What Charlie Kirk’s death says about political division in the US
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Shot while answering a question about mass shootings, outspoken gun-rights advocate and conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed on a university campus. What does this moment signal for escalating political violence and the state of US politics?
In this episode:
- Dr. Matthew Boedy (@MatthewBoedy) Professor of Rhetoric, University of North Georgia
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Sarí el-Khalili, Diana Ferrero, Tamara Khandaker, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Chloe K. Li, Farhan Rafid, Kisaa Zehra, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Kylene Kiang. Special thanks to Negin Owliaei.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, in the U.S., the killing of a controversial political influencer. |
| 0:16.0 | U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk has died after being shot in the neck at an event at Utah Valley University. |
| 0:25.9 | Could the assassination of a right-wing activist and a close ally of President Trump push U.S. political violence into a new phase? |
| 0:36.7 | I'm Malika Bilal, and this is The Take. |
| 0:46.3 | My name is Matthew Bodie, and I'm a professor at the University of North Georgia, |
| 0:50.1 | and I study religious rhetoric and I've been writing about. |
| 0:52.9 | Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA for several years now. |
| 0:56.2 | Well, Professor Matthew, welcome to the take. |
| 0:58.2 | It's good to have you here, though, of course, the circumstances are not good. |
| 1:01.7 | We are speaking on Thursday morning, a day after the shooting death of right-wing political |
| 1:07.1 | activist Charlie Kirk. |
| 1:08.9 | The hunt is underway for Charlie Kirk's killer. |
| 1:12.0 | The charismatic conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University. |
| 1:16.1 | Kirk was discussing mass shootings in America when a shot rang out. |
| 1:20.9 | You have written a book on him. |
| 1:23.5 | So where were you when you heard the news and what were your first thoughts? |
| 1:34.3 | You know, my wife called me about him getting shot when I was in my office, meeting with students, and then on the way home, I got the notification of his death. |
| 1:39.3 | So I was in the car and I got choked up. I cried. |
| 1:48.0 | If you feel comfortable elaborating, what was going through your mind? |
| 1:51.1 | What was behind that choking up moment? |
| 1:56.2 | I cried for his family, for his widowed wife and two children. |
... |
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