Secret Life of the Professor Who Lives with Nazis

Sociologist Peter Simi has spent 20 years embedding with skinheads. As hate crimes spike across America, his intimate insights are more crucial than ever.

Illustrations by Daniel Zender | Story Edited by Brendan Spiegel

This thrilling story by Erika Hayasaki is a fascinating look at a man who has dedicated his life to a very unorthodox and dangerous mission. Unfortunately, even as Peter Simi’s work becomes more and more relevant, the Trump administration recently shut down his funding and banned his books. If you haven’t had a chance to read this story yet, it’s one not to miss. And if you want to learn how to write hard-hitting profiles like this one, we’re extremely lucky to have the writer, Erika Hayasaki joining us for an Open Book live video over at Narratively Academy this week.

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The partygoers with swastikas and Iron Cross tattoos began to arrive at the ranch-style home in Costa Mesa, California, one summer evening in 2000. Pete Simi looked around the crammed living room as it quickly filled with around 50 racists clapping and swaying to the guitar and drum music of a white-power band, Hate Train, which belted out lyrics about “Aryan pride.” The color of Simi’s skin allowed him to blend in. He’s a husky guy, with sand-colored hair, who can down beer after beer without losing his faculties, a practice that gives him cred with this crowd. He caught eyes with an intoxicated skinhead, who stared at him suspiciously and then said to a friend next to him: “That’s the guy who wants to study us.”