American Doom

Dalton Mattus was arrested a little more than two weeks ago for possessing a pair of handmade pipe bombs. Police found more at his home. What hasn’t been reported in the local press is that Mattus posted prolifically about every right-wing, anti-government conspiracy imaginable. He is a symbol both of the online radicalization toward right-wing extremism that pervades the United States, and the threats of violence that right-wing extremists pose. In this episode of the American Doom podcast, I discuss Mattus’ case with Bree Zender, my partner here at AD, who helped research Mattus’ posting for our collaboration with Rolling Stone. You can watch a video of our discussion below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

Last week I wrote about the wars to come, in which I describe what I think will be the natural — and possibly violent! — right-wing reaction to recent campus protests. That prediction, if you want to call it that, is based on my experience covering unrest over the last decade. Throughout much of that time, I was in conflict scenarios writing and reporting for my longtime editor, Justin Miller. Much of that work came when Miller was an editor at the Daily Beast. Now, he’s at New York magazine, where he’s recently dusted off his pen for a piece he actually wrote and didn’t just edit. I say just edit, because for all our years together, I still don’t really understand what editors do. Kidding. Miller has made my work better since our very first story together, back on the tear gas-choked street in Ferguson. I hope you enjoy the conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

It’s a big day here at American Doom, where I’m excited to share the first episode of the podcast version of this newsletter. Today, I’m speaking with my old pal Alex Wroblewski, a photojournalist who I first worked with back in 2014. We did a story together for VICE back then, and since then have crossed paths at protests and riots across the country. He’ll be covering Trump’s rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, so I wanted to catch up with him on some of the madness of this election cycle. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.american-doom.com/subscribe