Odette Yousef
Odette Yousef is a National Security correspondent focusing on extremism.
In her reporting, Yousef aims to explore how extremist ideas break into the mainstream, how individuals are radicalized and efforts to counter that.
Before joining NPR in August of 2021, Yousef spent twelve years reporting for member station WBEZ in Chicago, where she was most recently part of the Race, Class and Identity team. While there, she was reporter and host for Season 3 of WBEZ's investigative podcast, Motive. The podcast, which won a 2021 national Edward R. Murrow award, explores the emergence and spread of the neo-Nazi skinhead movement in the U.S. and its connections to the far right extremism of today. Yousef was also part of a team that won a 2016 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Continuing Coverage, and she received a 2018 Studs Terkel Community Media Award. Prior to joining WBEZ, Yousef reported at WABE in Atlanta.
Born and raised in the Boston area, Yousef received a Bachelor of Arts in economics and East Asian studies from Harvard University. She is based in Chicago. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
-
When Dana's son was hospitalized last year, it led her to a path of discovery about predatory online networks that groom children into harming themselves and others. Their reach is global and growing. -
The suspect in the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband texted, "Dad went to war last night,' evoking the language of the far right, Christian anti-abortion movement. -
If the suspect in the recent D.C. case planned to kill people because of their Jewish faith, this would represent a major anomaly in lethal, antisemitic violence. -
Most Americans balk at the idea of charging women who get abortions with homicide, but post-Roe, militant anti-abortion activists are finding state lawmakers are increasingly open to it. -
Some researchers say these recent attacks are examples of "nonideological" terrorism — the result of several antisocial, decentralized, online networks coming together. -
Extremism experts say a now-familiar playbook to scapegoat transgender people in the wake of high-profile tragedies is part of a political strategy to sow division and expand authoritarian control. -
For some marginalized communities the second Trump term is fraught with fears over personal safety. In Minneapolis, one organization is helping with de-escalation services and gun training. -
A racist conspiracy theory is believed to have motivated the suspected gunman in the Buffalo attack. It was once a fringe belief, but it's found its way into the mainstream.
