Sounds Like Hate
Southern Poverty Law Center
Sounds Like Hate is a podcast from the Southern Poverty Law Center that tells the stories of people and communities grappling with hate and searching for solutions. You will meet people who have been personally impacted by hate, hear their voices and be immersed in the sounds of their world. And, you will learn about the power of people to change – or to succumb to their worst instincts. Sounds Like Hate was nominated for two People’s Voice Webby awards in 2022.
Season One takes a deep dive into the realities of hate in modern America: how it functions, how it spreads, who is affected and what people are doing about it.
Season Two examines the distorted history of the Confederacy some people accept as truth and how the people we love the most could be guided toward violent extremist beliefs.
Season Three reveals the harms done to individuals and our democracy by hate and extremism – while also showcasing the hope and resilience of the people fighting back. Hear from the unsung heroes who have pushed back against voter suppression in the South, who have stood up for the rights of trans children in the foster care system and who have taken on the unlawful militias who target migrants, often in cahoots with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Two of the series in this season were nominated for a prestigious Webby award.
In Season Four, we explore the many manifestations of white supremacy in our current moment – from Confederate memorials to the Jan. 6 insurrection. We begin with a special episode marking the one-year anniversary of the extremist assault on the Capitol, which examines clues scattered openly across the nation by antigovernment networks and white supremacists – and shows how SPLC analysts were sounding the alarm well before the attack. Then, we continue our “Monumental Problems” series by taking you inside Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and its racial reckoning. We investigate how students are impacted by VMI’s dangerous and pervasive glorification of the Confederacy – which casts a long shadow of white supremacy over the school. Student and alumni activists’ demands for change are part of a broader struggle in the South and beyond. The story at VMI is about confronting our nation’s past and the legacy of slavery in order to build a more inclusive democracy for us all.
Season One takes a deep dive into the realities of hate in modern America: how it functions, how it spreads, who is affected and what people are doing about it.
Season Two examines the distorted history of the Confederacy some people accept as truth and how the people we love the most could be guided toward violent extremist beliefs.
Season Three reveals the harms done to individuals and our democracy by hate and extremism – while also showcasing the hope and resilience of the people fighting back. Hear from the unsung heroes who have pushed back against voter suppression in the South, who have stood up for the rights of trans children in the foster care system and who have taken on the unlawful militias who target migrants, often in cahoots with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Two of the series in this season were nominated for a prestigious Webby award.
In Season Four, we explore the many manifestations of white supremacy in our current moment – from Confederate memorials to the Jan. 6 insurrection. We begin with a special episode marking the one-year anniversary of the extremist assault on the Capitol, which examines clues scattered openly across the nation by antigovernment networks and white supremacists – and shows how SPLC analysts were sounding the alarm well before the attack. Then, we continue our “Monumental Problems” series by taking you inside Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and its racial reckoning. We investigate how students are impacted by VMI’s dangerous and pervasive glorification of the Confederacy – which casts a long shadow of white supremacy over the school. Student and alumni activists’ demands for change are part of a broader struggle in the South and beyond. The story at VMI is about confronting our nation’s past and the legacy of slavery in order to build a more inclusive democracy for us all.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 21, 2022 • 57min
Wake-Up Call: Part II
This episode opens with Matriculation Day at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington – the start of school for first-year students. Racial justice protests in 2020 promoted a state-ordered independent investigation documenting an institutional culture of racism and sexism. What has changed at VMI since then? Have the changes gone far enough in addressing systemic racial inequality? And will the new governor, Glenn Youngkin, threaten VMI’s progress?
Jun 14, 2022 • 58min
Wake-Up Call: Part I
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington is a college embedded in Southern military tradition – which includes an unquestioning respect for the Confederacy. But in the spring of 2020, a racial reckoning came to VMI after students of color and some alumni began to air their frustrations and demand change. In this episode, you’ll discover how those students and alumni exposed racism and false historical narratives. This state school with intimate ties to Virginia politics provides insight into how our country grapples with the legacy of the Confederacy.
Jun 7, 2022 • 2min
Season 4 Sneak Peek
This exclusive trailer for season four of Sounds Like Hate (coming June 14) takes you inside the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, where an independent investigation exposed a longstanding culture of systemic racism. Alumni and students demanded change – including the removal of memorials glorifying the Confederacy. Now, for the first time in 182 years, a Black superintendent has been appointed to lead at VMI. Will he be able to implement real change?
Dec 30, 2021 • 38min
Red Flags Everywhere
In this special episode of Sounds Like Hate Season 4, we travel back to the months leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, to track white supremacists as they plan, prepare and execute their violent plot to attack the U.S. Capitol and overturn an election. Listen now as we examine the events that should have been 'red flags' in 2020 as the hate and extremism movement reached a boiling point in the lead up to Jan. 6, 2021.
Dec 7, 2021 • 52min
The Unwelcome: Part II
The Season 3 finale of Sounds Like Hate centers on the small town of Arivaca, Arizona, just 11 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Here, residents have taken a decidedly pro-migrant stand – but armed anti-migrant militia groups continue to operate nearby, and more anti-migrant residents are moving in. Can Arivaca’s commitment to embracing inclusivity survive in a shifting, politically polarized world?
Nov 30, 2021 • 50min
The Unwelcome: Part I
In Part I of “The Unwelcome,” we’re on the southern border in Arizona, where armed militia groups stalk migrants traversing harsh desert conditions. In some cases, militia members arm themselves with guns, scopes and motion activated video cameras seek to capture migrants and destroy their water sources, putting migrants’ lives at an even steeper risk.
Nov 23, 2021 • 9min
Season 3 Update
This special bonus episode of Sounds Like Hate provides an exclusive update on The Base, an international “white power” terrorist group that we’ve been tracking since Season 1 of the podcast. Since then, some members of The Base have been arrested and charged with hatching violent plots – here are the details of the disturbing crimes these extremists were planning to commit.
Nov 16, 2021 • 55min
Fostering Hate: Part II
In part II of “Fostering Hate,” we tell the stories of LGBTQ parents and children navigating a foster system with a history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Too often, foster parents are not adequately vetted or trained. In this episode, we meet LGBTQ people who have been deeply impacted by issues of bias, rejection and queer identity in the foster system – each of them ultimately connected by their desire for a chosen family where LGBTQ identities are accepted and celebrated. Children and families must be protected, not discriminated against in our system.
Nov 9, 2021 • 55min
Fostering Hate: Part I
In 2018, Philadelphia tried to defend its policies to prevent discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ parents in its foster care system – and got sued by a religious right organization over it. This episode unravels the ongoing legal battle over the future of queer parents in Philly’s foster system and includes interviews with some of the kids and parents who have been directly affected.
Nov 2, 2021 • 51min
Collateral Damage: Part II
In Florida, many people who have previously been incarcerated have had their right to vote taken away by discriminatory legislative measures. In this episode, we meet some of these people who have served their sentenced time and simply want their rights back – and are bravely fighting to be heard by lawmakers and to give voice to others who share their struggles.
