Project 1933: How to Dismantle a Democracy (and How to Rebuild)

In this episode, Heather and Colin walk through how Hitler and the Nazi Party executed their plan to dismantle Germany democracy and, often under-examined, how German democracy was rebuilt after World War II. Most importantly, they explore electoral system design decisions made to prevent a party like the Nazis from ever coming to power again, including the 5% threshold and the so-called "firewall against the far-right" — in German, "die Brandmauer." Special thanks to the experts featured in this episode:   Timothy Ryback, The Atlantic ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Martin Lange, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tour with a Berliner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Jonny Pechstein⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Geschichte für Alle⁠ Dr. Berit Ebert, Bard College Berlin ⁠⁠Professor Thomas Gschwend⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠University of Mannheim⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Nicola Hieke⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Landeskoordinierungstelle Bayern gegen Rechtsextremismus⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Bavaria State Coordination Office Against Right-Wing Extremism) Brendan MacGurk, Tour Guide (to arrange a private tour, email inquiries to bmacgurk(at)web(dot)de) Professor Doctor Magnus Brechtken, ⁠Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History⁠ By Timothy Ryback: The Atlantic: ⁠How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days⁠ The Atlantic: ⁠The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler⁠ Timothy's forthcoming book: 53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy, The Atlantic Monthly Press, publishing September 2026. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Music and archival references⁠⁠⁠⁠   For more information on More Equitable Democracy’s work, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.equitabledemocracy.org/⁠⁠⁠ For more information on Larj Media, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.larjmedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠