I was hoping for some look into why the perception is that things are so bad, aside from the one person being interviewed saying that every generation thinks it's living in the end of the world.

I was interested that he also referenced the idea that press coverage makes an impact on mass shootings, as mentioned in the Charlie Brooker article  on Socimages http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/07/23/media-coverage-of-mass-murders/

If violence against animals counts (why shouldn't it?) then affluent societies today are carrying out more aggregate violence than ever before.

"Other" European nations? The last time I checked, the US wasn't in Europe...

Are MEN more violent than ever before? Let's name the agent (in the vast majority of cases): males. Female violence is a statistical outlier. And, yes, that includes violence against womens' offspring.

http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/24/the-overwhelming-maleness-of-mass-homicide/

http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/rape-sexual-violence/victims-perpetrators.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nisvs/

http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html

Truth is truth is truth.

Google Stephen Pinker on this subject.  If I recall correctly there are many lines of evidence to suggest that humans are less violent than ever.

No, we are not, not even with animals.  On a per capita basis, whether human or animal, the amount of violence is significantly lower today than in the past.