According to Eric Stanley, brutal murders of LGBT people, many of which involve the mutilation or dismemberment of the victim's body, are not aberrations and should not be dismissed as the products of individual pathology. Instead, Stanley argues, these forms of violence are central to the reproduction of liberal democracy in the US.

What lessons have been learned from the Jared Loughner shootings and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre? Is it that college instructors and staff need to intervene to prevent violent episodes from occurring in the first place? Benjamin Reiss objects to what he sees as the intrusion of psychiatric risk assessment and intervention into the classroom.

In this second installment of Ron Hassner's talk, the U.C. Berkeley political scientist addresses, among other things, the notion that religion has motivated most of the wars, or at least the bloodiest ones, throughout history. Also included is more from an interview with the politically inquisitive Lisa Kron.

Ron Hassner confronts the argument that religions are naturally conducive to peace. He emphasizes, among other things, the ambiguous and contradictory nature of religious texts and passages. Also, a new play by Lisa Kron points out blind spots in the political consciousness of many middle-class liberals.

Why did the Black Panther Party use violent rhetoric? Was the Panthers' struggle for liberation enhanced by their commitment to armed self-defense, or hurt by it? Curtis Austin argues that the Panthers' violent rhetoric both influenced the organization's growth and helped to justify the massive police repression directed against it.

How strong are social pressures to act in a certain way, and what does that have to do with sexual assault and rape? Julia Serano explores the impact of the sexual predator/prey mindset on both women and men. Jill Filipovic asserts that rape is, among other things, a tool of social control; the constant threat of rape, she contends, keeps women afraid and in line.