Austria and the rise of European Populism

In this episode, Jacob Reynolds is joined by our policy analyst Bence Szabo and our head of cultural engagement Agnieszka Kołek to dive into the results from the Austrian elections, where the mainstream parties are engaged in a desperate attempt to install another cordon sanitaire to block the election-winning Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ). We also take stock of the recent escalations in the middle-East, where Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon to defend itself against Hezbollah has drawn it into confrontation with Iran. The team ask what is at stake in this conflict for Europe. We round off with a discussion on the turmoil surrounding the "book launch they tried to cancel",  where our executive director Frank Furedi had the launch of his latest book cancelled by a Brussels bookstore. The event went ahead - and was a rich discussion of the war against the past. We ask: why is Brussels such a hotbed of censorship?