Democracy Paradox
228 episodes - English - Latest episode: 29 days ago -Is it possible for a democracy to govern undemocratically? Can the people elect an undemocratic leader? Is it possible for democracy to bring about authoritarianism? And if so, what does this say about democracy? My name is Justin Kempf. Every week I talk to the brightest minds on subjects like international relations, political theory, and history to explore democracy from every conceivable angle. Topics like civil resistance, authoritarian successor parties, and the autocratic middle class challenge our ideas about democracy. Join me as we unravel new topics every week.
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Episodes
Roger Lee Huang on Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Tatmadaw
August 03, 2021 09:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBI think this actually reflects why we've seen a coup now. Clearly, the coup has really brought serious economic devastation for the entire country and the military itself will also not benefit from this. And that to me is the key, because they're not primarily motivated just by economic incentives and spoils. As a systematic military institution, it is driven by their own identity. Their own perception of what the Myanmar modern nation state should look like. Roger Lee Huang A full transcr...
Mallory SoRelle on the Politics of Consumer Credit
July 27, 2021 09:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBAmericans are expected to take on debt, because that's how we're expected to finance everything from basic needs to a college education. And that's a function of economic policy making. That doesn't happen by accident. Mallory SoRelle A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Mallory SoRelle is an assistant professor of public policy at Duke University and the author of Democracy Declined: The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection. Key Highlights Include How...
David Stasavage on Early Democracy and its Decline
July 20, 2021 08:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBThis was not a phenomenon to one specific region. This was nothing that got invented in one place and at one time. It seems to have emerged independently in a wide, wide variety of human societies at different points in time. And to me, that sounds like something that occurs naturally. David Stasavage A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. David Stasavage is the Dean of Social Sciences and a Professor of Politics at New York University. His latest book is called The D...
Christophe Jaffrelot on Narendra Modi and Hindu Nationalism
July 13, 2021 09:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBThe police is even acting directly against the minorities and the Delhi riots of 2020 showed that the police could be on their side in the street in their rioting activities. This is exactly the same in other BGP ruled states like Uttar Pradesh. Now you have indeed a kind of new shift, if you want. It's not only with the blessing of the state. It’s also with the active participation of the state. Christophe Jaffrelot A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Christophe J...
Jan-Werner Müller on Democracy Rules
July 06, 2021 09:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBIt really matters how you set up conflict and how you talk about the issue and above all how you talk about your adversary. That's where I see the decisive difference between those who tend to invoke the people, the common good and et cetera, in a way that is compatible with democracy and then those who talk in a way that, ultimately, is bound to be dangerous for democracy. Jan-Werner Müller A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Jan is a professor of Social Sciences ...
Dorothy Sue Cobble on the Full Rights Feminists
June 29, 2021 09:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBThey wanted the full array of rights. Political rights, yes, they were active in the suffrage movement, but they also wanted economic rights and social rights. They wanted to lessen inequalities. They also wanted the rights of mothers and of children advanced. Dorothy Sue Cobble A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Dorothy Sue Cobble is the Distinguished Professor of History and Labor Studies Emerita at Rutgers University and the author of For the Many: American Fem...
Freedom House: Sarah Repucci Assesses Freedom in the World
June 22, 2021 07:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBDemocracy is about more than elections. Election day is very important, but what is happening in the country every other day is an integral part to what a democracy is and if you think about the fundamental freedoms that we think of in our own democracy: free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association and assembly, also things like the independence of the judiciary, these are all things that are on the civil liberties side. Sarah Repucci A full transcript is available at www.democ...
Michael Miller on the Unexpected Paths to Democratization
June 15, 2021 09:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBSo many cases of democratization start with these episodes and this period of elite political violence where the initial stages of it have nothing to do with democratization. People are not aiming for that. People are barely even thinking about it. It's all about this elite political struggle and out of that chaos a bit later you get democracy. Michael Miller A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Michael Miller is a professor of political science and international re...
Daniel Carpenter Revisits the Petition in 19th Century America
June 08, 2021 09:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBThe idea of a political system is not simply to be efficient. It's to have justice. It's to have the idea that anybody can come to the seat of power and say, 'Here are my grievances,' and that doesn't mean that by making that claim, they will get exactly what they want. But it does mean that they will get a hearing and in that notion, I think, lies again, a certain part of democracy that is not reduceable just to elections. Daniel Carpenter A full transcript is available at www.democracypa...
Sebastian Strangio Explains the Relationship Between China and Southeast Asia
June 01, 2021 09:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBThe experience of Western colonization has imprinted all of these nations in profound ways and it's tended to inculcate a sort of skepticism about Western invocations of democracy and the rule of law. China, of course, shares a similar skepticism. China was also not formerly colonized, or not fully colonized by Western powers, but it experienced what the Chinese communist party likes to term a century of humiliation. And so, both regions share an abiding ambivalence about the current intern...
Can America Preserve Democracy without Retreating from it? Robert C. Lieberman on the Four Threats
May 25, 2021 09:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBRacism and racial conflict are always there, always a powerful and important part of American politics. But when they combine with polarization, with this kind of partisan antagonism, and when that becomes the dividing line between the parties, that's really dangerous. That's what happened in the 1850s. It led to civil war. That's what happened in the 1890s. It led to violent conflict and mass disenfranchisement. And it's happening again today. Robert C. Lieberman A full transcript is avai...
Kurt Weyland Distinguishes Between Fascism and Authoritarianism
May 18, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 37.9 MBIn the 19th century Europe had thought that they had moved towards liberalism, enlightenment, rationality, progress, that stuff like mass warfare was over and it wouldn't come back. And then you have four years of senseless, mass slaughter, they just totally destroyed or challenged those ideas of humankind getting better off, progress of humankind getting more civilized. In retrospect, it's hard to imagine the coincidence of deep challenges and crises that wrecked the interwar years. Kurt W...
James Loxton Explains Why Authoritarian Successor Parties Succeed in Democracies
May 11, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBThey really view their history as one of victimization, one of struggle and even martyrdom. ARENA had multiple leaders assassinated. Again, that version of history that I just told you, that's not necessarily my view. But I do actually believe that that is their sincere belief and it makes for a really compelling founding myth if you will. And I think that founding myth has helped to hold both parties together right up until the present day. James Loxton A full transcript is available at w...
Derek W. Black Says Public Education Represents the Idea of America... Not its Reality
May 04, 2021 09:00 - 53 minutes - 36.5 MBI find it hard to believe, without a lot more justification than they're offering that somehow that there's this new secret sauce to opportunity and equality and democracy that does not involve public education as the fundamental pillar. So you have people arguing that it's not. They're not saying we want to destroy democracy, but I'm saying, you as reader, you as listeners, need to think about the long-term consequences of shrinking the public education footprint and moving back into a silo...
Sheryl WuDunn Paints a Picture of Poverty in America and Offers Hope for Solutions
April 27, 2021 09:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MBThat's why all Americans should care. Because the cost of poverty is not just the cost to that person who is in poverty. It's a cost to all of society. We're all paying for people being jailed. We're all paying for extra costs in the legal system, in the police force, in the healthcare system. Sheryl WuDunn A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Key Highlights Include Stories of Poverty and Inequality in America Challenges in America in Education, Health, and Well-B...
Mike Hoffman on How Religious Identities Influence Support for or Opposition to Democracy
April 20, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBDoctrine is actually often a lot looser and more subject to interpretation than we tend to assume and the way that the doctrine gets interpreted is often partially a function of group interests themselves. If you have a religious group in a given country that believes it would benefit from democracy, it's pretty likely that that group will find a way to interpret and frame its doctrine in a way that supports democracy. - Mike Hoffman A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.c...
Shari Davis Elevates Participatory Budgeting
April 13, 2021 09:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBParticipatory budgeting is actually about connecting folks with the skills and resources to navigate and shape government. And so, for me, that is the most optimistic and the most important outcome of any participatory budgeting process. Shari Davis A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Key Highlights Include A walk through the process of participatory budgeting with an example The history of participatory budgeting around the world An example of participatory bud...
Chris Bickerton Defines Technopopulism
April 06, 2021 09:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBThat tension between the politics of the whole and the politics of the part, that tension between the politics of generality and the politics of particularity, is really at the heart of party democracy. What we are sort of trying to capture, I suppose, with technopopulism is to think of a form of politics where that tension has simply gone. Chris Bickerton A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Key Highlights Include - Chris describes Technopopulism through an explan...
Ross Benes on Nebraska and Rural Conservatism
March 30, 2021 09:00 - 47 minutes - 32.3 MBThe legislature is one of several examples of our history of being independent which is why I think it was such an important story to tell of Nebraska becoming like baptized into Republican orthodoxy. Because seeing that shift. That it wasn't always that way. We founded Arbor day in this state, we settle a lot of refugees per capita, we increased minimum wage, and Medicaid through ballot measures recently. We do stuff like that. - Ross Benes A full transcript is available at www.democracypa...
Chad Alan Goldberg on the Wisconsin Idea and the Role of the Public University in a Democracy
March 23, 2021 09:00 - 54 minutes - 37.5 MBThey had an obligation to take the knowledge that they were developing, to take their expertise and put it in the service of the community as a whole and the service of its elected leaders. Chad Alan Goldberg A Fulll Transcript is Available at www.democracyparadox.com. At the turn of the twentieth century, Wisconsin was at the forefront of the Progressive Movement. Wisconsin adopted the first modern state income tax. It initiated the first workers’ compensation plan. It enacted the first ...
Elizabeth Nugent on Polarization, Democratization and the Arab Spring
March 16, 2021 09:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MBThe focus on the individual people involved in this moment and their preexisting relationships for me is a new way of thinking about democratic transitions. Because I think we see how much these personal relationships and personal histories matter for whether or not they can make these really big, important decisions at a moment of very high stress, very little information. Elizabeth Nugent A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Elizabeth Nugent believes political pol...
Ryan Salzman is an Evangelist for Placemaking
March 09, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MBLike so many things we're coming to grips with now in the 21st century, we're realizing that the 20th century was the anomaly. We feel like what was happening in the first 20 years of the 21st century that that was the anomaly. But it's not. The 20th century was the anomaly. And there's a temptation among policymakers to say, ‘But this is how it's always been.’ No. Wrong. Ryan Salzman A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. I live in Carmel, Indiana and in May The Farm...
Kajri Jain Believes Democracy Unfolds through the Aesthetic
March 02, 2021 10:00 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MB"We don’t pay enough attention to the sensory aspects of what it means to be equal. That’s what it fundamentally is. That’s the presupposition of democracy. Not the goal. The presupposition is that we are equal, but does our comportment reinforce that or does it re-institute hierarchies." Kajri Jain A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. This week’s guest is Kajri Jain. She is an art historian from the University of Toronto and the author of Gods in the Time of Democr...
Nic Cheeseman and Gabrielle Lynch on the Moral Economy of Elections in Africa
February 23, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. It’s common for Westerners to lecture Africans about democracy. Most Africans will admit their different political systems have many problems. Money is exchanged for votes, elections are rigged, and sometimes violence even breaks out. But the challenges African countries face in the process of democratization are not absent in the rest of the world. The 2020 American Presidential Election exposed many problems in the United States...
Thomas Carothers and Andrew O'Donohue are Worried About Severe Polarization
February 16, 2021 10:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. My thoughts on polarization have changed over the past few years. On the one hand, polarization can be a danger to democracy. Milan Svolik among others have shown how strong ideological positions lead some voters to support leaders they know are undemocratic. Moreover, democracy depends on the willingness of both parties to make compromises to govern effectively. But on the other hand, there are issues where compromise itself is ...
Can Democracy Survive the Internet? Nate Persily and Josh Tucker on Social Media and Democracy
February 09, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBA complete transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Over the past ten years social media has reshaped politics. Fake news and political disinformation have become a part of the political discourse. But social media has also brought about meaningful change through the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements. Social media has allowed dissident voices to express themselves in authoritarian regimes, but it has also given a platform to anti-democratic views in Western Nations. It ha...
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson on the Plutocratic Populism of the Republican Party
February 02, 2021 10:00 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBA transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Democracy depends on distinctions between political parties. Every election they offer clear choices on economic proposals. In recent years, cultural issues have added a new dimension to the polarization of American politics. But the 2020 election added a dangerous dimension to the political divide. The Republican Party has begun to question the integrity of elections and the value of democracy itself. It is not clear how far the Repu...
Bryn Rosenfeld on Middle Class Support for Dictators in Autocratic Regimes
January 26, 2021 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.3 MBA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Barrington Moore famously claimed, “No bourgeoisie. No democracy.” Many scholars before and after Moore have argued the middle class is necessary for successful democratization. But Moore had a specific image of the middle class. The bourgeoisie were not simply white-collar professionals. They were entrepreneurs who were independent of the landed aristocracy. Bryn Rosenfeld recognizes a new source for the growth of the middle clas...
Zizi Papacharissi Dreams of What Comes After Democracy
January 19, 2021 10:00 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBPolitical theorist Takis Pappas has described the formation of liberal democracy as an elite project. Its creation was dependent on the decisions of political leaders rather than the public. But over the subsequent decades the space between politicians and their constituents has grown smaller. It is now unclear whether elected officials remain political leaders or whether they simply follow the opinions of their constituents. Democracy is in the process of a transformation. Politicians hav...
Winston Mano on Social Media and Politics in Africa... And what America can Learn from Africa about Democracy
January 12, 2021 10:00 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MBRecent events in the United States have shown how even the most established democracies have much to learn about democracy. But my guest Winston Mano does not like to talk about democracy. He prefers to talk about democratization because the process never ends. Our conversation focuses on Africa with many topics discussed including social media, decolonization, and, of course, democracy. It concludes with a complex question, “What can America learn about democracy from Africa?” When I ask t...
Michael Hughes on the History of Democracy in Germany
January 05, 2021 10:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBThe German Question haunted international relations for generations. Like China, it was a rising authoritarian power. But its successful democratization after the Second World War cast an amnesia upon the uncertainty and anxiety it had caused the international community. Today democracy in Germany is taken for granted. It is a force of democratic stability within Europe and in the world. Its journey from dictatorship to democracy is largely forgotten and its current challenges are often ig...
Lee Drutman Makes the Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
December 29, 2020 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBMadison’s Federalist 10 makes an unusual case. He argued the size and diversity of the United States is a critical safeguard against the dominance of any single faction. Of course, it is well-known that the Founding Fathers were wary of all factions, political parties and, most of all, the tyranny of the majority. The American constitution is even described as counter majoritarian, because multiple avenues exist for entrenched minorities to prevail in the legislative process. But Madison was...
Hélène Landemore on Democracy without Elections
December 22, 2020 10:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBThe origin of the third wave of democratization is commonly dated to the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974. The fall of the Soviet Union accelerated this process until about 2005 when the pace began to slow and it even began to reverse. But Robert Dahl thought about waves of democratization differently. He believed a democratic wave was more like a transformation. It was an intensification rather than a proliferation of democracy. Dahl allows us to interpret the current rise of popul...
Glenn Tiffert on the Manipulation of Academia by Foreign Governments
December 15, 2020 10:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBThis week America discovered some startling news. Russians hacked into the email systems of the Commerce and Treasury Departments. The information age has brought about a new era of intelligence and espionage. This was a blatant act of theft, but more subtle forms of espionage are available. Globalization has left many institutions vulnerable to foreign manipulation. I invited Glenn Tiffert from the Hoover Institution to shed light on this phenomenon through a discussion of two of his rece...
Carolyn Hendriks, Selen Ercan and John Boswell on Mending Democracy
December 08, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 44.8 MBThere is a book that was written in 1989 called Democracy and its Critics. The renowned Robert Dahl is the author. In the book, he answers objections to critiques of democracy through a series of dialogues. One of them has stuck with me because I hear it so often: The problem with democracy is it is not democratic enough. Many of the scholars who are featured on the Democracy Paradox have ideas or plans to make democracy more democratic. Many books, articles, and podcasts focus on ways to ...
Mareike Ohlberg on the Global Influence of the Chinese Communist Party
December 01, 2020 01:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBLast October Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey shook the sports world with a tweet. It said, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” Pretty simple. Not controversial…. at least, not controversial in the United States. But China was offended. They cut off all economic ties with the Rockets and demanded an apology from the National Basketball Association. And they got one. China uses its economic clout to shape the public discourse in business, academia, politics, and even sports. Its author...
Xiaoyu Pu on China's Global Identities
November 23, 2020 10:00 - 58 minutes - 40 MBChina is a nation of contradictions. It is a developing economy that is an economic powerhouse. It is a rising power that is already a great power. It is a communist state that has embraced capitalism. The dualism of yin and yang is not simply an element of Chinese philosophy. It is a source of modern Chinese identity. This is part two of “Liberalism, Capitalism, Communism” about the global ascendance of China. Last week was about liberal internationalism. Next week will focus on the globa...
G. John Ikenberry on Liberal Internationalism
November 16, 2020 11:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBDemocracy is often imagined at its purest at a micro level. Town hall meetings are sometimes imagined as a simpler form of democratic governance, so international relations can feel as though it is miles away from democracy. Andy yet, it is the international liberal order which has brought about the vast proliferation of democracy around the world. My guest, John Ikenberry, notes “Liberal democracy was both a national and an international project… Its institutions and ideals were premised ...
Amy Erica Smith on Politics and Religion in Brazil
November 09, 2020 11:00 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBPolitical Scientist Seymour Martin Lipset wrote, “A person who knows only one country doesn't know any country because you're not sensitized to what is unique, what is different, what is special about your country.” Brazil offers a parallel to the United States because it has a populist President who is active on social media and has been indifferent to the pandemic and hostile to the environment. But it also has differences in culture, development, and religion. The past week has largely ...
William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe on the Presidency
November 02, 2020 00:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBMillions of Americans are voting for the President of the United States. Some of you will hear this episode before the election is over. Others will likely listen after the election is over. I hope my conversation with William Howell and Terry Moe will have relevance no matter when you listen. William is Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Terry is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. O...
Barbara Freese on Corporate Denial
October 28, 2020 04:00 - 53 minutes - 37 MBDemocratic values are about more than politics. They permeate throughout society and into the economy. Barbara Freese has examined how corporate leaders have not lived up to these values. She offers examples like the tobacco industry, the use of lead in gasoline, and global warming to demonstrate how they have avoided not just accountability but any sense of responsibility for behavior with catastrophic consequences. Barbara calls this phenomenon corporate denial and explains, “We should s...
Paul Robinson on Russian Conservatism
October 18, 2020 22:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBThe Russian interference in the 2016 American Presidential election brought Russia to the forefront of conversations about international relations. But it has also given us a one-dimensional view of this complex country. Today’s conversation is about Russian Conservatism with historian Paul Robinson. We talk about conservatism as an ideology, we talk about its history, and we talk about the many dimensions of Russian Conservatism today that offer a complex and nuanced view. Our conversation...
John Matsusaka on National Referendums
October 12, 2020 00:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBThe United States has a long tradition of direct democracy through referendums dating back to the early years of the republic. Nearly every state today has some form of referendums or ballot initiatives. Yet the United States has never had a national referendum. John Matsusaka points out that from a comparative perspective, this is unusual. Nearly all other democracies have held national referendums, and many have made them a regular part of their political process. Matsusaka emphasizes tr...
John Matsusaka
October 12, 2020 00:00 - 56 minutes - 38.9 MBThe United States has a long tradition of direct democracy through referendums dating back to the early years of the republic. Nearly every state today has some form of referendums or ballot initiatives. Yet the United States has never had a national referendum. John Matsusaka points out that from a comparative perspective, this is unusual. Nearly all other democracies have held national referendums, and many have made them a regular part of their political process. Matsusaka emphasizes tr...
Donald F. Kettl
October 04, 2020 21:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBFederalism has become marginalized in academic literature. Everybody knows the United States depends on a federal system, but few talk about it. The nationalization of politics makes federalism feel esoteric and obsolete. My conversation with Donald Kettl explains why federalism remains vibrant and relevant. And it is necessary to understand American politics today as much as it has ever been. Listeners will find we talk about equality almost as much as federalism. Don writes in his book, T...
Donald F. Kettl on Federalism
October 04, 2020 21:00 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBFederalism has become marginalized in academic literature. Everybody knows the United States depends on a federal system, but few talk about it. The nationalization of politics makes federalism feel esoteric and obsolete. My conversation with Donald Kettl explains why federalism remains vibrant and relevant. And it is necessary to understand American politics today as much as it has ever been. Listeners will find we talk about equality almost as much as federalism. Don writes in his book, T...
Recap of Resistance, Revolution, Democracy
October 03, 2020 22:00 - 38 minutes - 26.8 MBJenna Spinelle, co-host of Democracy Works, joins the Democracy Paradox as a guest host as Justin recaps the three-part episode arc "Resistance, Revolution, Democracy." The tables are turned as Justin is interviewed about his background, thoughts on democracy, and final ideas about the past three episodes. Jenna conducts the interviews for the award-winning podcast, Democracy Works. The McCourtney Institute of Democracy at Penn State University sponsors Democracy Works. It has been a fixtu...
Jonathan Pinckney on Civil Resistance Transitions
September 27, 2020 21:00 - 1 hour - 45.7 MBJonathan Pinckney is a program office with the Program on Nonviolent Action at the United States Institute of Peace and the author of From Dissent to Democracy: The Promise and Perils of Civil Resistance Transitions. This is the third part of a three episode arc called, "Resistance, Revolution, Democracy." My conversation with Erica Chenoweth explored the idea of civil resistance. The next week I was able to discuss revolutions with George Lawson. This conversation pulls these ideas togeth...
Jonathan Pinckney
September 27, 2020 21:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MBJonathan Pinckney is a program office with the Program on Nonviolent Action at the United States Institute of Peace and the author of From Dissent to Democracy: The Promise and Perils of Civil Resistance Transitions. This is the third part of a three episode arc called, "Resistance, Revolution, Democracy." My conversation with Erica Chenoweth explored the idea of civil resistance. The next week I was able to discuss revolutions with George Lawson. This conversation pulls these ideas togeth...
George Lawson
September 22, 2020 03:00 - 55 minutes - 37.9 MBThis is the second part of the three episode arc called "Resistance, Revolution, Democracy." George Lawson joins to discuss revolutions. His book, Anatomies of Revolution, offers both a historical framework to understand revolutions, but also analyzes them in their own unique context. We talk about all kinds of revolutions from history and current events. George brings up famous revolutions like the French and American Revolutions, but is also comfortable discussing the protests in Belarus o...