Do not miss Michael May’s (yes, Daniel May’s brother) amazing This American Life, Turncoat, on Brandon Darby, post-Katrina organizer turned FBI informant. A description:
Brandon Darby was a radical activist and one of the founders of the incredibly effective relief organization Common Ground. Michael May reports on how Darby changed from a revolutionary who wanted the overthrow of the U.S. government into an informant working with the FBI against his former radical allies.
It brings up so many critical issues about activism: the “hero complex,” working inside vs. outside the system, violence vs. nonviolence, approaches to leadership–collaborative (slow, but ethical) vs. authoritarian (effective, but isolating), mentorship in the movement etc. etc.