36. US, IRAN: A Tale of Two Crackdowns

Authoritarianism advances gradually. In the 36th episode of This Time Tomorrow, we compare Iran’s brutal crackdown on mass protests with developments in the United States. They’re not the same, but they do represent different points along the same downward trajectory. In Iran, widespread participation in ongoing protests signals a potentially transformative moment that the regime is trying to suppress through extreme violence. In the US, the expansion and normalisation of aggressive federal forces like ICE is indicative of an early-stage pattern seen historically in fascist and autocratic takeovers. And Europe…? Europe must clearly choose to defend democratic norms—now, pronto, immediately and forcefully— because waiting until violence is fully normalised is only going to make meaningful resistance a lot harder.Join Omri, Benni and Daniela as they explain why it’s time to leave the gym (that NY resolution never sticks, anyway) and start saving democracy instead. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thistimetomorrowpod.substack.com