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.
-
Cells of white males have formed in at least 30 states, united around racism and an interest in mixed martial arts. Extremism researchers say they're neo-Nazis looking to mainstream their ideas.
-
A sidewalk brawl between rightwing extremist gangs in Oregon highlighted the increasingly public presence of so-called "active clubs" in the U.S., many of which espouse violence and neo-Nazi beliefs.
-
In Atlanta, dozens of activists who oppose a new police and fire training facility are being accused of domestic terrorism. That has alarmed civil liberties and human rights groups.
-
The protests in Atlanta over whether to build a police training facility have gotten more violent. A protester was killed by police in January, and others have been charged with domestic terrorism.
-
Opponents of a planned police training facility in Atlanta are gathering for a week of action against the project. But they risk being labeled domestic terrorists by state authorities.
-
Extremism researchers say online rhetoric from the far right has heated up since Trump was indicted. But they're not seeing signs that it will translate to collective violence.
-
Ahead of former president Donald Trump's courthouse appearance on federal charges Tuesday, some on the far right have been calling for violence.
-
The activist group Moms for Liberty has grown rapidly during the pandemic years, claiming to fight for parents' rights in public education. The Southern Poverty Law Center is labeling it as extremist.
-
One individual may be responsible for hundreds of false reports of active shooters across the U.S. The hoaxes have raised awareness of "swatting," and how it may be a national security threat.
-
Two decades after Congress authorized the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, there's growing concern about whether DHS is doing enough to combat domestic violent extremism.