search
Home / News / Autocracy in America

Latest Episodes

filter_list
ICE and the National Guard Are Acting with Impunity
New Jan 09, 2026 29 min

ICE and the National Guard Are Acting with Impunity

The transformation of ICE into a type of national police force, backed, in some cases, by soldiers from the National Guard, has been covered as immigration story—but these forces are reshaping demo...

Coming Soon: Season 3 of Autocracy in America
Dec 15, 2025 1 min

Coming Soon: Season 3 of Autocracy in America

The Trump administration is making radical, unprecedented changes to American institutions. By doing so, it is seeking to transform the American political system as well. To explain Donald Trump’s ...

The Admiral
Sep 26, 2025 43 min

The Admiral

Despite growing up in the Soviet Union, host Garry Kasparov admired American values—believing America was one of the good guys. But is that still the case?  In the final episode of the second...

The Warning
Sep 23, 2025 37 min

The Warning

Michael McFaul witnessed Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on dissent as U.S. ambassador to Russia. He has a warning for Americans. McFaul and host Garry Kasparov discuss how recent moves by the Trump ad...

The Columnist
Sep 19, 2025 35 min

The Columnist

When host Garry Kasparov created the Renew Democracy Initiative in 2017, the founding manifesto warned that “the liberal-democratic order is under attack from within and without.” Eight years later...

The Negotiator
Sep 12, 2025 40 min

The Negotiator

In the fight to save democracies from the grips of autocrats, defenders of democratic values must partner with people who would otherwise be their political opponents. In this episode, host Garry ...

The Computer Scientist
Sep 05, 2025 33 min

The Computer Scientist

With all the hype and hysteria around AI, it’s important to remember that AI is still just a tool. As powerful as it is, it is not a promise of dystopia or utopia.  Host Garry Kasparov is joi...

The Advocate
Aug 29, 2025 33 min

The Advocate

When democracy and civil society are all you’ve known, they are easy to take for granted. However, for some autocracy is not just a word but a way of life.  Host Garry Kasparov is joined by O...

The Politician
Aug 22, 2025 34 min

The Politician

What does the future of Europe look like with the rise of newly aggressive authoritarian states?  Host Garry Kasparov is joined by Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, a member of parliament in Lithuan...

The CEO
Aug 15, 2025 39 min

The CEO

With the United States stepping back from its global leadership role, many around Europe and the world are waiting for Germany to step forward. Will it? Host Garry Kasparov is joined by Mathias Dö...

The Realist
Aug 08, 2025 38 min

The Realist

Soviet dissidents have long admired the United States and its Founding Fathers for their attachment to a moral core, the basis for individual human liberty. So what happens when American power is u...

The Ambassador
Aug 01, 2025 42 min

The Ambassador

How should American power be deployed in the world? Since the Cold War, America’s role as a global leader has been up for debate.  Host Garry Kasparov and former U.S. Ambassador to the United...

The Dissident
Jul 25, 2025 39 min

The Dissident

What is a dissident? In an autocracy, standing against the rulers could mean harassment, prison, torture, even death. Dissidents stand up anyway.  Host Garry Kasparov is joined by Masih Aline...

The Pollster
Jul 18, 2025 39 min

The Pollster

Have Americans grown complacent, thinking nothing can shake the United States’ democracy? Host Garry Kasparov is joined by Frank Luntz, someone well versed in taking the temperature of the American...

The Return
Jul 11, 2025 30 min

The Return

Since The Atlantic first released the podcast Autocracy in America last fall, Donald Trump was elected president again. Staff writer Anne Applebaum describes how Trump’s return to the White House f...

Coming Soon: A New Season of Autocracy in America
Jun 27, 2025 2 min

Coming Soon: A New Season of Autocracy in America

The former world chess champion and lifelong democracy activist Garry Kasparov guides a new series of conversations about society’s complacency with liberal values and how this carelessness has fue...

Bonus: Goldberg on Signalgate
Apr 11, 2025 29 min

Bonus: Goldberg on Signalgate

Anne Applebaum speaks with The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg about the consequences of the Signal breach. This conversation was recorded live from The New Orleans Book Festival at Tul...

Introducing: We Live Here Now
Oct 25, 2024 43 min

Introducing: We Live Here Now

Hosts Anne Applebaum and Peter Pomerantsev talk with Hanna Rosin about the new series We Live Here Now. Rosin, along with her co-host, Lauren Ober, recently found out that their new neighbors moved...

Politicize ‘Freedom’
Oct 04, 2024 25 min

Politicize ‘Freedom’

Freedom in the United States is a word that has had more than one meaning. It has meant freedom for some people and the repression of others. In a democracy, freedom also means the right to take pa...

Join the Kleptocracy
Sep 27, 2024 31 min

Join the Kleptocracy

Since the earliest days of the republic, America’s international friendships have shaped domestic politics. And some of those friendships helped America strengthen its democratic principles. So wha...