Anne Applebaum on the Harper’s Letter and the rise of authoritarianism

By the big story

In today’s Big Story podcast, last week, Harper’s magazine published an open letter, speaking out against a culture of “intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.”

The letter was signed by 150 people. Among them, prominent figures like J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, and Salman Rushdie. Once published, it created a wave of backlash, and at least two people withdrew their names when they saw who else had signed it.

Today, a discussion with one of the letter’s signatories about flawed democracies, and why she felt it was important to sign the letter.

GUEST: Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today