Authoritarian leaders, from Benito Mussolini and Muammar Gaddafi to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, are different in important ways. But they use similar techniques to gain and keep power, such as invoking a sense of nostalgia, assigning blame to a targeted group, demonstrating virility, flouting corruption laws, and using propaganda.

In this episode, we'll discuss what history teaches us about how strongmen rise, the best ways to combat propaganda, and how to weaken the strongman.

Guest Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an internationally acclaimed historian, speaker, and political commentator. She is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, and the author of several books, the most recent of which – Strongmen: Mussolini To The Present – is the focus of our conversation.

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