Strange People on the Hill
The Story of VDARE and How Extremism Tore Apart an American Town
Thursday, April 16, 2026
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
How does a far-right non-profit organization manage to upend life in a small West Virginia town? Investigative journalist and author Michael Edison Hayden told the story of VDARE—a white nationalist group led by Peter Brimelow that relocated to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, to spread racist propaganda from behind the walls of their castle.
This was an in-person conversation with the author of Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small American Town, Michael Edison Hayden. This event was moderated by Research Fellow Luke Baumgartner.