This is Joe Manchin, former United States Senator from West Virginia.

I left politics because I'd had enough, enough of broken promises, runaway spending,

and politicians answering to their parties instead of the people they represent.

That's why I wrote Dead Center. In defense of common sense, it's not just a memoir, it's a manifesto,

a candid look at what's gone wrong in Washington Washington and how we get back to leadership rooted in

responsibility, respect, and results. If you believe character still counts and common sense

still matters, this book is for you. Dead Center, available wherever books and audio books are

sold. Welcome to the Dispatch Podcast. I'm Steve Hayes. Today, Kevin Williamson talks with Adam Langford,

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama. The two dive into the

complex world of mass violence and ideological killings, exploring the forces at play from video

games and social media to personal grudges and extremist ideologies. Let's hear from them now.

Music personal grudges and extremist ideologies. Let's hear from them now. Adam Lightwood, thank you for joining the Dispatch podcast.

So you are a scholar of mass violence and ideological killings and the influence of things like video games and sexual frustration and all sorts of other, hard to talk about, I think, sometimes factors when it comes to these things. So give us just

kind of a broad overview of your work and what it's about and what you've learned.

Sure. Well, as you said, they're kind of different ways to categorize this type of violence.

So, you know, some people use the phrase targeted violence, kind of referring to premeditated

violence that could be mass shootings.

It could be mass murder using other weapons.

It could be assassinations.

It could be terrorism, suicide terrorism.

So I've studied, you know, a variety of things, you know, kind of across

that landscape, doing a lot on mass shooting specifically, but actually kind of after 9-11,

...