the state of political extremism with the upcoming 2024 elections.

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Royce A. Hutson Literature Review 

• Preventing Violent Extremism and Social Work: Recent US History and Prospects | Journal of Human Rights and Social Work (springer.com)

Recommended Episodes

•  The Evolution of Far-Right Terrorism in the 21st Century w/ Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware (buzzsprout.com) 

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On today's episode, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Pierre joins me to discuss the psychosocial elements that contributed to the susceptibility of the QAnon movement, and the varying degrees of convictions held by Q followers. We explore what the future might hold for QAnon as a potential Trump presidency slowly creeps back into power.

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Dr. Joseph Pierre Twitter/Website

• Joe Pierre, MD - psychunseen.bsky.social (@psychunseen) / X (twitter.com)
• Joe Pierre, MD (drjoepierre.com)

Book: The Social Science of QAnon
Amazon.com: The Social Science of QAnon: 9781009055024: Miller, Monica K.: Books

Recommended Episodes 

• QAnon: A Psychiatric Assessment of a Delusion Like Belief w/ Dr. Brian Holoyda (buzzsprout.com)
• Here Comes the Storm: The Origins of QAnon w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware counterterrorism experts from the Council on Foreign Relations stop by to discuss their new book "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far Right Terrorism in America." which tracks the history of white supremacy from the Reconstruction era all the way to the modern-day America.  They offer policy suggestions on how to combat the rise of political extremism and their thoughts into the state of democracy with the upcoming 2024 election.

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Bruce Hoffman & Jacob Wear Book
God, Guns, and Sedition | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Recommended Readings
The Third Generation of Online Radicalization | Program on Extremism | The George Washington University (gwu.edu)

Recommended Episodes 

• Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy w/ Matson & Tawni Browning (buzzsprout.com)
• Here Comes the Storm: The Origins of QAnon w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com)
• QAnon: A Psychiatric Assessment of a Delusion Like Belief w/ Dr. Brian Holoyda (buzzsprout.com)
• How the Far-Right hijacked the Wellness Movement w/ Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker (buzzsprout.com)
• The Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory & The Reaction from the Republican Establishment (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Matson and Tawni Browning join to discuss their 2023 book "The Hate Next Door: Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy," which documents their experience going undercover as white political extremists infiltrating hate groups such as the National Alliance and Unit 88. They offer some reasons why people joined white supremacy groups and advice to help anyone falling down the rabbit hole of hate.

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Matson and Tawni Website
The Hate Next Door | Matt&Tawni Browning (mattandtawni.com)

Escaping Polygamy
Watch Escaping Polygamy Full Episodes, Video & More | Lifetime (mylifetime.com)

Other Social Chemist Episodes

• What Is A Conspiracy Theorist? w/ Aoife Gallagher (buzzsprout.com)
• A New Era in Disinformation: AI Generated Imagery w/ Todd C. Helmus (buzzsprout.com)
• Here Comes the Storm: The Origins of QAnon w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com)
• QAnon: A Psychiatric Assessment of a Delusion Like Belief w/ Dr. Brian Holoyda (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, DeMario Phipps-Smith, a Senior Manager of Community Learning at the News Literacy Project, joins me to discuss news media literacy. As AI technology evolves at a fast pace, scholars on misinformation wonder how this will change our understanding of false narratives. What role do educators have in this social problem, and what tools can be used? The discussion will help us better understand this complex issue and offer resources to help combat disinformation.

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Educator Resources
News Literacy Project

DeMario Phipps-Smith
DeMario Phipps-Smith | LinkedIn

Recommended Social Chemist Episode
A New Era in Disinformation: AI Generated Imagery w/ Todd C. Helmus (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Matthew Facciani a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame in the Computer Science and Engineering department joins me to discuss how negative vaccine attitudes don't necessarily tell us about public health behaviors. We touch upon whether government regulations of social media to mitigate misinformation are effective and other strategies in reducing conspiracy theory consumption. Lastly, we talk about his first book "Misguided: Where Misinformation starts, how it spreads, and what to do about it" and the central theme of his work.

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Matthew Facciani Profile/Literature Review 

• Matthew Facciani
• Matthew Facciani (@matthewfacciani) on Threads
• Political network composition predicts vaccination attitudes - ScienceDirect

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

• Do Liberal Conspiracy Theories Exist in Contemporary Politics? w/ Ph.D. Benjamin Dow (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Todd C. Helmus, a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, joins me to talk about how AI-generated imagery will change how mis and disinformation is created and disseminated. We discussed how effective regulating this technology will be in mitigating propaganda and political extremism and whether it will alter how researchers in fake news understand this issue.   

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Todd C. Helmus Profiles

•  Todd C. Helmus - Profile | RAND 
•  Todd Helmus (@Helmus) / X (twitter.com) 

Todd C. Helmus Article

•  Artificial Intelligence, Deepfakes, and Disinformation: A Primer | RAND 

Recommend Social Chemist Episode 

•  How Susceptible are you to Misinformation? w/ Dr Rakoen Maertens (buzzsprout.com)