Plain English with Derek Thompson Charlie Kirk's Killing and America's Age of "Salad-Bar Extremism"
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Sep 12, 2025 Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic and expert on political violence, delves into America's escalating crisis of political violence. She discusses the alarming wave of recent assassinations and the media's role in reporting these events. LaFrance emphasizes the challenges of discerning truth amidst misinformation and analyzes how ideology influences acts of violence. She advocates for individual agency, civil discourse, and the need to bridge societal divides to foster peace and harmony in an increasingly fractured political landscape.
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Stunned By A Public, Mid‑Debate Killing
- Derek Thompson describes seeing Charlie Kirk's assassination footage and feeling emotionally stunned despite political differences.
- He emphasizes how witnessing a murder mid-debate felt haunting and personal to his work as a commentator.
Violence Threatens Public Disagreement
- Thompson argues public disagreement without fear of violence is a bedrock of liberal democracy.
- He warns that rising political violence threatens the ability to have public conversations and persuasion work.
A Recent Pattern Of Targeted Attacks
- Thompson lists recent political attacks to show a worrying pattern of targeted violence.
- He and LaFrance suggest these incidents together make this era feel like an "age of assassinations."
