We're obviously up against a major election here in the United States of America,

both the presidential election on November 5th, but also a series of elections

down ballot that will determine the future of the House, the Senate, and the composition of state

legislatures across the country. So in that moment it's tempting to only focus on the electoral

dynamics in our own country, but I've actually often found that we can somehow gain

greater insight and clarity about what's going on in the United States,

if on occasion we look at Western Europe and other countries that face similar, not the same,

but similar challenges,

similar demographic changes, similar types

of political realignments

as are happening in this country,

to be able to then come back

and understand our own political dynamic with even greater clarity.

Sometimes you see what's happening in the United States more clearly if you're looking

at it from the outside in.

Those of us who are here on the inside may lack that opportunity, but I do think

that that's something we're trying to do with today's episode of the podcast with somebody who has

taken a careful look at the rise of populist leaders across different Western European democracies

has carefully thought about what the heck is going on in Europe right now

and maybe even what some of the learnings and implications might be for the United States,

not just in the next several days and weeks heading into our own election,

but perhaps over the next four to eight years as we think about the future direction of the

...