Photo: twitter.com/talialavin
In February, journalist and author Talia Lavin will discuss the rise in extremism and anti-semitism.
Award-winning Jewish author and journalist Talia Lavin will visit Cincinnati in February for a discussion about the rise of extremism and anti-semitism in America.
The public discussion is part of Action Tank’s Preventing Political Extremism project and will be moderated by Katie Vogel, an organizer for the Hakhel Network of Independent Jewish Communities.
In Lavin’s 2020 book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, Lavin goes undercover online to reveal the identities and inner-workings of white nationalists, white supremacists, national socialists, Proud Boys and Christian extremists.
“Talia assumes a range of identities, going undercover as a blonde Nazi babe, a forlorn incel, and a violent Aryan femme fatale. Along the way, she discovers a whites-only dating site geared toward racists looking for love, a disturbing extremist YouTube channel run by a fourteen-year-old girl with over 800,000 followers, the everyday heroes of the antifascist movement, and much more,” Culture Warlord’s publisher, Legacy Lit, writes on its website.
Culture Warlords was selected as one of Time magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2020.
"As she witheringly reports on what extremists say when they think they’re alone on the type of websites that have in recent years inspired real-world violence, Lavin also delights in corrupting their world," The Time review reads.
A New York Times review of the Lavin’s Culture Warlords praised the book for its directness as well as its humor.
“One of the marvels of this furious book is how insolent and funny Lavin is; she refuses to soft-pedal the monstrous views she encounters, and she clearly takes pleasure in cutting them down to size. She is aided in her mission by the fact that the language of extremists tends to occupy the space between risible and profoundly dumb,” the reviewer writes.
Event attendees will be the first to give input on the creation of Action Tank's Preventing Political Extremism toolkit. The group says the toolkit supports “resident efforts to identify and combat political extremism and anti-semitism within their families, communities, and cities.” It's set to be released in late summer.
Lavin's discussion will be held at at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Mayerson JCC on 8485 Ridge Avenue in Cincinnati. Tickets are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation. Pre-registration is required.
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