When ‘Good Kids’ Go Radical: A Breaking History Special

Breaking History

The Free Press

History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What drives someone from an ordinary background into extremism? In this Breaking History special, journalist Jay Solomon joins Eli Lake to discuss his investigation into American extremist Calla Walsh. But this isn’t an isolated story. It echoes a pattern we’ve seen before. Following the interview, we revisit our episode on “middle-class kids breaking bad,” exploring how individuals from stable, even privileged backgrounds have repeatedly been drawn into violent or extremist movements. We explore the tale of the Red Army Faction and how Ulrike Meinhof went from reporter to terrorist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Like you've got
0:03.1	And back la Bebel
0:05.5	Like you got
0:07.7	This next year's model
0:09.7	Like you have a lot
0:11.9	Irving Berlin
0:13.7	What happened once happens again
0:17.5	Like you
0:19.6	We care a lot about craftsmanship at Breaking History, how things used to be made,
0:25.6	and whether that still matters today.
0:28.5	Which raises a fair question, can you still build something well on purpose in America?
0:34.1	Today's sponsor is doing exactly that.
0:37.3	There, that's V-A-E-R, was founded in Los Angeles with a mission to revive American watchmaking,
0:44.3	and they've actually pulled it off.
0:46.3	There is now the largest independent watch assembler in the USA,
0:51.3	building watches across California, Arizona, Rhode Island, and Alabama,
0:56.6	with leather straps made in Illinois and Florida. Now, I have to tell you something,
1:01.6	I happen to have a beautiful DS2 meridian black Vair. It's quartz 39 millimeter, and I get
1:09.5	compliments on it all the time. I love this watch. And the great
1:14.1	thing about it is I know that when I have this watch, I did not pay a premium for a brand name that
1:21.1	simply just connotes that I have a lot of money or I am in style or something like that. No, people
1:27.1	admire my watch because it looks wonderful.
	...

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