Episode 1: Devon Arthurs

Devon acts out after he meets a mysterious friend online named Odin, who teaches him about “national socialism.” [Contains sensitive content]©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC

pretty interesting

This is a pretty good piece. It does focus a lot on the early parts of the group and really kind of glosses over that later more recent days. I just think people would be more interested in the Order of Nine Angles (not angels). The whole ideology of the ONA is often disputed but, has a lot of infiltration and subversion. The man the many say started the ONA also started as a neo nazi then turned to extreme Islam and now supposedly lives a life of peace for Jesus. Who knows but, there's certainly a ton of similarities there.

Anti-gamer-culture or liberal bias? Not exactly

Around 5 minutes into the first episode, the narrator begins talking about where the subject, Devon Arthurs, first came into contact with and established a rapport with radicalised individuals: a gaming site and chatroom.

At 13 minutes into the first episode, it acknowledges that there has been speculation about whether video games lead to real world violence and the narrator says that there is no definitive proof that it does. They then run through a series of young people who say what they play, how often, and if it gives them a sense of community with other players they interact with. The ultimate point the narrative is trying to make is that through gaming one can establish a kind of comradery with other players through a shared interest, and that gaming allows one to chat and be engaged for hours. This leads to its potential as a place where one could recruit or radicalise others (young people in particular).

At around 16 minutes, the parent being interviewed confesses to considering assaulting Devon for having a discompassionate and opposing perspective on a highly publicized event that resulted in a death and a trial. The narrator refers to this apathetic reaction as the first red flag but they do not resort to labeling the villain in the case being discussed, instead only mentioning the relevant details and only the age and death of the victim that made it so controversial. Only the parent being interviewed casts the case through what could be seen as a liberal lense.

I am surprised that the violent intent of the parent wasn't an avenue to explore in how this attitude may have impacted the subject, but they were only being interviewed, not scrutinized or examined. I think the interviewer asked the parent to list red flags (things that ultimately lead to Devon murdering a number of people) rather than it being something the reporter themselves picked out as portents of violence (while dismissing the potential problems in the parent's approach at the time).

It is interesting and I intend to continue listening to see where this goes.

yay

really good.nuthin else to say.and also its dramatica and rlly good.soooooo good.i wanna share this to my friends

A must listen

This is such an engaging story and is so clearly and perfectly reported. Everyone should listen

realize this is a TRUE story

I see the reviews for this and people are mad at the topic, you CHOSE the book. this is a great book to get into the minds of people and their behavior. They are not supporting his behavior they are telling his story. what a great series!