Talia LavinRecensioni

I was barely able to put this down. A necessary book that’s readable to the average joe but has endnotes if you want them.

This feels like essential reading. What a book!

This book when paired with Laura Bate’s book ‘Men who hate women’ gives a good overview of the extremist nature of online hate that is seeping into real life.

A female Jewish journalist's informative memoir/expose of her journey into the bowels of the online world that has encouraged the proliferation of far right anti-Semitist, antifeminist white nationalism. At times horrifying, the experiences she faces with hate speech and threats of violence bely any rhetoric the right leaning media spin about white terrorism.

Lavin es la peor pesadilla de todo fascista: una joven judía sin pelos en la lengua y con los conocimientos necesarios para poner al descubierto las tácticas e ideologías del odio en línea. Lavin nos muestra rincones ocultos de la Red donde se reúnen extremistas como supremacistas blancos, ínceles, nacionalsocialistas, extremistas cristianos o los Proud Boys, tratando de comprender cómo proliferan estos grupos en Internet. En una exhaustiva y desgarradora investigación, se infiltra como una rubia nazi y como un íncel desamparado en varias de estas comunidades. Descubre inquietantes redes de jóvenes extremistas e incluso un canal de YouTube de supremacía blanca, con casi un millón de seguidores, dirigido por una niña de catorce años. Poniendo el foco en el antisemitismo, el racismo y el poder blanco, desvela los cismas, las tácticas de reclutamiento y la amenaza que representan algunas de las subculturas más viles de Internet que hacen todo lo posible por infiltrarse en la opinión pública.

No es un libro sobre la "cultura del odio" en general. Es más un breve repaso del antisemitismo en Estados Unidos y de la experiencia personal de la autora con su identidad judía y los prejuicios que ha tenido que sufrir.

The author writes a well researched book with just enough of her own experiences to make it real without crossing the line into narcissism. She spent a year on alt-right websites, pretending she was not Jewish, and often pretending she was not female. She collected information and used it to expose some of the key players in the alt-right hate machine. She writes well (one would expect no less from a journalist) and either has a good editor or knows how to edit; there are no clunky commas or weird punctuation making it difficult to read, though I did find a couple of clunky sentences and at least one misplaced modifier. In the modern market, that makes this book close to perfect, I'm afraid. In the end, the book was solid, readable, and depressing. The main flaw is her acceptance of Antifa, which is too unquestioning and reminds me in part of the left's acceptance of Stalin and other left wing figures. While she is right that the level of violence committed by Antifa is small, especially compared to the alt-right, it is a group that is risky enough to keep one's distance. Overall, a recommended read.

A chilling descent.

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin is a disturbing and eye-opening book that everyone needs to read. I don't care where you are on the political spectrum, you need to know what is bubbling under the surface and then make an informed decision about where you stand.

The majority of the book presents Lavin's research and interactions, undercover, on many of the sites where these people congregate to spew their filth. Early in the book you'll read about how she witnessed a chat room expressing vile and violent opinions about her and what they would do to her. Think about how that would feel. They don't know you're there and they are talking about doing you physical harm. And that is just the beginning.

Much of the book is difficult to read if you're a person who values human life and diversity. But that is exactly why you need to read it. If, like me, you already know you find these people and their ideas to be lower than, well, I won't go there, but you know what I mean, you will be surprised at just how deep and how wide this underground sewage line runs. If you hold some racist views but don't think you are really a racist or a white supremacist, especially if you voted for and may again vote for Trump, you need to read this so you know exactly what kinds of people are being empowered by the rhetoric that spews from Trump's disgusting mouth. Then, if you are as surprised at it then maybe you'll reconsider your vote. If you like what these people are, well, at least you'll no longer be able to claim to be voting for Trump because of anything except your inbred bigotry and racism. You know, self enlightenment.

I found her discussion of antifa to be particularly spot on. Lavin not only gives a nice overview of who and what they are but she also explains why you may have a warped opinion of them based on “official” reports funneled from a white supremacist police force through a press corps that seeks not facts but easily distributed copy. Maybe you'll keep your opinion after reading this, but if you don't read this then you have no ground on which to claim an educated opinion, which means it will stink to high heaven.

As I said, I highly recommend this book and truly do believe everyone should read it. We should all be more aware of what is happening out of our sight.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Lavin is every skinhead's worst nightmare: a loud and unapologetic Jewish woman, funny, smart, and profoundly anti-racist, with the journalistic chops to expose the tactics and landscape of online hatemongers.



Can't wait for this.