How To!: End Political Violence (From an Ex-Gang Leader)
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2023
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the wake of the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, and now similar riots in Brazil’s capital, we’re picking up our conversation about how to reduce political violence. In the first episode of our two-part series, we heard from Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This week, we’re talking with Curtis Toler, director of outreach at Chicago CRED. After joining his first street organization at the age of 9, Curtis went from a gang leader to a violence interrupter. He talks about how to reach people entrenched in cycles of conflict, how to get to the peace table, and what Congress (and all of us) can learn from his success on the streets of Chicago.
Resources:
A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security by Rachel Kleinfeld
An Ex-Gang Leader’s Advice for Deescalating Violence in Politics by Amanda Ripley
If you liked this episode, check out: “How To Talk Politics With Your Dad (Without Yelling) Part 1 and Part 2.”
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Transcript
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| 0:35.8 | Hey everyone, it's Mary Harris, and it is a holiday weekend, which means I've got something |
| 0:40.8 | a little special for you. Instead of the regular show, I'm going to play you one of my other |
| 0:45.0 | favorite slate podcasts, How-To. It's a show that finds solutions to the problems all around |
| 0:50.3 | us with the help of the smartest people in the room. |
| 0:53.4 | Our latest episode is a timely exploration of how to prevent political violence. You only |
| 0:59.4 | have to look at what happened in Brazil over the last couple of weeks, or what happened |
| 1:03.5 | at our own capital two years back to know that political violence is a pressing issue around |
| 1:09.3 | the world. |
| 1:10.9 | In this episode, How-To host Amanda Ripley talks with an ex-gang leader from Chicago, who |
| 1:16.3 | now works as a violence interrupter. He's got a bunch of surprising ideas for how politicians |
| 1:21.9 | and we the people can lower the temperature on our politics. So check it out. |
| 1:28.9 | I can remember sitting and watching the TV. This actually happened at the Capitol right |
| 1:36.4 | in front of our own eyes, and it seemed like it couldn't be stopped. A frequent Capitol, |
| 1:42.1 | sometimes, and I see all the security right, and just for that to be able to happen was |
| 1:47.6 | really, really scary. |
| 1:52.6 | Welcome to How-To. I'm Amanda Ripley. Today, we're going to continue our deep dive into |
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