When he was an insecure teenager, Christian Picciolini  was part of a group of violent, skinhead neo-Nazis. Fast forward to today, and Picciolini spends his days helping people disengage from hate and violent extremism through his nonprofit, Life After Hate. In October 2017, Picciolini, author of the book Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead, sat down with Mother Jones senior editor and writer Wes Enzinna at the Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to talk about his personal journey and what it takes to de-radicalize a hate-filled extremist.

America is sometimes described as a class-free society — a view not shared by UC Hastings law professor Joan Williams. Williams, author of White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America, argues that misconceptions about class — in particular how the “professional elite” class misunderstands and condescends to the middle, working class — explains much that is wrong with the country. In October 2017, Williams sat down with media innovator Peter Leyden at Berkeleyside's fifth annual Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to deliver some hard truths about class bias and friction, and how it relates to our current political landscape.

Political messages gain added strength when they’re delivered in a way that matches how our brains process information. Pioneering cognitive linguist George Lakoff says that America’s leading progressive politicians have ignored the science, while Donald Trump and the right wing have connected with voters with dangerous effectiveness.

In October 2017, Lakoff, a former distinguished professor at UC Berkeley,  sat down with journalist Daphne White at the fifth annual Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley, to discuss how so many people underestimated the man who became the 45th president of the United States.