Pulitzer Prize Historian: You Won't Notice Until It's Too Late!

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

FlightStory

Education, Society & Culture, Business

4.5 • 17.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Anne Applebaum has spent decades studying how democracies collapse, how authoritarian systems rise, and why the warning signs are often ignored until it’s too late. She reveals why America is entering a dangerous new phase, and what happens next! Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and has hosted its Autocracy in America podcast. She is also a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies. She is also the bestselling author of books such as, ‘Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World’. She explains: ◼️ Why democracies rarely collapse overnight ◼️ Why America may be closer to autocracy than people think ◼️ How elected leaders can slowly take apart the system from within ◼️ Why corruption is one of the clearest warning signs of authoritarianism ◼️ Why Big Tech leaders are bending toward political power ◼️ How America’s allies are already preparing for U.S. betrayal ◼️ Why Russia, China, and Iran are challenging the democratic world order ◼️ Why America may never fully go back to normal after Trump Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:13 Why History Keeps Repeating 00:04:52 Why Democracy Feels So Broken 00:07:21 The Biggest Threats Right Now 00:08:32 Why Democracy Is Rapidly Shifting 00:09:58 Could America Become An Autocracy? 00:11:45 What A Trump Third Term Means 00:14:36 Why Autocracy Appeals To People 00:18:52 Trump’s Wealth Changes Everything 00:21:08 Why Global Stability Is Collapsing 00:26:06 Democracy Vs Dictatorship: What Lasts? 00:27:18 Who’s Happier: Democracies Or Autocracies? 00:28:44 Would Informed People Choose Democracy? 00:30:25 How Putin Stays In Power 00:32:20 5 Tactics Autocrats Use 00:33:59 Are Tech CEOs Enabling This? 00:37:51 Can America Ever Return To Normal? 00:39:07 Why Nations Are Turning Inward 00:43:37 What This Means For Americans 00:45:19 The Most Dangerous Part Of Dictatorship 00:48:29 Why Trump’s Ratings Are Falling 00:50:28 Ads 00:52:31 The 2nd Tactic Autocrats Use 00:57:19 The 3rd Tactic Autocrats Use 00:59:20 The 4th Tactic Autocrats Use 01:05:38 Should Social Media Have Legal Power? 01:12:38 Can Citizens Really Leave China? 01:13:55 The 5th Tactic Autocrats Use 01:14:28 Why ICE Is Breaking Down 01:16:40 Ads 01:17:49 Is The American Empire Declining? 01:21:49 Is Politics Just Human Nature? 01:24:38 Does Democracy Create Extreme Capitalism? 01:26:44 How Democracies Defend Themselves 01:28:18 Is Mainstream Media Politically Biased? 01:31:59 Why Journalism Matters More Than Ever 01:33:29 How Algorithms Control Your Reality 01:34:37 Anne’s Personal Political Journey 01:41:05 What Regime Change Really Feels Like 01:44:36 Anne’s Toughest Setback Follow Anne: Youtube - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/4pTtMb1 Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/1GOn8p5 X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/8M5yUMK Website - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GGmhcYf You can purchase Anne’s book, ‘Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World’, here: https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/D07471h Sponsors: Stan - Visit https://coach.stan.store/?ref=stevenbartlett&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode5 Wispr - Get 14 days of Wispr Flow for free at https://wisprflow.ai/steven

Transcript

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0:00.0	One thing I've learned from interviewing a lot of founders and building companies myself is that
0:03.5	trust is the real currency of business. It's the thing that gets customers to buy, partners to say yes,
0:08.5	and investors to back you. But as you grow, trust stops being just a feeling and becomes something
0:13.1	you have to prove. Because the bigger you get, the more exposed you are, customer data,
0:17.4	security expectations, regulations, all of it. And the risk of one small mistake
0:21.1	becomes incredibly significant. And if you've ever tried to scale while keeping on top of all of that,
0:26.6	you'll know it can become a full-time job. But our sponsor Vanta automates your compliance
0:31.3	processes and brings compliance, risk and customer trust together through their AI-powered platform.
0:36.8	And the company's already using Vanta, say they spend 82% less time on audits because of Vantas platform.
0:43.1	So if your organisation wants to inject time back into building and growing, make sure you head over to vanta.com slash diary.
0:49.7	That's vanta.com slash diary.
0:53.0	This was Trump's net worth when he went into office.
0:55.7	$2.3 billion.
0:57.3	And this is his net worth now, just two years later.
1:00.8	$6.5 billion.
1:02.4	So we've never had a president running businesses while in office.
1:06.4	And so decisions are being made not based on what's good for Americans,
1:09.7	but what's good for his company.
1:11.7	For example, why did the Saudi government invest $2 billion in Jared Kushner's fund?
1:16.4	It wasn't because they just like Jared Kushner.
1:18.7	It was because Kushner is Trump's son-in-law.
1:21.0	And so my biggest concern is the deterioration of American democracy.
	...

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