On Tyranny, Orbán, and Trump (with Timothy Snyder)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, Politics, Government

4.8 • 32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Historian Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny and On Freedom, joins Preet Bharara to break down Viktor Orbán's election loss in Hungary and what it means for Trump, MAGA, and the future of American democracy. Snyder also explains what Hungarian politician Péter Magyar's victory reveals about beating authoritarians at the ballot box, why "democracy" alone doesn't rally voters, and why his most urgent lesson from On Tyranny — do not obey in advance — has never been more relevant. Then, Preet answers listener questions. He explains whether the president has to comply with the law requiring him to preserve official records and whether it’s now legal to distill liquor at home. In the bonus for Insiders, Preet breaks down his experience working to reform one of New York City’s most notorious prisons: Rikers Island. Join the Insider community for access to bonus content from Stay Tuned and weekly episodes of the Insider podcast hosted by Preet and Joyce Vance. Head to cafe.com/insider to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work. Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website. You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe. Shop Stay Tuned merch and featured books by our guests in our Amazon storefront. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:05.7	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:09.1	One of the things that the Hungarians who won didn't hesitate to say before and after the election
0:14.3	is that there will be legal consequences for abusive power, right?
0:18.9	It's one of the things that Madero said in his victory speech.
0:21.3	And I think that Democrats have to be ready to say that too.
0:29.2	Welcome to stay tuned. I'm Preet Bharara. My guest this week is Tim Snyder. He's a historian
0:35.6	of authoritarianism and modern Europe, and he's the inaugural
0:38.9	chair in modern European history at the University of Toronto's Monk School. That's coming up. Stay tuned. Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for every moment.
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1:19.6	For those early morning news sessions or when you're on the go and leave your charger at home
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1:36.9	and with built-in intelligence,
1:38.6	that makes updates around your schedule,
1:40.8	not in the middle of it.
	...

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