Weird Little Guys

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Raymond Turner Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

Just about every source of information about nazi serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin gets the name of one of his victims wrong. In my search for information about the man who was murdered in Falls Church, Virginia in August of 1979, I came up mostly empty. We've erased a man from the story of his own murder because it's easier to tell a story about a racist than it is to talk about racism.
Sources:
Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011
Moon, V. The middleburg mystique: A peek inside the gates of Middleburg, Virginia. Waverley Lee Media, LLC. 2016
Matthew Exline, We Have Been Waiting Too Long: The Struggle Against Racial Segregation in Loudoun County, Virginia. Have History Will Travel Press, 2020.
Carole Townsend, Blood in the Soil. Skyhorse, 2016
Douglas, John E., Ann W. Burgess, et al. Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes. John Wiley and Sons, 2006.
The Study of the Operation of Segregated Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia conducted by Teachers in the Movement Oral History Project Research Team University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development
https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/214704/The-Study-of-the-Operation-of-Segregated-Schools-in-Loudoun-County-Virginia_FINAL
https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/index.cfm?fa=newsinfo.displayContent&theFile=content/deathPenalty/trial

https://www.aclunorcal.org/app/uploads/2010/03/costs_of_death_penalty_trials.pdf

https://fds.duke.edu/db?attachment-34--1667-view-301

https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/259-0162-0007_ShilohBaptistChurch_2017_NRHP_FINAL.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1990/04/26/middleburg/74b1854a-dca2-4b45-8bc5-7999ab4e015c/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/05/loudoun-county-segregated-schools-reparations/
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/government/constitution1902.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/08/21/turner-raymond-elton/4ae0ab2f-ef82-477d-a8f8-39ababc4c72c/
https://edwinwashingtonproject.org/files/original/62047/1014789_EWP_2-5A_Yr_1930_CountyWide_on_Gibbons_Lot.pdf

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One Man Race War: Joseph Paul Franklin, Pt. 5 Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

After Joseph Paul Franklin was arrested in 1980, prosecutors all over the country were waiting their turn to try him for murder. After a federal prosecutor failed to convince a jury that shooting a man just for being black was a civil rights violation, they lost their confidence. But Joseph Paul Franklin was desperate to get out of the federal prison where he was serving his first few life sentences.

Sources:
Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011
Thomas Martinez, Brotherhood of Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of The Order. McGraw Hill, 1988
Jessica Mitford, Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business, New York, Vintage Books, 1973
Devins, Neal, "Reagan Redux: Civil Rights Under Bush" (1993). Faculty Publications. 429.
https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/429
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/06/28/reynolds-nomination-voted-down/115c0520-c848-4c17-a302-209a9a9d5a4a/

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/28/us/senate-committee-rejects-reynolds-for-justice-post.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/07/us/us-rights-official-discounts-tension.html

https://virginiamercury.com/2019/04/22/can-a-local-prosecutor-decide-to-just-stop-prosecuting-marijuana-cases-the-va-supreme-court-will-decide/

https://www.hcpros.org/case-vault-1

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/09/us/slayer-faces-trial-in-2-apparently-racial-killings.html

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_v._Lanza

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-5/dual-sovereignty-doctrine

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/7299259/united-states-v-fields/

https://www.washingtonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Utah-AG-Report.pdf

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4403054/mitchell-v-roberts/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-02-mn-747-story.html
https://people.umass.edu/~kastor/ceml_articles/cu_in_us.html
https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC3_scans/3.journal.prisons.prisoners.griffin.1993.pdf
https://concrim.asc41.com/wp-content/uploads/j32.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/10/23/murders-of-blacks-baffle-us-officials/f8eefeac-1ca3-48de-85a0-4b9db645b01e/
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/24/us/study-accuses-justice-dept-of-waging-attack-on-civil-rights-laws.html
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/10/marion-prison-lockdown-thomas-silverstein-how-a-1983-murder-created-america-s-terrible-supermax-prison-culture.html

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One Man Race War: Joseph Paul Franklin, Pt. 4 Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

When Joseph Paul Franklin hit the road to start his killing spree, his movements seemed completely random. But what if they weren't?

Sources:

Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011

Fine, Morris, and Milton Himmelfard. American Jewish Year Book 1979. 1978.

Frenkel, Margaret. American synagogue directory, 1963

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-25016217

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4300634/zink-v-lombardi/

https://isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/in-cold-blood/

https://www.almd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022-04/OH-transcript-baxley.pdf

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/14/timeline-hate-filled-life/7712569/

https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/supreme-court/2000/sc-81859-1.html

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One Man Race War: Joseph Paul Franklin, Pt. 3 Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

Last week, we looked at the nazi newletters serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin was probably reading in the leadup to his killing spree. But there is one thing we know for certain he was reading: Hustler.
Sources:
Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011
Jonathan Golomb, Regulation of Indecency in Political Broadcasting, 13 U. MICH. J. L. REFORM 69 (1979).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol13/iss1/5
https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/18/justice/death-row-interview-joseph-paul-franklin
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/12/archives/antiobscenity-drive-disputed-in-atlanta-prosecutors-campaign-widely.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/10/archives/a-bullet-paralyzed-flynt-below-waist-his-doctor-reports-operating.html

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/convicted-killer-avowed-racist-tells-of-a-life-of-rage-hatred/article_c2093272-4768-52d2-8c0b-2e0bf719c1b1.html

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One Man Race War: Joseph Paul Franklin, Pt. 2 Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

In 1977, Joseph Paul Franklin started his three year killing spree, but he wasn't the only neo-nazi who murdered for the movement that summer.
Sources:
Sunshine, Spencer. (2024). Neo-Nazi terrorism and countercultural fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege. Taylor & Francis.
Pierce, Kelvin. Sins of My Father, Growing Up with America's Most Dangerous White Supremacist. Independently Published, 2020
Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011
Gardell, Mattias. “Lone Wolf Race Warriors and White Genocide.” Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108609760.
Bart Schuurman, Lasse Lindekilde, Stefan Malthaner, Francis O'Connor, Paul Gill & Noémie Bouhana (2017): End of the Lone Wolf: The Typology that Should Not Have Been, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1419554
Jeffrey Kaplan (2014) Mel Ayton. Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin , Terrorism and Political Violence, 26:5, 855-857

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To Catch A Fascist: An Interview with Christopher Mathias Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Molly interviews Christopher Mathias about his new book, To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right. It's a rollicking tale of infiltrating nazi groups and exposing their private communications to dox them en masse.

Preorder Chris' book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/To-Catch-a-Fascist/Christopher-Mathias/9781668034767

The article Chris mentioned about Spit & Dan: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/death-in-the-desert-2263332/

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CZM Rewind: Soldier of Misfortune: Frank Sweeney Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Part One: Frank Abbott Sweeney Jr may be the Forrest Gump of American white supremacy in the 20th century. Starting with a failed bank robbery for the American Nazi Party in the 60s, Frank stumbled his way into being an inconsequential side character in major historical events for decades.

Original Air Date: 8.28.24

Part Two: In part two of the life of the Forrest Gump of fascism, Frank Sweeney leads the CIA on an international goose chase, befriends and then betrays a serial killer, and just can't stop committing crimes by mail.

Original Air Date: 9.5.24

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One Man Race War: Joseph Paul Franklin, Pt. 1 Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

Years before he set off on his three year killing spree, Joseph Paul Franklin left his home in Alabama to attend a nazi conference in Virginia.

Sources:

Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011

Belew, Kathleen. Bring the War Home : The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Harvard University Press, 2018.

Sunshine, Spencer (2024). Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege (1st ed.). New York, NY: Routledge

Kaplan, Jeffrey. (2022). No Longer Alone: Lone Wolves, Wolf Packs, and Made for Web TV Specials. In: Perry, B., Gruenewald, J., Scrivens, R. (eds) Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States . Palgrave Hate Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Saslow, Eli. Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. Anchor, 2018.

Malthaner, Stefan, et al. “Scattered Attacks: The Collective Dynamics of Lone-Actor Terrorism.” Perspectives on Politics, vol. 22, no. 2, Dec. 2023, pp. 463–80. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1537592723002852.

Bart Schuurman, Lasse Lindekilde, Stefan Malthaner, Francis O'Connor, Paul Gill & Noémie Bouhana (2017): End of the Lone Wolf: The Typology that Should Not Have Been, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1419554

Pantucci, Rafaello. A Typology of Lone Wolves: Preliminary Analysis of Lone Islamist Terrorists. (London: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), 2011): 14-31.

Gardell, Mattias. “Lone Wolf Race Warriors and White Genocide.” Cambridge University Press, 2021.

https://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/NCITF-Final-Paper.pdf

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/movement-and-madman/#part01

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1969/11/20/november-mobilization/

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/nixons-secret-plan-for-ending-the-vietnam-war-nuclear-annihilation-of-vietnam/

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Cops & Klan Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

In 1965, a car full of klansmen shot and killed Viola Liuzzo, a white woman from Detroit who volunteered to drive civil rights activists back to Selma after the march to Montgomery. The FBI immediately kicked into overdrive to drag her name through the mud.
Sources:
Stanton, Mary. From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998
Mendelsohn, Jack. The martyrs : sixteen who gave their lives for racial justice. Harper & Row 1966
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman

https://famous-trials.com/mississippi-burningtrial/1978-barnetteconfession

https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/schwerner-michael/

http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/7p88cm77s

https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-long-not-long-speech-text/

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-september-10-2017-1.4280530/daughter-of-civil-rights-worker-murdered-in-selma-on-racism-white-supremacy-and-her-mother-s-legacy-1.4280754

https://archive.org/details/martyrssixteenwh00mend/page/176/mode/2up

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Earl Turner's Diary Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

When the man responsible for bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City was arrested, he was carrying a page of his favorite book. The book had been sold at gun shows and in ads in nazi newsletters for years, but suddenly the rest of the country was asking... can a book kill?
Sources:
Berger, J.M. "The Turner Legacy: The Storied Origins and Enduring Impact of White Nationalism’s Deadly Bible", The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague 7, no. 8 (2016).
Belew, Kathleen. Bring the War Home : The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Harvard University Press, 2018.
Sunshine, Spencer (2024). Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege (1st ed.). New York, NY: Routledge
Pierce, Kelvin. Sins of My Father, Growing Up with America's Most Dangerous White Supremacist. Independently Published, 2020
Martin Durham, White Rage: The Extreme Right and American Politics (new
york: routledge, 2007)
Gardell, Mattias (2003). Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham: Duke University Press.
Kaplan, Jeffrey (July 2018). "America's apocalyptic literature of the radical right". International Sociology. 33 (4): 503–522
Flynn, Kevin, and Gary Gerhardt. The Silent Brotherhood: Inside America's Racist Underground Free Press ; Collier Macmillan, 1989.
Michael, George(2003) 'The revolutionary model of Dr William L. Pierce', Terrorism and Political Violence, 15: 3
Michael, George(2010) 'Blueprints and Fantasies: A Review and Analysis of Extremist Fiction', Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33: 2
Griffin, R. S. (2001). The Fame of a Dead Man’s Deeds. 1st Books Library.
Cullick, Jonathan S. “The Literary Offenses of a Neo-Nazi: Narrative Voice in ‘The Turner Diaries.’” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 24, no. 3, 2002, pp. 87–99.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/guru-white-hate-william-pierce-timothy-mcveigh-831091/

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