House Rules: Defending democracy when the game is rigged

Lies, lies and more lies. How many lies can our institutions survive? And why are we so bad at defending those institutions? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by a Quiet Riot favourite – Christina Pagel, a professor of operational research at UCL as well as the creator of the smash hit service to humanity that is the Trump Action Tracker. Is Britain vulnerable to the sort of institutional vandalism that Trump had visited on the US? Heck, is Britain even *more* vulnerable than the US? Talking of which, Alex and Kenny also look at the latest madness on Planet Trump and ask just how much crazier this could all get. Oh, they do mention Celebrity Traitors yet again ... but only because Prof Pagel is a fan. Honestly. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** “Justice is meant to involved a crime, finding out who did it, and prosecuting them. What Trump is doing is saying, openly: here are the people I want prosecuted, find me the crime. And the Republican politicians are cheering him on, which is really scary.” “I’m not sure whether [Proposition 50] is the right thing to do. I worry that it accelerates the degradation of norms. But given how flaccid the Democratic response has been to Trump in general, I’m just glad that someone is doing something.”  “The vandalism that is occurring to the pillars on which democracy in the US stands will tie up the system for years and is so extensive that it is hard to fight on all the fronts that have been opened.” “Without a basis of evidence, there is no evidence-based policy. Without a common framework of accepted fact, there is no rational debate. The undermining of expertise and its institutions is one of the key preconditions of authoritarianism.” “Many functions of the state - from food safety to regulation of medicines to weather forecasting - require expertise and so are allocated to dedicated bodies. Those bodies should be allowed to operate only on the facts - not on politics. Their expertise protects our way of life.” CALLS TO ACTION • Check out the Center for Democracy and Technology in the US and Europe • Read Prof Pagel’s report on our institutions and share it with MPs and other people in positions of influence GRIN AND SHARE IT • Find out more about how AI is actually helping the planet • Buy something from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our bookshop here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. • Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. • Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. • PHEW!!! With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices