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RevDem Podcast
by Review of Democracy
RevDem Podcast is brought to you by the Review of Democracy, the online journal of the CEU Democracy Institute. The Review of Democracy is dedicated to the reinvigoration, survival, and prosperity of democracies worldwide and to generating innovative cross-regional dialogues. RevDem Podcast offers in-depth conversations in four main areas: rule of law, political economy and inequalities, the history of ideas, and democracy and culture.
Episodes
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From Guilds to Pubs: The History of Democratic Practices (Part 2)
Scholars often frame the history of democracy as a gradual expansion of voting rights and representative institutions. Camille Creyghton, our guest today, offers a different perspective: democracy also emerged from radical ovements and everyday practices of self-government. In her presentation at...
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From Guilds to Pubs: The History of Democratic Practices (Part 1)
Scholars often frame the history of democracy as a gradual expansion of voting rights and representative institutions. Camille Creyghton, our guest today, offers a differentperspective: democracy also emerged from radical movements and everyday practices of self-government. In her presentation at...
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The Other Side of Law: Democracy, Rights, and Illiberalism
In this opening episode of a new Review of Democracy podcast series on law, rights, and democracy in Latin America, Gabriel Pereira speaks with Fabio de Sá e Silva about the increasingly complex role of law in contemporary struggles over democracy and rights. The conversation explores autocratic...
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Challenging Archives, Episode 3- Documenting the Human Rights Organizations during the Cold War
Challenging Archives is a new series of podcasts jointly organized between Review of Democracy and BlinkenOpen Society Archives, based in Budapest. We will invite scholars to discuss about their investigation in this archive. The Blinken Open Society Archives, or the OSA, is a complex archival...
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Decolonial Constitutionalism in the Caribbean – In Conversation with Ronnie Yearwood
Having achieved formal independence, formerly colonized societies continue to suffer under the consequences of colonialism.Whereas colonialism is often declared to have ended, coloniality persists. Colonialism created power structures that transcend armed control over territories and people and...
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Progressive Pronatalism? A Conversation with Kristijan Fidanovski
Demographic policies became one of the most defining political battlegrounds of our time. Within this debate, pronatalism is usually discussed within the framework of traditional values and nationalist agendas. This approach, as our podcast guest Kristijan Fidanovski emphasized, might obscure...
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A Counterarchive of Female Migrant Workers – Brigitte Le Normand on Gendering Postwar Migration and the Remaking of Europe
In our new podcast, Brigitte Le Normand describes and interprets the main phases of migration in Europe since 1945; discusses what gendered and intersectional perspectives can reveal about labor migration; explains why a combined focus on “destination countries” and “countries of origin” is…
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Technocratic Governance Without Deliberation? –Yane Svetiev on Peer Review in Financial Regulation
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, our lives are increasingly influenced by decisions made outside our national constituencies. Today, government actionsare likely to affect many people who never participated in elections in which the government in question ran for office. This...
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Challenging Bucharest’s “Little Paris” Myth: A Conversation with Alexandra Ghiţ
Between 1914 and 1941, Bucharest’s population tripled,approaching one million inhabitants. This rapid growth created new neighborhoods and new opportunities but also brought new forms of poverty. While some historians portrayed the interwar Bucharest as ” the little Paris”, Alexandra Ghiţ’s book...
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Who Gets to Shape the Future of the Arctic? A Conversation with Mia Bennett and Klaus Dodds
The Arctic is undergoing a profound transformation. As the region literally unfreezes under the pressures of climate change, established political relationships, imaginaries and assumptions about its future are also being unsettled. In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast,Anna Niia...
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America’s Disengagement and Its Consequences
In the new episode of our series produced in collaboration with the Journal of Democracy, Ferenc Laczó speaks with Christina Cottiero, Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, Stephan Haggard, and Christina J. Schneider about their article, “Can the Liberal Order Survive America's Retreat?” They discuss the…
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A State Within the State: Lessons from Iran and Beyond
In this special-series podcast with SaeidGolkar, we discuss his latest essay “Why IRGC is the war’s Biggest Winner” published in the July issue of the Journalof Democracy. Professor Golkar argues that Iran’s wars, security crises, and political upheavals have gradually transformed the IRGC from a...
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Can Unjust Laws Be Legitimate? A Conversation with Jonathan Quong
Can a law be unjust and still be legitimate? And if we believe a law is unjust, does that mean the state has no right to enforce it? In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast,Jonathan Quong discusses his new book PoliticalPhilosophy: The Puzzle of Legitimate Injustice which examinesthe...
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“Divisive Memories Can Create New Forms of Local Unity” – Aline Sierp on Memory Studies and Key Questions in European Remembrance
In our new podcast, Aline Sierp discusses central questions in contemporary European memory and surveys how EU institutions have attempted to deal with Europe’s past over the decades. She also considers why the remembrance of European colonialism and imperialism remained marginal for so long –…
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Backlash Against Rights: From Public Battles to Veiled Backlash
Across the world, political actors are challenging rights in increasingly sophisticated ways. But are we looking in the right places? In this episode of Review of Democracy,Gabriel Pereira speaks with María Paula Saffon about how we should understand backlash against rights today. They discuss…
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Towards Tempered Power – In Conversation with Martin Krygier
Always a controversial and often a confusing topic inacademia, the rule of law has, since the late twentieth century, been elevated to almost a universal ideal. So much so that many of those once perceived as its staunchest enemies today claim to be rule of law enthusiasts. Large amounts ofmoney...
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Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary’s Democratic U-Turn
In this new episode of our podcast series produced in cooperation with the Journal of Democracy, Ferenc Laczó speaks with Kim Lane Scheppele about her article, “CanPéter Magyar Restore Hungary’s Democracy?” The conversation discusses the major challenges and dilemmas that the new Hungarian...
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How to Lean into Disruptive Change? – Mark Leonard on a New Artisanal Code for Europe
In our new podcast, Mark Leonarddiscusses the conclusions he has drawn concerning “the four Cs:” capital, climate, chips, civilizations. He talks about how Europeans could take inspiration from Chinese ways of thinking, what a new, more holistic approach to European security might prioritize, and...
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The Battle for the Future of Democracy Begins in the Archive. A Conversation with István Rév
The Democracy Institute Annual Conference, held inBudapest on June 25–26, under the title Imaginary Exhaustion? asked whether contemporary democracies have become trapped by fear and exhaustion, and howcollective imagination might be renewed. The panel Rethinking CEU’s Legacy: Education,...
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Women’s Internationalism and Democracy in the Global South
In this episode with Durba Mitra, we discuss her latest book, The Future that Was (Princeton University Press, 2026). The podcast highlights the emergence of women's internationalism as both a political project and a mode of knowledge production that grew out of the crisis of Third World...
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Why Politicians Talk About Migration Instead of Markets
Migration is usually discussed as a question of borders, identity, or national security. This angle might obscure other more fundamental aspects. The real question to poseis not simply who moves, but how decades of marketization transformed both labor and the politics of fear. These ideas were at...
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Postcolonial? – How Does the House of History Confront Europe’s Colonial Past and the “Colonial Matrix of Power”? Part II
This spring, the House of European History – a flagship museum of the European Parliament – has opened a temporary exhibition under the title Postcolonial?that features unique artworks, historical objects, and personal stories. Knowing the multifaceted and controversial legacies of European...
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The EU in Constitutional Borderlands – In Conversation with Päivi Leino-Sandberg
Since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force in 2009,the European Union has faced numerous significant crises. At the same time, the Union’s member states have largely proven unable or unwilling to amend the EU’s treaties. While this has often created impasses and deadlocks, it has not…
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Postcolonial? – How Does the House of European History Confront Europe’s Colonial Past and the “Colonial Matrix of Power”? Part I
This spring, the House of European History – a flagship museum of the European Parliament – has opened a temporary exhibition under the title Postcolonial?that features unique artworks, historical objects, and personal stories. Knowing the multifaceted and controversial legacies of European...
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Challenging Archives, Episode 2: The Apartment Universities in Czechoslovakia
Challenging Archives is a new series of podcasts jointly organized between Review of Democracy and BlinkenOpen Society Archives, based in Budapest. We will invite scholars to discuss about their investigation in this archive. The Blinken Open Society Archives, or the OSA, is a complex archival...
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Challenging Archives, Episode 1: Hungarian-Language Theaters in Socialist Romania
Challenging Archives is a new series of podcasts jointly organized between Review of Democracy and Blinken Open Society Archives, based in Budapest. We will invite scholars to discuss about their investigation in this archive. The Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA), is a complex archival...
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The Ancient World Mobilized for Hate: A Conversation with Curtis Dozier
Ancient Greece and Rome are often celebrated as the foundations of Western civilization, democracy, and political thought. But what happens when these revered historical traditions are mobilized to legitimize exclusionary and authoritarian politics? In this episode of the Review of Democracy...
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Georgia’s Struggle Between Democracy and Autocracy – In Conversation with Ghia Nodia
In our latest episode of the special series produced in partnership with the Journal of Democracy, we discuss the recent article by Ghia Nodia, entitled “Georgia: Between Democracy and Autocracy” (Journal of Democracy, Vol. 37, No.2, April 2026) Over the last couple of years, Georgia has…
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Mixed Families in Post-Conflict Societies- A Discussion with Karolina Lendák-Kabók and Lucija Balikić (Part 2)
Are interethnic marriages bridges or fault lines in post-conflict societies? What happens when the politics of national identity enter the intimacy of home? Who were the main agents to oppose or promote mixed marriages in East-CentralEurope? Was it the Church? Was it the legal framework? Were it...
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Dictocrats and Dictobrats – James Loxton on Why We Elect Former Dictators and Their Children
In the new episode of our series produced in collaboration with the Journal of Democracy, Ferenc Laczó speaks with James Loxton about his article, “Why We Elect Former Dictators and Their Children.” James Loxton discusses prominent cases of former dictators or the children of former dictators…
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Worlds of Wartime: Duncan Kelly on the First World War and Modern Politics
How did the First World War reshape the way we think about politics, economics, empire, and democracy? In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, we speak with Duncan Kelly, Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, about his book Worlds of Wartime: The First World War and…
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Birthright Citizens: Martha Jones on Race and Rights in the U.S.
Since assuming office at the beginning of 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has targeted numerous people in the U.S. Those who have suffered the most and are the most vulnerable to the administration’s policies are the ones Trump and his compatriots believe are unworthy of living their lives on...
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Beyond National Democracy: China’s Ideas and Ideas of China
This interview with historian Professor Xu Guoqi explores the major themes of his latest book The Idea of China ata moment marked by the weakening of the international order and the global resurgence of nationalism. We begin by tracing the changing meanings of “China” and “Chineseness.” The...
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Mixed Families in Post-Conflict Societies- A Discussion with Karolina Lendák-Kabók and Lucija Balikić (Part 1)
Are interethnic marriages bridges or fault lines in post-conflict societies? What happens when the politics of national identity enter the intimacy of home? Who were the main agents to oppose or promote mixed marriages in East-CentralEurope? Was it the Church? Was it the legal framework? Were it...
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The “Backsliders” and What We Can Do About Them – In Conversation with Susan Stokes
In our latest episode of the special series producedin partnership with the Journal of Democracy, we discuss therecent article by Susan Stokes, entitled “Why Elected Leaders Subvert Democracy” (Journal of Democracy, Vol. 37, No.2,April 2026). Democracy today faces many paradoxes. According to...
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How to Secure Democracy After Authoritarianism? Venezuela and the Problem of Credible Transitions
How can a democracy emerge from authoritarian rule when those who hold power fear what comes next? In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, Gabriel Pereira speaks with José Ramón Morales-Arilla about the challenges of democratic transition in Venezuela.Drawing on economic theory and...
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Abandoning Democracy for the Nation – In Conversation with Filip Milačić
Of the many political ideologies that exist, perhaps oneof the most paradoxical ones is nationalism. It has been associated with various political currents. At the end of the eighteenth and during the nineteenth century, people who wanted to overcome monarchy were often staunchnationalists. In…
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How Helpful Are AI Tools for Autocrats?
In the new episode of our series produced in partnership with the Journal of Democracy, Ferenc Laczó speaks with L. Jason Anastasopoulos and Jie (Jason) Lian about their article, “The Limits of Authoritarian AI.” They discuss the new challenges and opportunities for repression that AI poses; the...
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The “Ukraine Question” in Hungarian Culture Today – Diána Vonnák on Bilaterial Relations, Questions of Responsibility, and Paths Forward
In our new podcast, Diána Vonnák discussesthe recent past and present state of relations between Hungary and Ukraine. Focusing on questions of scholarship, culture and media, the conversation explores howprevalent Hungarian perspectives on Ukraine may be characterized and contextualized; how ties...
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When Populism Can be Good: A Conversation with Pepper Culpepper
In this special podcast episode with Pepper Culpepper, we discuss the latest article entitled, When Populism Can be Good, jointly written by Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee. This discussion reframes populism as a differentiated and politically consequential phenomenon rather than a...
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Back to the Roots of the Rule of Law – In Conversation with Fernanda Pirie
According to the Rule of Law Index, prepared yearly by the World Justice Project, in 2025, 68% of countries worldwide experienced a decline in the rule of law, a bleak contrastto 57% the previous year. In what feels like a permanent rule of law crisis, revisiting the origins of the concept offers...
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From Television Series to Board Games: Replaying Communism’s Afterlife in Culture- A Conversation with Anna Váradi and Lucy Jeffery
Today, the afterlife of communism is equally about monuments and half-ironic memes, retro aesthetics, movie series and board games. Far from being confined to archivesor secondary sources, references to socialist period survive throughout everyday cultural forms and reveal a way of processing...
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Gen-Z: An Emerging Political Force? – A Discussion with Răzvan Petri and Vlad Adamescu
Politicians have usually neglected the needs and concerns of young voters, since they were seen as the most inactive and unreliable segment of the electorate. However, the interlocking crises of the contemporary global landscape have awakened Gen-Z’s political consciousness and have made them...
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Why Would Elected Leaders Hollow Out Their States?
In this episode of our podcast series produced in collaboration with the Journal of Democracy, Ferenc Laczó speaks with Andrés Mejía Acosta and Javier Pérez Sandoval about their new article, “Why Populists Hollow Out Their States.” They discuss how, why, and when elected leaders seek to undermine...
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Ultimate Failure Via Major Accomplishments – Julian E. Zelizer on the Paradoxes of Joe Biden’s Presidency
In this conversation, Julian E. Zelizer – editor of the new volume The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden. A First Historical Assessment – discusses the key accomplishments of Joe Biden’s presidency as well as the sources of his ultimate failure to fulfil his promise. He explores the historical…
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Did Fear of Vampires Inspire Early Scientific Inquiry? A Discussion with Ádám Mézes
Artificial intelligence or the pandemics were two recent crises framed as almost magical non-human actors. They both reshaped the boundaries of human agency. By now,the language explaining them is often one of rupture and unprecedented transformation. AI or COVID-19 were described as opaque,...
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: Democracy on a Tightrope: Politics, Bureaucracy, and the Risks of Imbalance
In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, Gabriel Pereira speaks with Gabriela Lotta about Democracy on a Tightrope: Politics and Bureaucracy in Brazil,co-authored with Pedro Abramovay and recently published by Central European University Press . Drawing on the Brazilian case, the...
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EU Research Spotlight: Nils-Christian Bormann on Violence, Elites, and Democratic Stability
What happens when democracy faces violence as a recurring feature of political life? In this episode, we discuss the DANGER – Democracy, Anger, and Elite Response European Research Council (ERC) project with PrincipalInvestigator, Nils-Christian Bormann. This EU-funded research project examines…
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How Courts Can Hold Authoritarian Leaders Accountable
In many democracies today, elected leaders challenge institutions, undermine electoral rules, and test the limits of constitutional order. Yet legal accountability for suchactions remains rare. In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, produced in cooperation with the Journal of...
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Anticipating Autocracies: Contradictions in Broken China
In this latest conversation, we speak with Minxin Peiabout his latest book, The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism (Princeton University Press, 2025),which challenges the enduring assumption that economic development naturally leads to democracy. Pei argues that China’s…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
RevDem Podcast is brought to you by the Review of Democracy, the online journal of the CEU Democracy Institute. The Review of Democracy is dedicated to the reinvigoration, survival, and prosperity of democracies worldwide and to generating innovative cross-regional dialogues. RevDem Podcast offers in-depth conversations in four main areas: rule of law, political economy and inequalities, the history of ideas, and democracy and culture.
HOSTED BY
Review of Democracy
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How many episodes does RevDem Podcast have?
RevDem Podcast currently has 448 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is RevDem Podcast about?
RevDem Podcast is brought to you by the Review of Democracy, the online journal of the CEU Democracy Institute. The Review of Democracy is dedicated to the reinvigoration, survival, and prosperity of democracies worldwide and to generating innovative cross-regional dialogues. RevDem Podcast offers...
How often does RevDem Podcast release new episodes?
RevDem Podcast publishes regularly with 448 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to RevDem Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts RevDem Podcast?
RevDem Podcast is created and hosted by Review of Democracy.
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