Liberalism – a belief in the primacy of individual liberty – has built modern democracies. Now it’s in an existential crisis, caught between rising authoritarianism and identity politics. I look back and ahead for liberals with British political journalist Ian Dunt.

00:14 Intro

01:24 Another TCK childhood

04:19 Why write a book that goes back 400 years?

08:48 What is a liberal?

14:16 How liberalism failed to stand for the liberty of most individuals

19:28 Identity politics are both a threat and a gift

23:00 How to become a Borderline member

23:41 “The people” does not exist

27:44 Can liberalism make room for tribalism? 

30:18 The immigrant’s whisper of loneliness

32:37 How liberalism survives the pandemic

36:11 Outro

📚 How to Be a Liberal, Ian Dunt, Canbury Press, 2020. On sale here.
Ian’s podcasts are Oh God, What Now? and The Bunker. His writing is on politics.co.uk and on Twitter.

Music by Ofshane.