In the past 26 years, to this day, there has not been one major Hollywood production that has gone against a major Chinese Communist Party red line. Not one. Twenty-six years of silence.

Bethany Allen

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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Bethany Allen is the China reporter at Axios and the author of Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:48
• The Authoritarian Economic Statecraft of China - 3:32
• Trump Administration and China Policy - 22:24
• Another Cold War -  34:26
• American Options for Response - 48:16

Key Links

Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World by Bethany Allen

"Zoom closed account of U.S.-based Chinese activist 'to comply with local law'" by Bethany Allen

Follow Bethany Allen on X @BethanyAllenEbr

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Hal Brands Thinks China is a Declining Power… Here’s Why that’s a Problem

Josh Chin on China’s Surveillance State

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If we're thinking about democracy as something broader that is producing equality, justice or these kind of things, often those policies that we might describe as democratic policies can emerge from processes that are undemocratic. I think that's uncomfortable for us to think about.

Katlyn Carter

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Katlyn Carter is an assistant professor of history at Notre Dame University. She is the author of Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:41
• The Birth of Republics - 3:10
• Publicity - 19:23
• Spectacle - 26:43
• Representation - 35:43

Key Links

Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions by Katlyn Carter

Katlyn Carter on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

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Democracy Paradox Podcast

Heather Cox Richardson on History, Conservatism, and the Awakening of American Democracy

Daniel Ziblatt on American Democracy, the Republican Party, and the Tyranny of the Minority

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I think populism is rather a specific form of discontent. Discontent is the umbrella term. It's this vague sense that the way things are being done is not working. That democracy is not effective. That it's not serving my interests.

Matthew Rhodes-Purdy

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Rachel Navarre is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Master of Public Administration Program at Bridgewater State University. Matthew Rhodes-Purdy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Clemson University. They are the coauthors (along with Stephen Utych) of The Age of Discontent: Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:53
• What is Discontent - 3:21
• Crisis and Discontent - 13:34
• Rise of Populism - 25:13
• An End to Neoliberalism? - 39:20

Key Links

The Age of Discontent: Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies by Matthew Rhodes-Purdy, Rachel Navarre, and Stephen Utych

Learn more about Rachel Navarre here.

Learn more about Matthew Rhodes-Purdy here.

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Daniel Ziblatt on American Democracy, the Republican Party, and the Tyranny of the Minority

Marc Plattner Has Quite a Bit to Say About Democracy

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This was an election that was meant to cement authoritarian rule and it became a democratic breakthrough.

Rachel Schwartz

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Rachel Schwartz is an assistant professor of international and area studies at the University of Oklahoma. Recently, she cowrote an article with Anita Isaacs for the Journal of Democracy called, “How Guatemala Defied the Odds." She also authored a book earlier this year called Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:33
• The 2023 Election - 2:46
• A Weak State - 17:18
• Democratic Backsliding - 30:53
• Rejuvenating Democracy - 39:39

Key Links

Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America by Rachel Schwartz

"How Guatemala Defied the Odds" in Journal of Democracy by Rachel Schwartz

"Guatemala: Resisting Democratic Backsliding in the Least Likely of Places?" by Rachel Schwartz

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Wendy Hunter on Lula, Bolsonaro, January 8th and Democracy in Brazil

Jennifer Piscopo on the Constitutional Chaos in Chile

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It's impossible not to admire somebody who is willing to stand up for their country, for freedom and democracy, for the idea that Russians should be able to chart their own future and have a say in what their government looks like.

David Herszenhorn

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David Herszenhorn is the Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe editor at The Washington Post and was a correspondent for Politico Europe and The New York Times. He is the author The Dissident: Alexey Navalny: Profile of a Political Prisoner.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:44
• Navalny as a Political Figure - 3:13
• Navalny and the State - 21:26
• Navalny and Russian Repression - 34:41
• Politician or Dissident? 42:45

Key Links

The Dissident: Alexey Navalny: Profile of a Political Prisoner by David Herszenhorn

"Alexey Navalny Never Wanted to Be a Dissident" in Politico by David Herszenhorn

"For Putin foe Alexey Navalny, Ukraine has long been a volatile issue" in The Washington Post by David Herszenhorn

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Olga Onuch and Henry Hale Describe the Zelensky Effect

Michael McFaul and Robert Person on Putin, Russia, and the War in Ukraine

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Leadership is not a formula. It's not something that happens in a vacuum. It's not just something that you can declare about yourself.

Moshik Temkin

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Moshik Temkin is a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership and History at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, and a fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His most recent book is Warriors, Rebels, and Saints: The Art of Leadership from Machiavelli to Malcolm X.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:45
• What is Leadership? 3:12
• Powerless Leadership - 11:58
• Ethics of Leadership - 24:10
• Ordinary Leadership - 40:16

Key Links

Warriors, Rebels, and Saints: The Art of Leadership from Machiavelli to Malcolm X by Moshik Temkin

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Follow Moshik Temkin on X at @moshik_temkin

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Larry Bartels Says Democracy Erodes from the Top

Moisés Naím on the New Dynamics of Political Power

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For people like me or just your ordinary Joes who speak of democracy, I thought it meant freedom. I thought it meant a free press. I thought it meant that people would not die on the streets.

Patricia Evangelista

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Patricia Evangelista is a trauma journalist and former investigative reporter for the Philippine news company Rappler. She has received the Kate Webb Prize for exceptional journalism in dangerous conditions. Recently, she authored the book Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:46
• The Philippines and Duterte - 2:37
• The Drug War - 11:04
• Vigilantes and Police - 25:26
• Democracy in the Philippines - 34:11

Key Links

Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

Read the original "Some People Need Killing" published in Rappler.com

Follow Patricia Evangelista on X at @patevangelista

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Moisés Naím on the New Dynamics of Political Power

Guillermo Trejo and Sandra Ley on the Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico

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You could take that populism and turn it negative, which often happens... But populism could also be a wonderful thing where you're actually appealing to what the voters want instead of what the powerful want.

Cenk Uygur

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Cenk Uygur is a host of the show The Young Turks and the founder, president, and CEO of its parent company TYT. He is a Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States and the author of Justice Is Coming: How Progressives Are Going to Take Over the Country and America Is Going to Love It.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:42
• Cenk's Presidential Campaign - 2:49
• Progressive Issues - 26:56
• Populism - 40:28
• Polarization - 49:17

Key Links

Justice Is Coming: How Progressives Are Going to Take Over the Country and America Is Going to Love It   by Cenk Uygur

Support Cenk Uygur's campaign at cenkforamerica.com

Check out The Young Turks and other TYT programs at tyt.com

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Heather Cox Richardson on History, Conservatism, and the Awakening of American Democracy

Daniel Ziblatt on American Democracy, the Republican Party, and the Tyranny of the Minority

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Autocracy as we understand it today is a modern creation. I think there we see very few successful examples of modern autocracies that are able to sustain themselves.

Shadi Hamid

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Shadi Hamid is a columnist and member of the Editorial Board at The Washington Post. He is also a research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary and the co-host of the podcast Wisdom of Crowds. His most recent book is The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:32
• The Problem of Democracy - 2:25
• Islamism - 5:51
• Turkey - 22:47
• Autocratic Rulers - 32:20

Key Links

The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea by Shadi Hamid

Follow Shadi Hamid on Twitter @shadihamid

Wisdom of Crowds

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Robert Kaplan on the Politics of the Past and Future of the Greater Middle East

Steven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in Iraq

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Writing a book like that makes you really think brutally about the past. It makes you really think about the current time and also how the future would look at you.

Branko Milanovic

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Branko Milanovic is a Research Professor at the City University of New York and a Senior Scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality. He served as the lead economist in the World Bank’s Research Department for almost 20 years. His most recent book is Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to the End of the Cold War.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:31
• Why Economic Inequality - 2:53
• Ideas Before 1820 - 13:26
• Marx and Socialism - 19:52
• Piketty and Modern Thought - 40:17

Key Links

Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to the End of the Cold War by Branko Milanovic

globalinequality blog by Branko Milanovic

Follow Branko Milanovic on X @BrankoMilan

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Thomas Piketty on Equality

Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson on the Plutocratic Populism of the Republican Party

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Apes of the State created all Music

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100 Books on Democracy

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