Odette Yousef
Odette Yousef is a National Security correspondent focusing on extremism.
In her reporting, Yousef aims to explore how extremist ideas break into the mainstream, how individuals are radicalized and efforts to counter that.
Before joining NPR in August of 2021, Yousef spent twelve years reporting for member station WBEZ in Chicago, where she was most recently part of the Race, Class and Identity team. While there, she was reporter and host for Season 3 of WBEZ's investigative podcast, Motive. The podcast, which won a 2021 national Edward R. Murrow award, explores the emergence and spread of the neo-Nazi skinhead movement in the U.S. and its connections to the far right extremism of today. Yousef was also part of a team that won a 2016 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Continuing Coverage, and she received a 2018 Studs Terkel Community Media Award. Prior to joining WBEZ, Yousef reported at WABE in Atlanta.
Born and raised in the Boston area, Yousef received a Bachelor of Arts in economics and East Asian studies from Harvard University. She is based in Chicago.
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Recent hoaxes raise concerns that swatting is becoming a growing trend in political violence in the U.S. There are still many questions about who and what motivations lie behind these calls.
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Far-right users online have reacted to a Colorado court ruling that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on that state's primary ballot. They're calling for "civil war."
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Former President Trump has been using increasingly autocratic language over the campaign season. Many Americans have found this rhetoric to be shocking; but for a portion of his base, it is welcomed.
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Attorneys general in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are fighting to curtail the increasingly public activities of the neo-Nazi organization NSC-131.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to keynote an event for lawmakers who promote conservative Christian dominance — the latest connection illustrating his close relationship with Christian extremists.
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When the FBI developed its program to collect hate crime data, it included a category to track anti-Arab incidents. But this code was dropped, masking the scale of the problem.
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The families of three men of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont say it was a hate crime. But investigators aren't sure, and tracking anti-Arab hate crimes is uniquely complicated.
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Videos praising a letter written by Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden briefly circulated on TikTok this week. But the reaction exceeded the reach of the videos themselves.
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Surges in religious hate crimes in the U.S. historically follow conflicts between Israel and Palestinians. Extremism experts say the latest outbreak of U.S. violence may have more profound effects.
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Municipal and county officials are consistently experiencing high levels of harassment and even threats, according to new data. Many worry this may tip into violence as the 2024 election nears.