As ABC political correspondent Laura Tingle put the finishing touches on her latest Quarterly Essay, 'Follow the Leader: Democracy and the rise of the strongman', Canberra descended into chaos. Dutton challenged, Turnbull fell, Morrison won. After some lightning-fast edits, the updated essay came out in the wake of the turmoil, and it examines Australian politics and the leaders of Germany, America, and China in order to answer the question in the minds of many: What the hell is going on?Angus Dalton quizzes Laura on the connections between political leadership and YA fiction, Trump’s Voldemortian qualities, and what needs to change in order for us to see a Prime Minister survive a full term.