I'm so glad to welcome Dr. Amy Cooter, Director of Research, Academic Development and Innovation for the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at Middlebury College to discuss her area of expertise, the modern militia movement in the U.S. and its ties to political violence and domestic extremism. Dr. Cooter's years of study included spending time with actual militia members in the state of Michigan and what she discovered may surprise those who think of militias as a monolith of government hating Americans. Hers is an important voice on a topic that has reach into our present climate, and if we're to play a part in seeming the potential violence that appears to be brewing between political divides, I'm just grateful she has shared it with us on FLIP IT ON ITS HEAD.

Show Notes:

• Essays

Dr. Cooter's essay in American Scientific; Citizen Militias in the U.S. Are Moving toward More Violent Extremism - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/citizen-militias-in-the-u-s-are-moving-toward-more-violent-extremism/

Secy. Hillary Rodham Clinton's essay in The Atlantic: The Weaponization of Loneliness - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/hillary-clinton-essay-loneliness-epidemic/674921/

• Books

Nazis of Copley Square, by Charles R. Gallagher - https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674983717

Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, by Jeffrey Toobin - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Homegrown/Jeffrey-Toobin/9781668013571