271 | Judith Butler: Then and Now

This week two conversations with the feminist theorist and writer Judith Butler: one recorded the week Trump won the presidency in 2016 and one recorded a few days ago, as his presidency (just maybe) approaches its end.  We reflect on what has changed over the last four years, what has stayed the same, and whether our worst fears were realised.  Plus Judith tells us what she sees when she sees Biden and what she hopes might come next.  Two linked conversations about misogyny, racism, representation, empowerment, hope, rage, and the damage one man can do to democracy.

218 | Are We Losing Faith in Democracy?

We talk to Roberto Foa about some of the findings in his groundbreaking new report 'Global Satisfaction with Democracy'.  Where are people most dissatisfied with democracy and why?  Is it being driven by economic factors or is something else going on?  And why does democratic satisfaction divide Europe north/south and east/west?  Plus we talk about what might happen to satisfaction with democracy in the UK post-Brexit.  With Helen Thompson.

157 | The Copernican Principle

David gives the third in his series of talks about the future of democracy.  This one uses an idea from cosmology to work out where we might be in the story of democracy: are we at the beginning, in the middle or near the end?  It all depends when and where we think the story starts.  From Stonehenge to Les Miserables, from ancient Athens to Facebook, a simple idea turns out to have some surprising applications, and some important lessons for contemporary politics.