This episode offers an audio version of “Sacrificial Violence and Retribution,” exploring the responses to two different extrajudicial killings as a way to understand the different forms of violence that are contending in our society today. {November 22, 2024}

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Table of Contents
- Introduction {0:30}
- Sacrificial Violence {3:18}
- Retribution? {8:35}
- Beyond Martyrdom {14:11}
This episode offers an audio version of “Sacrificial Violence and Retribution,” published by CrimethInc. on December 23, 2024. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks providing citations for the claims made herein.
To get deeper into René Girard’s analysis of sacrificial violence, you can read the first chapter of his book Violence and the Sacred here.
You can read an incomplete roundup of various responses to the shooting of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, here. In this news clip, you can see a representative speaking on CNN on behalf of a fundraising campaign in support of Luigi Mangione’s legal defense. You can read a discussion of the causes of the anger directed at insurance executives here. You can read some statistics about gun violence in the United States in general here.
For information about how much damage mass deportations are likely to inflict on the United States economy—not to mention the lives of millions of families—start here. To learn more about why people travel to the United States without documents and what role they play in the United States economy, read our book, No Wall They Can Build.
Finally, for a further discussion of revenge and political violence, you could read an earlier article of ours, “Against the Logic of the Guillotine.”

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