cover of episode Introducing...What's Wrong With Democracy?

Introducing...What's Wrong With Democracy?

2024/9/5
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Sweet Bobby

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Hello, it's Basha Cummings here. I'm an editor at Tortoise, which is the home of Sweet Bobby, Hoaxed and many more award-winning investigative podcasts. I'm here to tell you about Tortoise Investigates, where we curate the best of our chart-topping investigations in one place. Everything from extraordinary tales of deception to a suspicious killing to one mother's decades-long fight with the police. Just search for Tortoise Investigates wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello, I'm Ben Ansell and I'm here to tell you about What's Wrong With Democracy, my new podcast series for Tortoise Media in partnership with the Open Society Foundations. Every week on What's Wrong With Democracy, I'm joined by insiders from the world of politics as we explore the issues affecting democracies both near and far and ask whether our fractured body politic can be put back together.

So far in the series, we've looked at disinformation, populism, apathy, authoritarianism, and the role of institutions in democracies from Rwanda to Sweden. And in our upcoming episodes, we'll be taking a closer look at political corruption, how to future-proof our democracies from shocks, and of course, all things US election, as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris prepare to battle it out at the ballot box.

Here's a taster of me in conversation with author and academic Norena Hertz, who I spoke to about the rise of populism. I think the physical communal acts that populists are delivering are playing a part in their attraction. They are just delivering a better theatre of community. It's also the rhetoric. If you start looking at thematic words and phrases, whether you're looking at Rassemblement National or Alternative for Deutschland or

Well, Trump, what we're seeing in each case is actually a very similar language where they're reinforcing words, family, brothers. And also, of course, you'll hear them all use words like you, the forgotten people. I see you. Make America great again. It's a nostalgia that something has been lost. To listen, search for What's Wrong With Democracy wherever you get your podcasts and follow the feed to make sure you never miss an episode.