On this inaugural episode of extremely brief, the letter 'A' is for accountability.

First, we look at the pardon of approximately 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists, including roughly 200 who were directly convicted of instigating violence against law enforcement that day. Now out of prison, they are free to seek revenge, run for office or possibly just peruse their local library.

Meta announced it was removing its agreement with a consortium of fact-checkers in favor of “community notes,” despite a documented trend that loosening moderation results in an increase in online hate.

And what is the connection between last month's deadly school shootings in Nashville and Madison, Wis.? The shooters appear to have connected in the seamy online underground where violence and extremism fester.

extremely brief is a podcast from the ADL Center on Extremism. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.

This episode was produced by Shea Shackelford. Senior Producer is Russell Gragg.

Video games are supposed to be fun and provide players with safe, supportive communities. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, extremists are ruining gaming for everyone. On this month’s episode of extremely, Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves talk to Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, Policy Advisor on technology and law at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. Rosenblat studies the societal impact of games and social media and has written multiple pieces during her time at NYU, including the watershed report, “Gaming the System: How Extremists Exploit Gaming Sites And What Can Be Done To Counter Them.”

Want to learn more about extremism in gaming? Read COE’s report, “Steam-Powered Hate: Top Gaming Site Rife with Extremism & Antisemitism.”

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

In this special election episode of extremely, Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves sit down with not one but two (!!) dis/misinformation experts. Dr. Claire Wardle is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University, specializing in user-generated content and misinformation, and Liz Landers is a national correspondent leading the disinformation desk at Scripps News, covering the impact of artificial intelligence, deepfake images and disinformation.
Wardle and Landers tell us why this campaign is the worst on record for dis- and misinformation, what they’re most worried about and how things might play out on Election Day (and the days after), from threats targeting election workers to assaults on our democracy.

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

Amy Albertson isn't afraid to call out antisemitism and hate, no matter where it's coming from. Albertson, who sat down in October with Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves, is known for her outspoken advocacy. In this episode of extremely, Albertson talks about the challenges of Jewish life in 2024 and how she responds to bigotry targeting the Jewish and Asian communities.

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves embark on a deep dive into the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran with Matthew Levitt, an author and leading expert on not one but two terror organizations, and the Director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism & Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

Then we're joined by ADL Senior Director of National Litigation James Pasch, who walks us through ADL's groundbreaking lawsuit against Iran, Syria and North Korea for their roles in the October 7 attacks against Israel.

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

Welcome back, listeners - and now, newly minted viewers! - to a new season of extremely. Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves start Season 4 with an unforgettable interview with Chen Almog, who survived the October 7 attack on the Nova Music Festival in Israel. She describes that horrific day and how she's coping with the aftermath. Also: a discussion of Suno GAI's extremist problem and escalating protests in New York and beyond.

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

Links referenced in this episode:

1) GAI Music Creation Tool Suno Has Been Weaponized to Promote Hate
2) “Time to Escalate”: Anti-Israel Activists Intensify Protests with Violent, Direct Actions

In this episode, Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves reflect on a truly bizarre celebration of Women’s History Month and hear from Morgan Moon, a COE researcher, whose work led to the arrest of a white supremacist. Last, we dive into COE’s annual assessment of white supremacist propaganda distributions. Spoiler alert: White supremacists are good at using photocopiers.

We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and/or comments: extremely@adl.org

Links referenced in this episode:

1) Anti-Israel Protesters Use International Women’s Day to Praise Female Terrorists
2) White Supremacist, Tracked by COE, Arrested on Vandalism Charges in Missouri
3) White Supremacist Propaganda Incidents Soar to Record High in 2023

We often say episodes of extremely are special, but this time we really mean it. Oren Segal and Jessica Reaves are joined, live on stage, by Nuseir Yassin and Alex Dwek of Nas Company and Nas Daily for a freewheeling, thoughtful conversation about Israeli-Palestinian identity, the importance of community-building and our universal need for human connection.

Recorded at the Never Is Now conference in New York, this episode also marks extremely’s first foray into video (video available on YouTube, audio available on your favorite podcasting platform).

Have any questions for us? Email: extremely@adl.org