America's slide toward 'modern tyranny'

Published: April 23, 2025

On this episode of WONK, Amanda Lang talks to historian and author Timothy Snyder about efforts to weaken the American state and what can be done to save it

Timothy Snyder is one of America’s most important scholars. While his work has focused on Eastern Europe, Russia and on the Holocaust, more recently he’s written hugely popular books about the nature of tyranny and freedom, including On Tyranny and The Road to Unfreedom. He recently moved with his family to Canada, where he is a professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and is in high demand as someone who can help make sense of what is happening in the world today. He talks to host Amanda Lang about America’s slide toward tyranny, the importance of local media in democracy and what keeps him hopeful for the future.

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America’s slide toward ‘modern tyranny’