Pod­cast

This episode explores what a sec­ond Trump pres­i­den­cy could mean for Amer­i­can domes­tic pol­i­cy and pol­i­tics, and for the rest of the world. Is Amer­i­can democ­ra­cy at seri­ous risk of being dis­man­tled? And what will be the impact of Trump’s agen­da on glob­al efforts to reverse cli­mate change and transatlantic…

This episode exam­ines the fac­tors which led to Don­ald Trump’s deci­sive vic­to­ry in the recent U.S. elec­tion. Did the Har­ris campaign’s insis­tence on issues of iden­ti­ty, rights, and democ­ra­cy over­shad­ow peo­ple’s every­day strug­gles with eco­nom­ic issues? What role did patri­ar­chal bias and demo­graph­ics of a shift­ing land­scape of polit­i­cal preferences…

This episode explores advances made by the far-right in Aus­tria and in Ger­many and exam­ines cru­cial fac­tors raised by Lutz’s recent report on iden­ti­ty, par­ti­san­ship and polar­iza­tion. What are the unex­pect­ed con­ver­gences and sim­i­lar­i­ties across Euro­pean coun­tries? And what are the impli­ca­tions of the find­ings on the con­test­ed notion of…

This episode explores the recent nation­al elec­tions in Aus­tria and the vic­to­ry of a rad­i­cal right-wing par­ty. How is this devel­op­ment sit­u­at­ed with­in the EU’s broad­er shift to the right? And what explains the decline of the tra­di­tion­al cen­ter-right and the Social Democ­rats? Lis­ten to hear about the issues that…

This episode focus­es on the main­stream­ing of rad­i­cal pol­i­tics and how extrem­ist ide­olo­gies gain a foothold. How can demo­c­ra­t­ic prac­tice respond to a trend toward polar­iza­tion and desta­bi­liza­tion of lib­er­al democ­ra­cies? And what defens­es can be mount­ed to pro­tect lib­er­al val­ues and insti­tu­tions? Lis­ten to hear about Julia Ebner’s latest…

This episode explores the social worlds of var­i­ous extrem­ist groups and the cor­ro­sive effects of rad­i­cal­iza­tion on con­tem­po­rary democ­ra­cy. Why is it nec­es­sary to observe extrem­ist orga­ni­za­tions up close? And how are gen­der and reli­gion instru­men­tal­ly deployed? Lis­ten to hear about the unex­pect­ed sim­i­lar­i­ties between var­i­ous extrem­ist groups and how…

This episode ana­lyzes the elec­tions in India and the tra­jec­to­ry of Indi­an democ­ra­cy from the mid-sev­en­ties to today. How do vot­er moti­va­tions due to wors­en­ing eco­nom­ic con­di­tions influ­ence elec­tions in the coun­try? And how do expec­ta­tions for democ­ra­cy to deliv­er eco­nom­ic growth and devel­op­ment play a role? Lis­ten to hear…

This episode explores the impli­ca­tions of the U.K. elec­tions which took place on July 4. What does a return to cen­trism mean for British pol­i­tics? And how do socio-eco­nom­ic trans­for­ma­tions and frag­ment­ed cul­tur­al hori­zons play a role? Lis­ten to also hear what the results could mean for transat­lantic rela­tions. Guest…

This episode explores the imme­di­ate con­se­quences of South Africa’s recent par­lia­men­tary elec­tions and the his­tor­i­cal tra­jec­to­ry of the African Nation­al Con­gress. How does a vibrant sphere of civ­il soci­ety activism play a role in the coun­try? And what is to be learned from the “FeesMust­Fall” protests against the attempt­ed restructuring…

This episode explores the recent Euro­pean elec­tions and the EU’s polit­i­cal drift to the right. What were the major issues, cam­paign themes and deci­sive fac­tors which led to the results? And does the polit­i­cal cen­ter still hold if many right-wing posi­tions have already been main­streamed? Lis­ten to hear about the…

This episode explores how pop­ulism has irre­versibly trans­formed the polit­i­cal land­scape. How does dig­i­tal media play a role in this phe­nom­e­non and why has pop­ulism been suc­cess­ful in some advanced west­ern democ­ra­cies? Lis­ten to hear about the pit­falls of tech­no­crat­ic gov­er­nance and the chal­lenges posed by alliances of pop­ulist political…

This episode explores Islam­o­pho­bia across Europe as a form of struc­tur­al racism. How does Islam­o­pho­bia oper­ate as a tool of diver­sion and divi­sion? And why do such per­cep­tions play a cru­cial role in Euro­pean pol­i­tics today? Lis­ten to hear about the prospects for eman­ci­pa­to­ry pol­i­tics on var­i­ous scales to combat…

This episode explores the crises of lib­er­al­ism. How do recent con­di­tions of uncer­tain­ty and mul­ti­ple crises play a role in ampli­fy­ing the appeal of illib­er­al ide­olo­gies? And how does illib­er­al­ism dif­fer from author­i­tar­i­an­ism and pop­ulism? Tune in to hear how the defense of lib­er­al­ism requires a con­nec­tion to the everyday…

This episode explores how the lega­cies of Euro­pean colo­nial­ism in Africa impact the suc­cess of democ­ra­ti­za­tion today. How do inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions play a role in declin­ing sup­port for demo­c­ra­t­ic pol­i­tics in parts of Africa? And how can a reliance on donors hin­der the emer­gence of viable demo­c­ra­t­ic struc­tures? Final­ly, tune…

This episode explores polit­i­cal and mil­i­tary con­flicts in Ethiopia and more broad­ly, in the Horn of Africa. Why has Ethiopia’s process of democ­ra­ti­za­tion erod­ed in recent years? And what is the wider impact of such demo­c­ra­t­ic back­slid­ing on African region­al pol­i­tics? Lis­ten to hear how shift­ing glob­al geopo­lit­i­cal bal­ances are…