Guest Episode: Disrupting Peace

Guest Episode: Disrupting Peace

From If You Were In Charge by Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

April 28, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

This episode explores the beliefs that lead individuals to commit violence and how to engage with those expressing racist ideologies.

A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. What beliefs make people willing to commit violence, and what could change their minds? In this episode, we explore what makes individuals vulnerable to white supremacist beliefs, what it means when extremism becomes mainstream, the surprising permeability of these groups, and how to talk to people in your life who express racist ideology. Peter Simi is a professor of Sociology at Chapman University, and an expert on extremist groups and violence in the US. Among his many publications, he is co-author of American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate, and Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can be Stopped. Find out more about Peter at: https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/pete-simi.aspx. Sara Winegar Budge holds a doctorate in Psychology and is a licensed psychologist in Oregon. She is the Director of US Programs at Moonshot, which builds technology to identify and disrupt organized crime, child sexual exploitation, and trafficking, among other forms of abuse and violence. Her clinical work focuses on individuals who are or have been involved in violent extremism. Find out more…

People in this episode

Host: Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

Guests: Peter Simi, Sara Winegar Budge

Topics covered

  • extremism
  • white supremacy
  • violence
  • psychology
  • sociology
  • racism
  • communication

Keywords

  • extremism
  • white supremacy
  • violence
  • racism
  • psychology
  • sociology
  • communication

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chapman University, Moonshot, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Books & works: American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate, Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can be Stopped

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