The Age of the Strongman: Understanding Trump, with Anne Applebaum (Part One)

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series. The morning after Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times front page declared: ‘America Hires a Strongman’. But is Trump really a ‘strongman’ and is it fair to put him in the same category of leaders as Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? The Trump administration is already viewed by many commentators as more authoritarian than the first. But will Trump meaningfully crack down on civil liberties? Will he persecute his political opponents? Will he use the state to enrich himself and his inner circle? And will he abandon democratic allies and align America with other authoritarian so-called ‘strongman’ states? Many critics say the answer to all of those questions is already, demonstrably ‘yes.’ So how far could he go? We were joined by Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum and host Gideon Rachman for the final instalment of our Age of the Strongman event series. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:08.6	Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet.
1:13.0	I'm producer Mia Serenti.
1:15.5	Today's episode is part one of our recent live event with Pulitzer Prize winning historian and political commentator and Applebaum.
1:23.7	Applebaum joined us at the Royal Geographical Society in London for the final instalment of our
1:29.3	Age of the Strongman series, Understanding Trump.
1:33.5	The morning after Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election,
	...

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