Jul 22

Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary's Narrow Path Back to Democracy

You can only get to the point of restoring democratic institutions if you win the last election with such a huge majority that you really have the public with you as you make radical change.Kim Lane Scheppele Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociolog ... Show More

52m 24s

Jun 24

Pepper Culpepper Says Good Populism Can Save Democracy

We think the next ten years are going to be anti-billionaire.Pepper CulpepperPepper Culpepper joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss when populism can strengthen democracy. Drawing on his Journal of Democracy article “When Populism Can Be Good” and his book with Taeku Lee, Billio ... Show More

49m 5s

Jun 10

Dan Slater Says Authoritarian Ideologies Still Matter

We think of World War II as this global democratizing event, but what it really did was strengthen left-wing authoritarianism.Dan SlaterDan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center of Emerging Democracies at the University of M ... Show More

47m 9s

Jul 2024

Rethinking Democracy Ep. 3: Economic Conditions and Support for Democracy with Daron Acemoglu and Tamara Cofman Wittes

About the series: This is a critical year for the future of democracy. Half the world's population will go to the polls in 2024, at a time when citizens in America and across the globe are losing faith in democratic institutions. We often view the rollback of ... Show More

1h 2m

Sep 2023

Democracy’s existential crisis

Why is democracy worth saving? Sean Illing is joined by Astra Taylor, the author of the new book The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart. They discuss the history and reality of insecurity and how we can fight for more sustainable and meaningful democratic pol ... Show More

51m 17s

Sep 2020

A radical — or obvious? — plan to save American democracy

We talk a lot on this show about the problems with American political institutions. But what if all those problems are actually just one problem: the two-party system. Lee Drutman is a political scientist, senior fellow in the Political Reform program at New America, co-host of ... Show More

1h 9m

Feb 2023

How to fix our flawed democracies

Gideon talks to Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, about his new book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. They discuss why the post-war settlement between democratic governments and their people is no longer fit for purpose and what can be done to re ... Show More

24m 55s

Aug 2025

#429 — The New World Order

Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum about the erosion of democracy at home and abroad. They discuss the Sudanese civil war and the outside forces involved, America's retreat from global leadership, the impacts of USAID cuts, gerrymandering, the integrity of U.S. el ... Show More

26m 52s

Apr 2023

Is there such a thing as a rules-based international order?

Gideon talks to the US political theorist John Ikenberry about why the Ukraine war has been both a challenge and a spur for those who want to see liberal democratic values thrive. Clip: Global News More on this topic:<a href="htt ... Show More

26m 44s

Aug 2025

Abolish the Senate. End the Electoral College. Pack the Court.

For Democrats, President Trump’s victories have revealed the antidemocratic flaws at the core of our government. But could it be an opening for a constitutional revolution as the party searches for its next leader?This week, Ross explores what that revolution would enta ... Show More

55m 37s

Jun 2022

Democracy Imperiled

What happened at the Capitol on January 6 begs us to look to our past to help us understand our present, and to imagine a better future. From debates around voting rights to immigration to police reform, we find ourselves at a crossroads in American Democracy.

51m 35s

Jul 2024

#376 — How Democracies Fail

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

Nov 2020

US ELECTION: One day, like a miracle, he will disappear

As Biden slowly erodes Donald Trump’s leads in the final swing states, we convene our favourite expert regulars for an all-star postmortem of Election 2020. Former Obama staffer Amy Pope, UCL politics professor Brian Klaas and Steve Schmidt of never-Trump Republican political act ... Show More

40m 13s

Jeffrey Kopstein Explains Why Polarizati...