Christian Picciolini is the former leader of America’s largest Neo-Nazi skinhead group. He is now one of the most influential figures in countering and preventing extremism, helping hundreds of individuals deradicalize and leave hate behind. Christian and I sit down and talk about how he became radicalized at age 14; what he was looking for and the holes (or “potholes”) that were filled by joining this movement; why and how he got out; how he helps others deradicalize; his advice for dealing with extremism on a broader societal level; his new podcast, F*** Your Racist History; and much more.
Christian Picciolini is an award-winning television producer, a public speaker, author, peace advocate, and a former violent extremist. After leaving the hate movement he helped create during the 1980s and 90s, he began the painstaking process of making amends and rebuilding his life. Christian went on to earn a degree in international relations from DePaul University and launched Goldmill Group, a counter-extremism consulting and digital media firm. In 2016, he won an Emmy Award for producing an anti-hate advertising campaign aimed at helping people disengage from extremism. Since leaving the white-power movement, Christian has helped hundreds of individuals leave hate behind, and he leads the Free Radicals Project, a global extremism prevention network. He has spoken all over the world, including the TED stage, and shares his unique and extensive knowledge, teaching all who are willing to learn about building greater peace through empathy and compassion. Christian chronicles his involvement and exit from the early American white- supremacist skinhead movement in his memoir, WHITE AMERICAN YOUTH, and is the featured subject in season 3 of WBEZ’s 'Motive' podcast. He showcases his disengagement work in a second book, BREAKING HATE: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism, published in 2020 by Hachette Books, as well as the MSNBC documentary series of the same name. He is currently the host of the 'F*** Your Racist History' podcast, a weekly, scripted history show that tells America's hidden, overlooked, and unknown racist origin stories.
You can learn more about Christian’s work at: https://www.christianpicciolini.com/
Matthew S. Goodman, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY32423) and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also an author and filmmaker. Learn more here: http://matthewgoodmanphd.com or here: https://matthewgoodmanphd.medium.com
