Rancor reigns in American politics. Is it possible these days to regard politics as an arena that enriches and ennobles?
Matthew D. Wright responds with a resounding yes in his 2019 book, A Vindication of Politics: On the Common Good and Human Flourishing (UP of Kansas, 2019).
Wright takes issue with the instrumentalist view of politics and walks readers thr ... Show More
Mar 2
Claire Provost and Matt Kennard, "Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
As European empires crumbled in the 20th century, the power structures that had dominated the world for centuries were up for renegotiation. Yet instead of a rebirth for democracy, what emerged was a silent coup – namely, the unstoppable rise of global corporate power.
Exposing t ... Show More
44m 32s
Feb 28
Barbie Zelizer, "How the Cold War Broke the News: The Surprising Roots of Journalism's Decline" (Polity, 2025)
Most of us would agree that American journalism has problems. Rushed reporting and thin coverage. Timidity in the face of adversity. Polarized perspectives and euphemistic language. Groupthink about complicated events.While much blame has been levelled at big tech, in How the Col ... Show More
40m 29s
Feb 21
Josh Milburn, "Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully" (Oxford UP, 2023)
How would we eat if animals had rights? A standard assumption is that our food systems would be plant-based. But maybe we should reject this assumption. Indeed, this book argues that a future non-vegan food system would be permissible on an animal rights view. It might even be de ... Show More
1h 16m
May 2024
Is gentleness possible in politics? with Michael Wear and Roger Bolton
Trust in our elected officials seems at an all-time low. Moral failures, infighting, and scandals have become commonplace. Today, on Unbelievable? we ask, Can we rediscover the moral compass in politics? With crucial primaries taking place in the USA and an election in the UK on ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2025
Whatever this is, it isn’t liberalism
What exactly is the basis for democracy? Arguably Iiberalism, the belief that the government serves the people, is the stone on which modern democracy was founded. That notion is so ingrained in the US that we often forget that America could be governed any other way. But politic ... Show More
53m 40s
Aug 2025
The New Politics with Gladden Pappin
In the second episode of ECFR’s summer mini-series on the “New Right”, Mark Leonard is joined by Gladden Pappin, president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, co-founder and deputy editor of American Affairs Journal and co-founder of the online magazine Post-Libe ... Show More
41m 51s
Aug 2024
Oliver Traldi, "Political Beliefs: A Philosophical Introduction" (Routledge, 2024)
The idiom of contemporary politics is a kind of philosophical hodge-podge. While there’s plenty of talk about the traditional themes of freedom, justice, equality, and autonomy, there is also an increasing reliance on ideas like misinformation, bias, expertise, and propaganda. Th ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2025
On Politics: The Online Right (and Left)
For the best part of a decade, a new type of anti-systemic, nationalist politics has been emerging from different corners of the online world. In Britain, this has united with older forms of cultural conservatism to propel Nigel Farage and Reform UK to within touching distance of ... Show More
1h 15m
May 2024
Lyndsey Stonebridge and Lucas Johnson — On Love, Politics, and Violence (Channeling Hannah Arendt)
Here is a stunning sentence for you, written by Lyndsey Stonebridge, our guest this hour, channeling the 20th-century political thinker and journalist Hannah Arendt: "Loneliness is the bully that coerces us into giving up on democracy." This conversation is a kind of guide to gen ... Show More
1h 15m
Oct 2025
The rise of a worker friendly Republican Party
In the United States, the political right is undergoing a significant transformation. Once dominated by Reagan economics—characterised by free trade and deregulation—the movement has increasingly adopted policies focusing on the working class, opposing globalisation, pursuing pro ... Show More
33m 28s