Plain English with Derek Thompson Charlie Kirk's Killing and America's Age of "Salad-Bar Extremism"
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Sep 12, 2025 
Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic and expert on political violence, delves into America's escalating crisis of political violence. She discusses the alarming wave of recent assassinations and the media's role in reporting these events. LaFrance emphasizes the challenges of discerning truth amidst misinformation and analyzes how ideology influences acts of violence. She advocates for individual agency, civil discourse, and the need to bridge societal divides to foster peace and harmony in an increasingly fractured political landscape.
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Killers Often Break Ideological Boxes
- Journalists instinctively try to fit attackers into neat ideological boxes, but those boxes often fail.
- LaFrance and Thompson note many modern attackers blend views from many sources instead of fitting left/right labels.
Salad‑Bar Extremism Explained
- LaFrance explains "salad bar extremism": attackers combine ideas ad hoc from the internet, creating ideologically mixed motives.
- FBI sees many lone actors radicalized across communities rather than by organized groups.
Growing Tolerance For Political Violence
- Polls show rising acceptance of political violence and tolerance for violent solutions among some groups.
- LaFrance ties this to cycles of violence, social conditions, dehumanizing language, and the attention economy online.
