Weird Little Guys

Molly interviews Michael Edison Hayden about his new book, Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small Town. The book is an intimate portrait of what happened in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia after a white nationalist group moved into the castle on the hill.Preorder the book now or buy it anywhere books are sold when it comes out on April 7, 2026 https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jack Kershaw created his most famous piece of art in his 80s. His lifelong passion for the arts had to take a backseat when he shifted his focus to becoming a professional racist during the fight against integration. He was doing it for his confederate ancestors, he would often say. But he was never very specific about who exactly his ancestors were...The It Could Happen Here episode mentioned, originally aired 2/22/2024 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ZQAqsxImsNGQUTzHGKhNp Sources:https://thesewaneepurple.org/2021/03/23/polk-sculpture-donated-by-white-supremacist-jack-kershaw/ https://thesewaneepurple.org/2021/03/22/polk-sculpture-removed-by-student-taken-to-archives/ https://meridiana.sewanee.edu/2022/04/30/a-year-later-a-letter-of-explanation/ https://www.moca.org/collection/work/unmanned-drone https://religiondispatches.org/2025/10/28/swords-plowshares https://www.sipcville.com/ https://www.vpm.org/news/2026-03-23/swords-into-plowshares-cville-jefferson-school-designs-hood-push-mass https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-05-23/swords-into-plowshares-robert-e-lee-statue-charlottesville-centennial https://www.npr.org/2021/02/23/970610428/nearly-100-confederate-monuments-removed-in-2020-report-says-more-than-700-remai https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/confederate-icongraphy.html https://wpln.org/post/even-as-statue-forrest-still-draws-fire/ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/03/30/Ray-says-lawyer-hid-Playboy-fee/1722386312400/ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, August 2017https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvCjM1lPwg4 Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, October 2017https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b_-TZwQ0ISee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before we leave the novels of William Luther Pierce behind us, let's take a quick look at the real Earl Turner. The protagonist of The Turner Diaries was, like all of Pierce's characters, named after a real guy he knew.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of this exploration of nazi serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin and the novel loosely based on his crimes, the question remains: did any of his friends in the white power movement know what he was going to do before he did it? What clues does the novel hold? Sources:Pierce, Kelvin. Sins of My Father, Growing Up with America's Most Dangerous White Supremacist. Independently Published, 2020Griffin, R. S. (2001). The Fame of a Dead Man’s Deeds. 1st Books Library.Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011Sunshine, Spencer (2024). Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege (1st ed.). New York, NY: RoutledgeBill Simmons, "Defendants All Acquitted In Sedition Trial," AP News, April 8, 1988https://www.kcur.org/news/2024-04-12/overland-park-antisemitic-murders-jewish-community-center-shooting-survivors https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article2595772.html http://www.kansas.com/2014/04/15/3406670/records-suggest-federal-authorities.html https://momentsthatsurvive.org/tribute/pierce-hastings/ https://www.wunc.org/2014-04-15/an-idiot-with-a-gun-leaves-families-in-kansas-reeling https://www.kmbc.com/article/shooting-victim-remembered-for-upbeat-attitude-work-with-kids/3681879See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A closer look at the second novel by the man who wrote The Turner Diaries reveals that it isn't just about serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin... it's the author's fantasy about the man he wishes he could have been.  Sources: Pierce, Kelvin. Sins of My Father, Growing Up with America's Most Dangerous White Supremacist. Independently Published, 2020 Thomas Martinez, Brotherhood of Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of The Order. McGraw Hill, 1988 Griffin, R. S. (2001). The Fame of a Dead Man’s Deeds. 1st Books Library.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.