Echoes of Authoritarianism

In just about two months, President Donald Trump has managed to thoroughly shake U.S. democratic structures to the core. From firing thousands of federal workers and plunging the U.S. into a trade war, to testing the limits of our three supposedly coequal branches of government, it's been a lot to process. And the constant chaos makes it hard to grasp what's actually happening, big picture: Are we watching a wannabe strongman fumble through enacting a policy agenda that will likely prove to be deeply unpopular, or are we actually watching the end of American Democracy as we've known it for roughly the last century. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University and author of the book 'Strongmen,' explains what history can tell us about our current moment and what we can do about it.

And in headlines: Venezuela said it would start accepting deportation flights from the U.S. again, Palestinian health officials said the death toll in Gaza has topped 50,000, and the White House said Second Lady Usha Vance is heading to Greenland… just for fun… scout's honor.

Show Notes:

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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday