This is the second instalment of a three-part episode. In the 20th century most autocrats were brutal dictators whose main goal was to control a domestic population. But in the 21st century autocracy has become much more sophisticated and ambitious in its scope. States like Russia have developed sophisticated cross-border networks of kleptocratic financial s ... Show More
Sep 3
How Trade Shapes Our World, With Ed Conway
Trade has shaped human civilisation for thousands of years. From the copper used in Mesopotamian ploughs to the silicon inside our smartphones, vast networks have evolved to move the materials and products on which modern life depends. Yet much of this system remains invisible, o ... Show More
53m 33s
Sep 1
NYT’s Novel of the Century? Marlon James on The Disappearers
In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. Though strangers to one another, they share an inescapable truth: All of them are gay. And they live in a world that refuses to accept them. One night they are beaten and one of them is killed. In this episode, ... Show More
49m 24s
Aug 30
The Secret History in Our DNA: Adam Rutherford Meets David Olusoga (Part Two)
Adam Rutherford is a science broadcaster, and author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, which transformed the way we think about human history. By using genetics to uncover the story of our species, it offered a thrilling new perspective on who we are and where we cam ... Show More
38m 29s
Jul 2024
#376 — How Democracies Fail
<p dir="ltr">Sam Harris and Anne Applebaum discuss the nature of modern autocracies and how democracies fail. They discuss the power of ideas, why autocracies seek to undermine democracies, cooperation among dictators, how Western financial experts and investors have enabled auto ... Show More
1h 7m
Aug 2024
The Beginning Of The End For Putin?
<p>How do people like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin really hold onto power? The Pulitzer-prize winning historian and author of 'Autocracy Inc', Anne Applebaum, gives her take on how dictators like the Russian president prop themselves up, and the approaching inflection point in ... Show More
45m 34s
Aug 2024
Anne Applebaum on dictators big and small
In this episode of EU Confidential, we speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum. Her latest book, "Autocracy Inc.," explores how authoritarian regimes are banding together against democracies, including EU countries. But first, we look ahead to local elections in ... Show More
35m 17s
May 2025
Kleptocracy, Inc. — with Anne Applebaum
Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Scott to discuss the rise of kleptocracy in America, the global playbook of autocrats, and solutions to our democratic slide. Follow Anne, @anneapplebaum. Algebra of Happiness: greatness is ... Show More
1h 10m
Mar 2022
Revenge of Power: How Autocrats are Reinventing Politics in the 21st Century
In The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century, Moisés Naím, former Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Policy, turns to the trends, conditions, technologies and behaviors that are contributing to the concentration of power, and to the clash between t ... Show More
59m 35s
Dec 2022
Why the Bad Guys—in China, Russia, Iran, and the U.S.—Are Having a Terrible Winter
One year ago, we had Anne Applebaum on the podcast to talk about her essay, "The Bad Guys Are Winning." And I think you could have made an argument that this was the most important story in geopolitics. Across the world, the rise of authoritarianism—in Russia, China, Turkey, Vene ... Show More
49m 34s
Feb 2024
The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism
In this week’s episode of Radio Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance, the executive editor of The Atlantic, names and explains the political ideology of the unelected leaders of Silicon Valley. They are “leading an antidemocratic, illiberal movement” she calls: techno-authoritarianism. Wa ... Show More
29m 30s
Sep 2025
Growing autocratic alliances; Is there hope for a two-state solution?; The Trump’s administration’s upheaval of American medicine; The AI crisis in education
Today on the show, Fareed sits down with Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum to discuss this week’s meeting between China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and the growing alliances between autocracies.Then, former US negotiator Robert Malley, c ... Show More
41m 1s