Special Edition: Political Violence & Division- Can We Come Together?
The NewsWorthy
Erica Mandy
3.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 May 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How did American politics get so polarized, and how worried should we be about more political violence?
Political scientist Lily Mason explains what most Americans actually believe, why threats and harassment are rising, and what can make divisions worse or better — from national rhetoric to local politics.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today is Saturday, May 2nd. We're just one week removed from what authorities are calling the |
| 0:04.2 | third assassination attempt on President Trump, and we've seen many more instances of political |
| 0:08.4 | harassment, intimidation, and actual violence, even beyond the White House. Now, with midterms |
| 0:13.5 | just six months away, we're taking a step back to consider how American politics got so |
| 0:18.0 | polarized and intense. Why do so many people see the other side, |
| 0:21.6 | not just as wrong, but as a threat? And what can we do about it moving forward? Today, you'll hear |
| 0:26.3 | my conversation with Lily Mason. She's a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University's |
| 0:31.3 | SNF Agora Institute, the author of Uncivil Agreement, How Politics Became Our Identity, |
| 0:36.5 | and the co-author of Radical American Partisanship, Mapping Violent Hostility, how politics became our identity, and the co-author of |
| 0:37.9 | Radical American Particanship, Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for Democracy. |
| 0:44.3 | Today, she explains how most Americans actually feel about political violence. |
| 0:49.2 | We also talk about the role of political leaders and media in making divisions worse, |
| 0:53.8 | what's often different at the |
| 0:55.6 | local level, and how our willingness to accept or reject new norms could help shape the future. |
| 1:02.7 | Welcome to the Newsworthy special edition Saturday, when we sit down with a different expert |
| 1:06.9 | or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news. Don't forget to tune in |
| 1:10.8 | every Monday through Friday for our regular episodes where we provide all the day's news expert or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news. Don't forget to tune in every |
| 1:11.0 | Monday through Friday for our regular episodes where we provide all the day's news in less than 15 |
| 1:16.1 | minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. It's now time for today's special edition Saturday. |
| 1:22.8 | Lily Mason, thank you so much for joining us here on The Newsworthy. I'm happy to be here. |
| 1:27.1 | So we're talking just a few days after an alleged third assassination attempt on President Trump. |
| 1:31.2 | It certainly wasn't the first incident of recent political violence. You know, we just reported on |
... |
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