When a guy told me a few years ago, "You know, there's going to be another Civil War"; I told him to grab a tinfoil hat.

But then, more and more scary, violent, and downright weird things kept happening; egged on by increasingly inflammatory political rhetoric, and amplified by social media and cable TV.

It all came to a head, but most certainly didn't end, during the insurrection at the US Capitol, on January 6th, 2020.

Now, the federal Judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's upcoming trial in New York for alleged election interference, has filed gag orders, seeking to keep him from making threatening statements against prosecutors, witnesses, and even the judge's own daughter.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg, or perhaps the spear; as we learn that next week, a brand new feature film starring Kirstin Dunst will be released nationwide, called "Civil War", which imagines what seemed like crazy talk a few years ago, just in time to put even more of a spanner in the works ahead of the upcoming Presidential election.

So, what can the average person do?

Are we all just doomed to be battered pillar-to-post each day by with worrisome thoughts and fears that our country is coming apart at the seams? Can't we just get a little peace, and a more calm and reasoned perspective, without sticking our heads so far down in the sand that we miss what is actually going on? 

To find out; I asked Dr. Karl Kaltenthaler, who Directs the University of Akron's Michael J. Morell Center for Intelligence Studies, and is an expert on Domestic terrorism.

Listen now:

Dr. Karl Kaltenthaler, University of Akron