Christian Picciolini went to his first white supremacist skinhead meeting at age 14. A lonely and bullied child, he was quickly swept into the movement and eventually became a leader. In this candid conversation, he speaks with journalist Matt Thompson about why he decided to leave the skinhead movement and turn his life around. Picciolini now helps people disengage from hate groups through an organization he leads, Free Radicals Project. Picciolini is the author of White American Youth: My Descent into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement. His interviewer, Matt Thompson, is executive editor of The Atlantic. The views and opinions of the speakers in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.
