The Populist Playbook | Episode 42 | Everything is Everything

Populism is on an upsurge across the world. It is a danger to democracy and civilisation. But what does that term even mean?

Welcome to Episode 42 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit and Ajay break down what political scientists mean by 'populism' -- it's isn't simply what is popular! They discuss the populist playbook as laid out by Jan-Werner Muller in his great book 'What is Populism?' You might find it sounds familar, no matter where you are. Ajay then shares his insights from four countries where he has followed populism closely -- one of which holds out hope for redemption.

Oh, and Amit's newsletter is furiously active again, so do read and subscribe at https://indiauncut.substack.com/

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Packaging
00:13 Introduction: 'I'm just a clueless economist!'
04:22 Chapter 1: The Populist Playbook
15:40 Chapter 2: Left-Wing Populism, Right-Wing Populism: Same Difference
23:36 Chapter 3: How Populists Consolidate Power
29:30 Chapter 4: Populism in the USA
38:52 Chapter 5: Populism in Israel
46:36 Chapter 6: Populism in Hungary
49:52 Chapter 7: Redemption in Poland
1:00:16 Chapter 8: The Role of Social Media
1:05:39 Chapter 9: Ajay's Recco
1:06:30 Chapter 10: Amit's Recco

USEFUL RESOURCES:
1. Amit on Twitter:   / amitvarma  
2. Ajay on Twitter:   / ajay_shah  
3. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit's audio podcast: https://seenunseen.in/
(Also on all podcast apps. And YouTube, though less than 1% of listens come from here:    / @theseenandtheunseen  )
4. Ajay's organisation, XKDR Forum, on YouTube:    / @xkdr  
5. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah: https://amzn.eu/d/hwGILb3
6. The Art of Clear Writing -- Amit's writing course: https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/
7. The India Uncut Newsletter -- Amit's newsletter at https://indiauncut.substack.com/
8. The Brave New Future of Electricity -- Episode 40 of Everything is Everything:    • The Brave New Future of Electricity |...  
9. Words -- Bee Gees:    • Words  
10. What Is Populism? -- Jan-Werner Müller: https://amzn.in/d/4KXvLzH
11. Amit's column on Muller's book (2017): https://indiauncut.com/why-both-modi-...
12. Amit's column on Trump's simplistic stories (2016): https://indiauncut.com/facts-dont-mat...
13. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything:    • Fixing the Knowledge Society | Episod...  
14. Republic -- Plato: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...)
15. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything:    • Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH...  
16. Freedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/
17. V-Dem: https://v-dem.net/
18. Private Truths, Public Lies -- Timur Kuran: https://amzn.in/d/1uIz9z7
19. The Median Voter Theorem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_...
20. The Beauty and the Beast -- The 1991 animated film: https://www.hotstar.com/in/movies/bea...
21. On Tyranny -- Timothy Snyder: https://amzn.in/d/e95JRhg
22. On Tyranny -- The graphic edition by Timothy Snyder and Nora Krug: https://amzn.in/d/3ujGvUU
23. Essays -- George Orwell: https://amzn.in/d/brZeOFf
24. 1984 -- George Orwell: https://amzn.in/d/a3KZSLX
25. Animal Farm -- George Orwell: https://amzn.in/d/bl3MLdB
26. Lord of the Flies -- William Golding: https://amzn.in/d/aBC4H9t

Produced by Amit Varma
Shot by Vaishnav Vyas and Nomsita MS Haritashya:   / vaishnav.vyas  
Edited by Nomsita MS Haritashya:   / nomsitaharitashya  
Thanks to Gaurav Chintamani for helping with sound:   / gaurav_chintamani  
Chapter images & additional illustrations by Simahina:   / i_am_simahina