Shortcut: How Serious Are Australia's Neo-Nazis?
6/21/202614 min
This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.
What does it mean to be a Nazi in 2026?
Crime reporter at The Age, Sherryn Groch joins us to examine how extremist groups attract followers online, who they're targeting, and the symbols, language and online communities that help these movements grow.
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CREDITS:
Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: Sherryn Groch
Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMeshel Laurie· Host0:00
[gentle music] This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Laurie. What does it mean to be a Nazi in 2026? As extremist groups adapt to the digital age, crime reporter at The Age, Sharon Grotj, examines how they attract followers online, who they're targeting, and the symbols, language, and online communities that help these movements grow. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. And a warning, this episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence. All right, so we need you to tell us, please, where are we in 2026? What does it mean to be a Nazi in Australia?
Sherryn Groch· Guest0:52
Well, I guess it means exactly how it sounds. Um, these are Hitler sh- worship- worshiping, swastika-waving, out-and-proud Nazis. They hate Jews, they wanna deport people of color, and build their own white-only societies, you know, run by men, of course.
Meshel Laurie· Host1:10
Mm.
Sherryn Groch· Guest1:10
And people say this to me a lot, like, "Oh, come on."
Meshel Laurie· Host1:13
Yeah.
Sherryn Groch· Guest1:13
"They're not actually Nazis." And it is tempting, when you see these guys larping around, it, it is tempting to sort of laugh at them.
Meshel Laurie· Host1:21
Yes.
Sherryn Groch· Guest1:21
Like, "Aren't they ridiculous?" But the reason I got interested is because these guys are, you know, they're, they're serious dangerous people. A lot of them have got really