Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

As protests continue to rock the campuses of colleges and universities, a familiar set of questions is being raised: Are these protests really being led by students? Or are the real drivers of the civil disobedience outsiders, seizing on an opportunity to wreak chaos and stir up trouble?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Wondery. It was the biggest scandal in pop music. The stars of Milli Vanilli, the Grammy-winning phenomenon, were exposed as frauds. But none of this was their idea. So whose was it?
0:12.7	Follow Blame It on the Fame on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:17.0	What's good you're listening to Code Switch?
0:20.1	I'm Gene Dembe.
0:21.8	And for months and months now, protests have been happening around the country
0:25.1	calling for changes in how the United States engages with or in some people's eyes
0:29.2	facilitates Israel's bombardment of Gaza. But over the last several weeks in particular, the
0:36.8	nexus of those protests has been the campuses of colleges and universities.
0:46.0	Demonstrations at UCLA took a turn overnight as clashes erupted at an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters
0:51.0	when countered. We've got to.
0:53.0	We free free free
0:54.9	college.
0:55.9	We're a bomb, you have a case.
0:58.8	How many kids can do you today?
1:00.8	How many kids have you killed today? How many kids have you killed today?
1:03.0	These protests and in some cases encampments have been really controversial, obviously.
1:11.0	They've been met by counter-protesters and they've drawn lots of commentary
1:14.4	about the role that young people, college students, are capable of playing in movements of
1:19.6	civil disobedience. Do these college students, these kids, actually know what they're talking
1:26.0	about? Are they being brainwashed? Or are they just showing up to these things
1:29.4	because it's the cool thing to do? You know, they don't understand why they're doing it
1:34.0	or what the history is behind it.
	...

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