How Charlie Kirk Became A Voice Of Conservative Youth Npr

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on Sept. 10, NYT reporter Robert Draper talks with Terry Gross about the conservative activist's rise and legacy. Draper profiled Kirk earlier this year and stayed in touch up to the day before his death. We also discuss right-wing extremist Nick Fuentes, a rival of Kirk’s with a large following. Podcast: Fresh Air (NPR) Date: September 17, 2025 Host: Terry Gross Guest: Robert Draper (journalist & author, New York Times Magazine profile of Charlie Kirk) This episode of Fresh Air explores the career and impact of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a powerful voice in conservative youth politics, in the wake of his tragic assassination.

Host Terry Gross interviews journalist Robert Draper, who profiled Kirk earlier that year, to unpack Kirk’s rise, philosophies, and rivalry within the contemporary right, notably with far-right influencer Nick Fuentes. The conversation delves into the responses to Kirk’s death, his ideology on American identity, immigration, free speech, the schism within the MAGA movement, and the shifting political landscape of young conservatives. “That order… reflects the importance of Charlie Kirk within the conservative ecosystem, but is also personal importance to President Trump himself because Kirk was so close to the Trump family.” —Robert Draper (01:54) Quick Pivot to Blame the “Radical Left”: “We’ve been hearing a lot of the third person plural, the word ‘they’, when… the alleged gunman acted alone…” —Robert Draper (03:57) In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on Sept.

10, NYT reporter Robert Draper talks with Terry Gross about the conservative activist's rise and legacy. Draper profiled Kirk earlier this year and stayed in touch up to the day before his death. We also discuss right-wing extremist Nick Fuentes, a rival of Kirk’s with a large following. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices The High Pressure Experiments That Made D-Day Ethan Hawke On The Role That Pushed Him To His Limit

Who Is Laura Loomer, Trump's 'Loyalty Enforcer'? People influenced by Charlie Kirk include our next guest, Joe Mitchell, who was a former Iowa state representative and founder of Run Gen Z, a group with the goal of electing young conservatives. Mr. Mitchell, I know you've described Charlie Kirk as a kind of mentor, so I should begin by saying I'm sorry for your loss. JOE MITCHELL: Thanks, Steve. I think it's an overestimate to say how sad of a day it was yesterday in America...

MITCHELL: ...How terrible of a day it was and tragic. And you'd hope we never have a day like it ever again. INSKEEP: What role did Charlie Kirk play in moving you into activism? MITCHELL: Well, Charlie was a friend, and he was a mentor. And, you know, Charlie was a God-fearing man, and he was a father and a husband and a patriot and friend to many. Charlie inspired me to start a group called Run Gen Z, where we help young conservatives run for state and local office.

And Charlie gave me seed money for that organization and was a partner in that. And he's played a tremendous part in my life and had a huge impact on my life over the last six years. Yesterday, to date, was the first time I met Charlie Kirk in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 10, 2019. So it was a particularly rough day. This week was supposed to mark the beginning of Charlie Kirk's latest national college tour. The influencer, activist and Trump ally made Utah Valley University his first stop Wednesday, where he took questions from a crowd, including this one.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years? CHARLIE KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence? That question about mass shooters was the final one that Kirk took before he was shot. Authorities confirmed his death a short time later. Charlie Kirk was a significant figure in the conservative movement, far more than a social media influencer. He built an organization on hundreds of college campuses.

And he held many events on campus, like the one yesterday. He invited students to challenge his political views in what he called Prove Me Wrong debates. KIRK: All right, we're going to have some fun today. If you guys disagree, you're welcome to the front. That's a big crowd. It keeps on going.

Look at that crowd. Charlie Kirk’s bold campus debates and mentorship sparked a conservative wave among youth. How did he inspire a generation? Click to find out... Financial market analysis from 14/09/2025. Market conditions may have changed since publication.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to spark a movement that resonates with an entire generation? For many young conservatives, that spark came from one man who wasn’t afraid to step into the arena of ideas, armed with a microphone and a challenge: prove me wrong. Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, didn’t just talk about conservative values; he lived them, inspiring countless young people to find their voice in a world that often shouted them down. His story isn’t just about politics—it’s about courage, mentorship, and the power of standing firm in your beliefs. Charlie Kirk wasn’t your average political figure. He didn’t hide behind a desk or delegate the tough conversations.

Instead, he hit the ground running, speaking directly to college students across the country, challenging them to question the status quo. His organization, Turning Point USA, grew into a powerhouse with over 250,000 members, fueled by his relentless energy and a knack for connecting with young minds. But what made him different? It was his willingness to stay in the trenches, engaging in raw, unfiltered debates that left a lasting mark. Kirk’s approach was simple but bold: set up a tent on a college campus, slap a sign on it that says Prove Me Wrong, and invite anyone—student, professor, or passerby—to step up to the... This wasn’t just about winning arguments; it was about fostering discourse, something Kirk believed was missing in modern education.

He didn’t shy away from tough crowds or hostile environments. In fact, he thrived in them, turning heated exchanges into teachable moments. The Divisive Rise of Conservative Youth Activist Charlie Kirk If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered. For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians.

Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need... And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks.

Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Robert Draper's portrait of Charlie Kirk, as laid out in his New York Times Magazine profile, reads like a study in how a kid with a gift for talking himself into rooms full of... Draper didn't just chart Kirk's rise; he mapped the ecosystem around Kirk-the figures who orbit him, the ideas he amplified, and the hard-edged debates that surrounded his short life in the public eye. In Terry Gross's Fresh Air conversation with Draper, the thread that runs through all of it is simple and alarming: charisma paired with a worldview that bristles at compromise and casts opponents as enemies,... Draper starts with the obvious: Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA when Kirk was barely out of high school and built it into what Draper calls the preeminent conservative youth organization. The closeness to Donald Trump is a through line, a thread that becomes clearer as Terry Gross prompts Draper to unpack Trump's reaction after Kirk's death. The first big gesture, Draper explains, was Trump's order to fly flags at half-mast.

Draper frames that choice as something beyond protocol-an acknowledgment of Kirk's stature within the conservative ecosystem and the personal bond between Kirk and the Trump family. It's a mirror of how these networks breathe life into a movement: not solely through policy wins but through moments of symbolic recognition that say, in effect, you've changed the conversation. That dynamic gets even more pronounced when Draper draws a line to J. D. Vance. Draper notes that Vance, Vice President in some imagined administration built around Kirk's influence, hosted Charlie Kirk's podcast and did so more than once.

The idea that Kirk could be a top adviser in a Vance administration isn't just a footnote; it's a window into how far this network had the potential to bend the center of gravity... The sense that Kirk stood on the brink of becoming indispensably connected to power lands with a thud, and Draper's portrait makes that feeling visceral: a young man with a knack for movement-building who... Terry Gross presses on the rhetorical frame that surrounded Kirk in those years-the charge that the radical left was fueling violence and that political rhetoric had real-world consequences. Draper's answer is revealing. He points to Trump's use of broad, conspiratorial language-"they," the those who fund political violence-against a backdrop in which the alleged gunman acted alone. Draper's read is skeptical but precise: the president's framing of the left as an incendiary force creates a feedback loop that legitimizes violence as a counterstrike against a political foe.

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