22. Radicalized (Part 2): How a Muslim Extremist Changed His Cause

This is Part 2 of a two-part episode on extremism. Jesse Morton was a drug-dealing groupie when he became fascinated with Islam — and converted to it. But, it wasn’t until the U.S. waged the ‘War on Terror’ after 9/11 when Jesse embraced a Salafi-jihadi ideology, an approach to jihadism also taken by groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS. In this episode, we take a look inside the life of a reformed Muslim extremist. Here, Jesse shares how he leveraged new technologies to grow ‘Revolution Muslim’, a New York-based jihadist organization that was connected to a number of terrorism cases. On the show, we also talk about individual characteristics that make a person susceptible to recruitment, how kindness can lead to an extremist’s deradicalization, and what each of us can do to fight extremism. Featuring policy and advocacy insights from experts: Naureen Chowdhury Fink, Executive Director at The Soufan Center; and Jason Blazakis, Professor of Practice, Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies and Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. -- Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media. Subscribe, rate and leave us a review. For more information, visit findinghumanitypodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter @find_humanity and Facebook.