Danube Institute Podcast

View From The Danube What is the proper order of love?Is it the one thing that irreconcilably separates liberals from conservatives?How much can ordinary retail politics ever be built from deep moral philosophical foundations?And how far are we from Real Existing Post-Liberalism?This month, on View From The Danube, we’re tracking recent events in America, in the context of an intellectually self-confident re-assertion of conservatism. This is “the religious right” thumping their Thomas Aquinas.Host Rod Dreher is joined by his guests to discuss the astonishing executive presidency of Trump’s first month. From DOGE to USAID to DEI to Robert Kennedy, this has been a revolution in the head like little else.But the thing that Rod picks up on is the battle royale of JD Vance versus Rory Stewart over the ‘ordo amoris’. The proper order of love.Is there, Rod wonders, a deeper battle underway between liberalism and conservatism? Are we really injuncted to love everyone equally? Or is the truth that we have special obligations to our family, friends and neighbours?In short, is Stewart the last godforsaken yelp of the disappearing liberal world order?The View From The Danube is the keystone video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank that aims to bring Conservative perspectives from the Anglosphere together, in the heart of the European capital of Conservativism.It stars Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option and Living in Wonder, a senior fellow at the Danube Institute; John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter to Margaret Thatcher, the founder and President of the DI; and Calum Nicholson, the Director of Research.This week, they’re joined by Liliana Śmiech, Director General for International Affairs at the Ludovika University of Public Service. Podcast Episode Chapters

In the first episode of his new podcast from London, David Oldroyd-Bolt, the Danube Institute's Anglosphere Fellow, interviews the former Conservative Party Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister the Rt Hon Michael Gove. After leaving Parliament at the General Election of July 2024, Gove succeeded Fraser Nelson as editor of The Spectator in October and has been widely tipped to received a peerage in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours list. Oldroyd-Bolt and he discuss what makes the Spectator such an enduring success and what he plans to do as editor, before turning to Gove's political career, including his revolutionary education reforms and whether he was correct to take a such hard pro-lockdown line in Cabinet during the Covid panic.

As the Trump 2 era dawns, the talk is all of a price on Greenland and the kowtowing of Canada. The Mar-a-lago world view that is emerging is one based on shoring up America's geographical power. We're back into the world of hemispheres - of the Monroe Doctrine, and implied spheres of influence. So what happens when America pulls away from the abstractions of the 'rules based international order', and re-enters the world of territory and pseudo-empires? This time on The View From The Danube, host Rod Dreher, the Danube Institute's Senior Fellow, is joined by renowned geopolitical scholar Dr Gladden Pappin, President of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs. And Liliana Śmiech, a Pole based in Budapest, who is the Director-General for International Affairs, at the Ludovika University of Public Service. Along with the Danube Institute's Director of Research, Dr Calum Nicholson, the panel consider the implications of this new Great Game for Europe. Once the forge of empires, in the 21st century it has become suborned to America's military might. Will Trumpism 2 mean a pulling back from America's implied military protections? How will the continent's ailing great powers cope? How can it maintain itself in a world where being 'a regulation superpower' won't even be a droll punchline? OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:08 Greenland, the vibe shift, nationalism and neo-imperialism. 26:00 Elon Musk: Tump's court jester or his new prince? 36:00 Europe in challenging times. Cultural lethargy versus a potential reboot. 45:00 Predictions for 2025: Melania, Musk, and J.D. Vance. The View From The Danube is the keystone video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank that aims to bring perspectives from the Anglosphere together, in the European capital of Conservativism. With regular guests, we'll be looking at how Conservatism is changing in a world that is itself changing beyond recognition. PODCAST LINKS: Institute Website: https://danubeinstitute.hu Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/danube-institute-podcast/id1620342407 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6goB4Z3ZWqjJOfuLz3VFCP?si=a6f7dff0d27642fe RSS: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/danube-institute-podcast SOCIAL LINKS: X: https://x.com/institutedanube LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/danube-institute Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danubeinstitute

Sáron Sugár, a researcher at the Danube Institute, sits down with Or Yissachar, the Head of Israel Defence and Security Forum's Content Division and Research Department, to discuss what lies ahead for Israel’s security strategy as tensions with Iran and its proxies continue to simmer. The discussion explores the prospects for US-Israel relations under President Trump’s second term, controversies around humanitarian aid to Gazans, and rising anti-semitism in the West. The discussion concludes with a question related to Hungary’s strong support of Israel.

Michelle Watson, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Danube Institute, sits down with "Mimi" Roy, Visiting Fellow at Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss her latest research topic. The conversation delves into two key questions: how India’s tech strategy is shaping its role in the new era of techno-competition, and how the country is positioning itself as a prominent stakeholder in influencing the global narrative around technology.

“Every epoch is a sphinx that tumbles into the abyss once its riddle is solved” - Heinrich Heine, 1833 It was only as the reality of Trump’s win began to sink in that the enormity of the change ahead began to dawn on us. With control over the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and the executive, Trumpism 2.0 has the all means to make good on its outlandish promises; early nominations suggest it has the mettle too. But beyond politics itself, there is an even bigger prize at stake: to change the psychology of a nation. After 40 years of neoliberal dominance, finally, it feels as though the consensus around both social liberalism and economic liberalism will end in January. Now, with a few definitive strikes of the legislative guillotine, Trumpism will set the tone for the middle of the 21st Century: a post-liberal world order. As Rod Dreher explains, this has huge implications, from art to race to geopolitics The world is about to be made anew. The vibe shift is real.The View From The Danube is the keystone video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank that aims to bring Conservative perspectives from the Anglosphere together, in the heart of the European capital of Conservativism. It stars Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option and Living in Wonder, a senior fellow at the Danube Institute, John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter to Margaret Thatcher, the founder and President of the DI, and Calum Nicholson, the Director of Research. This week, they’re joined by David P Goldman, deputy editor of the Asia Times, and a Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute. With regular guests, we’ll be looking at how Conservatism is changing in a world that is itself changing beyond recognition.

When the Washington Post failed to endorse the Kamala campaign, the reaction was off the scale. Journalists resigned. The rest of the liberal media blew a fuse. But this was only one paper and one guy, Jeff Bezos. What was going on? As Rod Dreher explains, The Washington Post’s non-endorsement was the moment the Harris campaign and their supporters sensed that the deep narrative was finally drifting away from them. So they pulled out the biggest of guns - the F-word… the spectre of midcentury Germany. It feels desperate. The hyperbole is now so big it’s visible from a SpaceX satellite. But does that mean that, after constant lawfare and two assassination attempts, victory is finally in sight for Donald Trump? On the inaugural View From The Danube podcast, the team break down the weirdest election since at least 1912. Maybe since 1876 — or even 1824. *** The View From The Danube is the keystone video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank that aims to bring Conservative perspectives from the Anglosphere together, in the heart of the European capital of Conservativism. It stars Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option and Living in Wonder, a senior fellow at the Danube Institute, John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter to Margaret Thatcher, the founder and President of the DI, and Calum Nicholson, the Director of Research. This week, they’re joined by Deputy Director Melissa O’Sullivan. With regular guests, we’ll be looking at how Conservatism is changing in a world that is itself changing beyond recognition.

Lord Frost, joined us on the Danube Institute Podcast to explain how a hard-fought Tory leadership contest has changed the whole tenor of the British Right. Here, he explains why Robert Jenrick is his pick.

Prof Doug Stokes and journalist Gavin Haynes join the podcast to discuss the state of British politics, whether we are living in a truly multipolar world, and the significance of the coming American election.

Though Chinese-Israeli relations had taken off and were set for great heights, China turned away from Israel immediately after October 7, not even condemning the Hamas terror attack. Chinese-US rivalry is a factor. What is going on? Dr Eric Hendriks, who previously worked at Peking University and is now a fellow at the Danube Institute, interviews Elie Pieprz, Director of International Relations of the Israel Defense and Security Forum. The location is Budapest, where Herzl created the idea of political Zionism 130 years ago.