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Politics & government

CULTURE WARLORDS

Talia Lavin

My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy

A powerful political exposé of the disturbing online world of far-right extremism by journalist and activist Talia Levin.

Talia Lavin is every skinhead's worst nightmare: a loud and unapologetic Jewish woman, acerbic, smart, and profoundly anti-racist, with the investigative chops to expose the tactics and ideologies of online hatemongers. Culture Warlord is the story of how Lavin, a frequent target of extremist trolls (including those at Fox News), dove into a byzantine online culture of hate and learned the intricacies of how white supremacy proliferates online. Within these pages, she reveals the extremists hiding in plain sight online: Incels. White nationalists. White supremacists. National Socialists. Proud Boys. Christian extremists. In order to showcase them in their natural habitat, Talia assumes a range of identities, going undercover as a blonde Nazi babe, a forlorn incel, and a violent Aryan femme fatale. Along the way, she discovers a whites-only dating site geared toward racists looking for love, a disturbing extremist YouTube channel run by a 14-year-old girl with over 800,000 followers, the everyday heroes of the antifascist movement, and much more. By combining compelling stories chock-full of catfishing and gatecrashing with her own in-depth, gut-wrenching research, she also turns the lens of anti-Semitism, racism, and white power back on itself in an attempt to dismantle and decimate the online hate movement from within. Shocking, humorous, and merciless in equal measure, Culture Warlords explores some of the vilest subcultures on the Web--and shows us how we can fight back. Talia Lavin is a freelance writer who has had bylines in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The New York Times Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Village Voice and more. Talia Lavin has written about the rise of Neo-Nazis for The New Yorker, pieces on fighting fascism and anti-Semitism for The Nation and The New Republic, articles on white nationalism in GQ, as well as pieces in The Times of Israel and The Forward. She has also been a target of personal and professional online attacks by the highly vocal yet often anonymous forces of white supremacist groups.

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Book Published 2020-10-13 by Hachette Book Group - New York (USA)

Comments

In Culture Warlords, Talia Lavin capably leads readers through chilly tunnels of loathing, burrowing deep into dens of violent racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny. She describes communities of hate and how they're growing with precision, seriousness, and humor. Even as she takes on multiple identities, readers will find in her a steady and often lyrical guide: transparent about her fears, fury, and ever-changing sense of self. Culture Warlords is surely brutal and urgent; it is also unexpectedly delicate.

Talia Lavin's article about the rise of Neo-Nazis Read more...

Jewish journalist Lavin assumed false identities and used her research skills to infiltrate and expose online extremist groups - such as white supremacists and Nazis - and shows readers how we can fight back against the internet's most hateful subcultures. Read more...

A writer infiltrates the world of white nationalism in 'Culture Warlords'. Read more...

President Trump's nod to the Proud Boys, a hate group, coupled with his refusal to condemn White supremacy at the first presidential debate, would have come as no surprise to Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy.... What she uncovers will make your stomach churn... Culture Warlords unspools a frightening, though necessary, narrative about how virtual communities foment and galvanize terrorists ... the book is also a plea to White people to take a closer look at those who live among them... Read more...

Talia Lavin has been cited in Rolling Stone's article "Is the 'QAnon Shaman' From the MAGA Capitol Riot Covered in NEo-Nazi Imagery? Read more...

Talia Lavin has witnessed some of the absolute worst the internet has to offer, which is saying a lot - and it only drove her further into an investigation of some of the weirder, more terrible corners of online subculture. Here, she researches the online groups that foster and encourage hatred or outright violence, present distorted views of reality, and create destructive harassment campaigns. Her notes on how they work, and accounts of catfishing many of them, are hilarious even as they give us a better understanding of what the more obscure communities of the internet are hiding. Read more...

Film rights have been optioned by Blumhouse Productions, the production company behind box-office successes such as BlackkKlansman, Get Out.

Talia Lavin's pieces on fighting fascism and anti-Semitism Read more...

UK: Monoray/ Hachette ; Spanish: Capitan Swing

Culture Warlords expressly melds reportage with activism... Lavin suggests that drawing delicate distinctions, an activity beloved by liberal moderates, is ultimately powerless against the steamrolling forces of an insurgent far right. Having been on the receiving end of the bile spewed by online trolls, she says that hatred flourishes when it's allowed to take cover in the shadows. Read more...

CULTURE WARLORDS was named a Top 100 Best Book of 2020 by Time Read more...

Talia Lavin's piece on fighting fascism and anti-Semitism Read more...

Talia Lavin has been cited in Inside Edition's Article "Symbols Seen on Capitol Rioters Have Nazi and White Supremacist Ties" Read more...

Talia Lavin's Culture Warlords is a necessary and urgent read that could not have come at a much better time. You will be astounded at the depths to which Lavin sinks to expose how far and wide white supremacy spreads across both real-life meetings and internet communities. Thoroughly researched and engaging, this debut demonstrates the work of a fearless reporter.

Publishers Weekly highlighted CULTURE WARLORDS in "Fibs, Factoids, and Fictions: Politics Books 2020": "New technologies also allow lay individuals to command large audiences and disseminate highly partisan commentary, misinformation, and hate. In Culture Warlords (Hachette, Oct.), Talia Lavin, whose work has appeared in the New Yorker among other publications, chronicles the time she spent in the corners of the internet occupied by what she calls a 'bestiary of terrible people,'..." Read more...

Infiltrating extremist chatrooms as an 'Aryan Princess' Read more...

Today we talk with Talia Lavin about how she began investigating online hate groups, and what she learned. Read more...

Author Talia Lavin spent a year embedded in online far-right groups for her new book, "Culture Warlords" Read more...

Author's articles on white nationalism Read more...

Talia Lavin has been cited in National Geographic's article "Decoding the hate symbols seen at the Capitol insurrection" Read more...

Shocking, provocative and humorous in equal measure, and with a take-no-prisoners attitude, the book explores some of the vilest subcultures on the Web, and how they're doing their best to break into the mainstream. Read more...

The author of 'Culture Warlords' chats with Alma about white supremacy, antisemitism, and swords, naturally. Read more...

New York Times Book Review Editors' Pick: in Nov 15, 2020 issue.

Collection of Talia Lavin's columns in Forward - writing about Jews in American politics. Read more...

As someone who has gone undercover and waded through the dark trenches of white supremacy, I know first-hand how jarring it can be to find yourself in the belly of the beast - and the courage it takes to dig your way to the other side. Culture Warlords is a searingly original and breathtaking feat of fearless journalism, and it is required reading for anyone who seeks to understand the nefarious context for the world we live in today.

A master of 'social engineering' probes into the deepest recesses of White supremacism.

Vanity Fair: Do you worry about the reaction to your book? Talia Lavin: You mean am I worried I'm going to be murdered? VF: Yes. TL: I think anyone who engages with the far right journalistically or as an activist worries about being murdered. But I worked on an operating principle of not letting these people steal my right to speak out of fear, and that's how I'm continuing to operate. On the balance of things I'd prefer not to be murdered, but if I have to go somehow, I guess standing up against Nazis in 2020 America isn't the worst reason.... Read more...

CULTURE WARLORDS was named a Top 100 Best Book of 2020 by Kirkus Read more...

Culture Warlords is a shock to the system-an urgent, incendiary work that takes us into the most hate-filled corners of American culture. Having immersed herself, Gonzo-style, in a toxic online world where white supremacy is the norm, Talia Lavin shows us the fun-house mirror reflection of American culture. Lavin writes like her hands are on fire, forcing us to take a hard look at our nation's ugliest truths.

Collection of several articles by the author covering a wide range of themes Read more...

Journalist shines light on dark corners of white supremacist activity online Read more...