The Larger Us Podcast cover image

The Larger Us Podcast

Why some people are primed to be authoritarians - with Karen Stenner

Mar 30, 2021
01:02:15

Karen Stenner has spent years researching why some people seem to have a psychological predisposition towards authoritarianism in the right conditions.

With her co-author Jonathan Haidt, Karen has explored how about a third of people across dozens of liberal democracies share this trait to some degree - a key factor in understanding why, for instance, so many Americans continued to support Donald Trump even as he lurched steadily further towards authoritarianism, and which has led Karen to argue that "liberal democracy has now exceeded many people's capacity to tolerate it."

We spoke to Karen about why support for authoritarianism is so widespread, what we can do about it, and what's next in countries like the US where right wing populism has been surging.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode