JK Rowling. Donald Trump. Central Park Karen. There's a lot of hate attacking our community and friends right now. Should we try to understand it? Where does it come from and how can we safely engage with people that hate us?

James and Dan catch up with Christian Picciolini, a former neo-Nazi skinhead who has dedicated his life to preventing extremism and helping people to disengage from hate movements and other violent ideologies. 

Trigger warning. This episode contains depictions of violent attacks. Christian talks about his time inside the white supremacy movement, how conversations with black and LGBTQ+ people helped him change direction, and why some minorities can end up embracing extremism.

For more information on leaving behind hate and racism, please visit lifeafterhate.org or freeradicals.org.

If you’ve been affected by hate and violent extremism and feel comfortable sharing that with us, as ever we’d love to hear from you, please do reach out and email us@gaynongay.com.

Shop our merch. Get your very own Pronoun Tee now with 10% to Mermaids, - visit www.gaynongay.com/shop/ .

Join our listener group, www.facebook.com/groups/gaynongay/ .

Please support our podcast, your encouragement helps us to keep going and create meaningful audio that will hopefully one day lead to acceptance for many. Visit www.gaynongay.com/donate/ .  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.