Deciding to Stay or Leave: A Complexity of Choices

The New York Times recently published a video op-ed by a group of Yale University professors who say they’re leaving the U.S. for jobs at the University of Toronto in the wake of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. While their decisions are all complex and personal, the three professors — Marci Shore; her husband, Timothy Snyder; and their colleague, Jason Stanley — all study authoritarianism, and all warn the U.S. isn’t immune from the democratic backsliding seen elsewhere and throughout history. Professor Shore, an expert on the history of authoritarianism in Central and Eastern Europe, joins us to talk about how she and her family came to the decision they did.

And in headlines: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Supreme Court blocked the White House from reviving deportations using a rarely used war-time law, and the Israeli military said its forces had started “extensive ground operations” in Gaza.

Show Notes:

• Watch the NYTimes Video - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/opinion/yale-canada-fascism.html
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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday