Carolyn and Brett: A Parable of Radicalization

• 44:42Young people wondering if they can afford a house, get a job, or if the country is run by pedophiles—and the answer to all of it is no.
• 45:27Tim introduces Carolyn, a 22-year-old Stern School finance major from Rhode Island with rich liberal friends, interested in women's literacy and cryptocurrency in the third world.
• 47:10Brett grew up outside Chicago; his father killed himself in the garage with a gun, and Brett found him with half his face blown off.
• 48:49Brett gets into Northwestern on an essay about finding his dead father, plays baseball, and tries to cope with trauma.
• 50:13Brett meets Carolyn at a bar called Jew after traveling to New York to visit a friend at Pace; they hook up and decide to get married.
• 51:43Brett moves to New York to be with Carolyn, who has money and connections, creating a power dynamic where he feels slightly emasculated.
• 52:44Carolyn runs into Jacques, her old French flame with aristocratic wealth and movie-star looks, at dinner on the Upper West Side.
• 54:01Jacques invites Carolyn to a gallery opening in Soho; one outing leads to lunch, coffee, and Jacques confessing he's always loved her.
• 55:56Carolyn breaks up with Brett, saying she's in love with Jacques and wants a different life, leaving Brett hollowed out and angry.
• 57:09Brett moves to Brooklyn, oscillating between far-left anarchocommunist and neo-Nazi ideology, consuming rage content daily to process his despair and loss.
• 59:06Brett dies of an accidental overdose in Bushwick; his Chinese landlord finds the body, unable to contact his already-dead father.

Whitney Wolf HerdNYUPace UniversityNorthwesternBrooklynStern School of BusinessBushwickSohoFrance