America chose violence. Now what?

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is America at a tipping point? Sean Illing talks with Barbara Walter, one of the world’s leading experts on violent extremism and domestic terror. She’s the author of How Civil Wars Start, about how democracies unravel from within, and a professor at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. Walter talks to Sean about the warning signs she’s seeing in the US, why polarization and party identity become combustible, and what lessons we can draw from other countries. They also discuss what an American civil war might look like in the 21st century, the social and informational dynamics that accelerate breakdown, and whether America still has a path away from the brink. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Barbara Walter, professor at UC San Diego and author of How Civil Wars Start We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:59.0	Now here's the show.
1:02.5	A shooting at a Dallas Ice facility.
1:07.1	The assassination of Charlie Kirk.
1:11.6	The assassination of a Kirk. The assassination of a Minnesota House Speaker and her husband.
1:17.7	The arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor's mansion.
1:23.2	Two, attempted assassinations of President Trump.
1:31.5	The assassination of a health insurance CEO,
1:42.3	the storming of the Capitol, something is cracking open in American life, and it's not clear whether these are isolated eruptions of political violence or something
	...

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