meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Thinking Allowed

Engineers of Jihad. Orange jumpsuits

Thinking Allowed

BBC

Society & Culture, Science

4.4997 Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2019

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Laurie Taylor asks why so many Islamist extremists come from an engineering background. He talks to Steffen Hertog, Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics, about a new study which finds that Islamist and right-wing extremism have more in common than either does with left-wing extremism, in which engineers are absent while social scientists and humanities students are prominent. Is there a mindset susceptible to certain types of extremism? They're joined by Raffaello Pantucci, Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute. Orange prison jumpsuits: Elspeth Van Veeren, Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Bristol, discusses the US prisoner uniform which took on a transnational political life due to the Global War on Terror. Revised repeat. Producer: Jayne Egerton

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of

0:07.0

Happiness Podcast.

0:08.0

For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want

0:14.4

to share that science with you.

0:16.1

And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.

0:19.4

I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that

0:25.5

calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:31.5

I'm Laurie Taylor and this is a podcast for BBC Radio 4's thinking aloud.

0:36.0

There's no shortage of general speculation about the motives which inform individual

0:41.9

acts of terrorism.

0:44.0

But something quite startling and quite specific emerges when we consider the educational

0:49.9

background of individual terrorists.

0:53.0

Find out.

0:55.0

Hello.

0:56.0

I have to speak frankly.

0:58.0

I'm not at all fond of t-shirts with personalized slogans.

1:02.8

You know the sword?

1:03.3

I mean, warning, I do dumb things,

1:06.2

or nobody knows I'm a lesbian.

1:09.1

I mean, the only one that ever made me laugh aloud

1:10.9

was the wonderfully implausible one I spotted years ago on an anti-Vietnam

1:15.0

demonstrator who was marching very aggressively down Oxford Street.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.