In this episode, we speak with Deeyah Khan, multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Artistic Freedom and Creativity. We discuss the importance of compassion, empathy, and non-judgment in her 2017 Emmy award-winning film, White Right: Meeting the Enemy. Topics include the promises and perils of engaging across differences, the importance of discomfort and challenging yourself, and the role of trauma and vulnerability in drawing individuals to extremist movements.

In this episode, we speak with Amarnath Amarasingam, Assistant Professor in the School of Religion and Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. We discuss the changing contours of extremism in the digital age, the role of technology in moving the fringe into the mainstream, and his co-authored journal article about far-right extremism on Facebook from 2020. Topics include the contemporary state of political extremism in Canada and abroad, how comedy and satire fit into extremist messaging, and how extremist movements are rebranding and taking advantage of new digital platforms.

In this episode, we speak with Ronald Beiner, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. We discuss the philosophical roots of anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian movements and his 2018 book, Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right. Topics include the academic controversy that inspired the book, the conflicting uses of Friedrich Nietzsche's ideas, and the challenges of engaging with dangerous ideas without giving them undue legitimacy in the classroom and the public sphere.