Breaking Hate

Confronting the New Culture of Extremism

By: Christian Picciolini

Narrated by: Christian Picciolini

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

From a onetime white-supremacist leader now working to disengage people from extremist movements, Breaking Hate is a "riveting" (James Clapper), "groundbreaking" (Malcolm Nance), "horrifying [but] hopeful" (S.E. Cupp) exploration of how to heal a nation reeling from hate and violence.

Today's extremist violence surges into our lives from what seems like every direction - vehicles hurtling down city sidewalks; cyber-threats levied against political leaders and backed up with violence; automatic weapons unleashed on mall shoppers, students, and the faithful in houses of worship. As varied as the violent acts are the attackers themselves - neo-Nazis, white nationalists, the alt-right, InCels, and Islamist jihadists, to name just a few. In a world where hate has united communities that traffic in radical doctrines and rationalize their use of violence to rally the disaffected, the fear of losing a loved one to extremism or falling victim to terrorism has become almost universal.

Told with startling honesty and intimacy, Breaking Hate is both the inside story of how extremists lure the unwitting to their causes and a guide for how everyday Americans can win them - and our civil democracy - back. Former extremist Christian Picciolini unravels this sobering narrative from the frontlines, where he has worked for two decades as a peace advocate and "hate breaker". He draws from the firsthand experiences of extremists he has helped to disengage, revealing how violent movements target the vulnerable and exploit their essential human desires, and how the right interventions can save lives.

Along the way, Picciolini solves the puzzle of why extremism has come to define our era, laying bare the ways in which modern society - from "fake news" and social media propaganda to coded language and a White House that inflames rather than heals - has polarized and radicalized an entire generation.

Piercing, empathetic, and unrestrained, Breaking Hate tells the sweeping story of the challenge of our time and provides a roadmap to overcoming it.

©2020 Christian Picciolini (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"As an outspoken advocate who has denounced racism and resolved to "repair the harm I once caused," Picciolini sets an instructive example for those questioning their own extremism." (Kirkus Reviews)

"With piercing insight and unrivaled compassion, Breaking Hate tells the tragic story of how extremism has torn our communities asunder and how every American can work together to end the epidemic of violence that has taken so many of our loved ones. In a country where more than 96 percent of mass shootings are perpetrated by men, we need to find ways of helping our boys grow into healthy young men who not only reject hate but also feel they have paths forward in today's economy." (Andrew Yang, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate)

"Christian Picciolini changed the way I see the seduction of hate groups and the vulnerable people lured into them. Let him do that for you, too." (Sarah Silverman, comedian)

A timely and relevant read

It’s May of 2022, three separate senseless shootings this month in the U.S. alone.
This book was helpful in viewing the inside of hate and but most importantly how love can overcome it. I definitely recommend reading this book regardless of any internal suggestions not to read it. It’s a very timely read at a period when healing is so needed for our country.

A Must Read

Every American should read this book. Should be required reading in high schools. Who knew hate was so complicated?

Really good book

I liked how he took me into his life of trying to save people from extremism. This is how he turned around the damage he created while he was a white supremacists. It takes real courage to accept this fact and turn it around to try and undo the damage.

Robert Gold

This is a powerful guide and handbook and almost a bible in a sense for those looking to reach out to friends and family who spew hateful ideologies. Open dialogue is always the answer! Piccolini and his incredibly heart wrenching and blood curdling life experiences should serve as a great asset to us all to better learn how to love & understand one another.

step 13 write a book to your ego

felt like the book was written to himself to make himself Christian feel better about all the hate he did. It felt ego driven vs trying to make the world better. he has a lot of hate for Trump, I though we don't need anymore hate.....,...............

Had to return. Rambling diary and boring narration.

Do yourself a favor and speed up the narration to 1.3 - 1.5x. Standard speed might put you to sleep.

Book review: If you were hoping to get actual insights into the culture of hate and extremism, as well as the perspectives of those who still believe in it, you’ll be disappointed in this book. Instead, you get the author’s dribbling thoughts that sound as if they were written down in a diary and his continual blame of politics/Trump as the singular catalysts for people joining these movements is shortsighted. This perspective glosses over the deep seeded issues that lead people down a hateful racist driven path, something I was hoping to learn in this book but didn’t.