The Return of the Assassin
Wisdom of Crowds
Intro
Hosts introduce Geoff Shullenberger, the episode theme of political violence and assassins, and invite listeners to subscribe for bonus content.
Today’s guest is Geoff Shullenberger, the managing editor of Compact and a writer whose articles and reviews have appeared in American Affairs, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Atlantis, UnHerd, and more. Last week, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Geoff wrote an incisive piece titled, “The Return of the Assassin.” In it, he observes that the nature of violence has shifted in recent years, away from the mass shooting and towards the targeted political assassination. Why this is the case, and what it bodes for the future, is the subject of this week’s podcast.
The conversation provides historical perspective by comparing contemporary political (or quasi-political) violence to radical groups from the 1960s and 1970s like the Baader Meinhof group, the Red Brigades, the Black Panthers, and figures like Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver. Shadi Hamid distinguishes between left-wing violence (utopian, seeking new systems) and right-wing violence (preservationist, maintaining hierarchies). Geoff challenges this framework, noting that recent shooter profiles don’t fit neatly into these categories. Damir Marusic notes that human beings always want events to “mean” something, but it may very well be that all this violence is essentially senseless.
In our bonus section for paid subscribers, the guys discusses Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver; Geoff explains why he doesn’t think we are on the brink of civil war; was the Charlie Kirk assassination an “honor killing”?; was January 6 a “mobilization”?; what Trump does next; were we living under a liberal dictatorship in 2020?; Damir on “the rotten Democratic Party”; Shadi says: “Nobody is blameless, but that doesn’t mean everyone is equally to blame”; and more!
Required Reading and Viewing:
* Geoff Shullenberger, “The Return of the Assassin" (Compact).
* Geoff Shullenberger, “Popular Justice” (The Point).
* Tom Wolfe, “Radical Chic” (New York).
* Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (Amazon).
* Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver (IMDB).
* Oliver Stone, JFK (IMDB).
* Oliver Stone, Talk Radio (IMDB).
* Eric Bogosian, Talk Radio (Amazon).
* La Verkin City, Utah, United Nations-Free Zone Ordinance.
* Punk rock picture of Oswald and Ruby.
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