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Hello. It seems while I was away that the world became very interested in militias and the antigovt movement. Writing about this corner of America has dominated the past five years of my life. Here are several pieces of work that may be helpful to you:
In August, for @NYTmag, I wrote about the emerging Boogaloo - a new subset of the antigovernment movement focused on violence: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/19/magazine/boogaloo.html
In September for @BBCRadio4, @GeorgiaJCatt and I released a podcast about the legacy of the Oklahoma City Bombing, and why understanding the roots of that tragedy can help us understand this moment in America: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mqp1
Also in August, for @highcountrynews, I wrote about how anti-mask rhetoric is, in some cases, coming from evangelical preachers who also spout antigovernment ideas from the pulpit: https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.8/extremism-as-a-plague-sweeps-the-land-zealots-see-a-gift-from-heaven
In February, for @highcountrynews, I wrote a story about how one particular antigovernment leader with militia ties was hunting around the west for a new conflict with the govt. Months later, he was leading anti mask protests (and continues to): https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.3/north-sagebrush-rebellion-the-residual-power-of-ammon-bundy
A couple years ago, I also did a nine part story series and corresponding podcast with @Longreads and @OPB about all of this, called Bundyville. People seem to enjoy it, in the way that one can enjoy media on difficult topics: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bundyville-the-remnant/id1376808646
Lastly, this topic is not simple, nor should it be reduced to tweets. I don’t fight with people on Twitter (or otherwise) about it. I am a freelancer, which means that I have no salary coming in for when this topic erodes my mental health and I need to take a break.
For this reason, I have started a newsletter, which highlights both my work on extremism as well as other types of writing I do. You subscribe to newspapers, right? Think of this like subscribing to me. https://leahsottile.substack.com/
