UAlbany Extremism Expert Sam Jackson Featured on 'Chat with Pat' Podcast

By Mike Nolan

Albany, N.Y. (Oct. 9, 2025) — The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has drawn attention to a troubling recent surge of politically motivated violence in the United States, targeting figures of both parties.

In June, two Minnesota legislators and their spouses were shot at in their homes in what authorities described as politically driven attacks. A few months earlier, arsonists set fire to Pennsylvania’s governor’s mansion, and last year, an assassination attempt on then former President Trump underscored how even the nation’s most visible leaders are facing heightened risks.

Sam Jackson, an assistant professor at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, studies far-right extremism in America, including anti-government groups. In September 2020, Jackson published “Oath Keepers: Patriotism and the Edge of Violence in a Right-Wing Antigovernment Group." The book examines how the extremist group has built support for its political goals and actions.

Jackson recently sat down with New York State Senator Patricia Fahy on her "Chat with Pat" podcast to discuss his expertise and the rise of extremism in the U.S.

“As I was going through my undergraduate degree, I was really interested in religion and violence,” Jackson said. "The more I studied about this, the more I was interested in people who seem like everyday good patriotic Americans, but who engage with conspiracy theories about the government being a bad actor. I was really interested in understanding how these people draw on American history and American values to justify their vigorous opposition to government.”

Among Jackson’s areas of research interest is investigating issues related to extremism online and social media behavior. He shared his thoughts with Fahy on how social media fuels political polarization.

“One of the things that increases the value of social media platforms is to keep users spending more time on them, so that they can be served more ads and companies can make more money,” Jackson said. “A bigger problem than these platforms recommending extremist content, is that they recommend content that keeps people on them. It just so happens that the content keeping people on the platform tends to be very emotionally activating, very polarized and heated, and sometimes extremist. That gains more interaction, engagement and time spent on these sites.”

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.