If the US once claimed it was “defending Democracy” to justify attacking countries without pretext, the current administration has made no such excuses.

Last week US security forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from a compound in Caracas in an operation that killed 70 people.

Maduro was presented in a courtroom in Manhattan, on charges of supposedly “importing tons of cocaine into the United States”, and his deputy Delcy Rodriguez was installed in his place as acting President.

To make this all make sense, we speak with Laura Tedesco, a long time openDemocracy contributor and professor of political science and international relations at St. Louis university in Madrid. Prof. Tedesco is also the author of several books on democracy and politics in Latin America.

Read Laura's Book, Latin America's Leaders: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9781783601028

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/

In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. Support the show by visiting https://www.openDemocracy.net/donate/

Credits:

Presented by Aman Sethi

Audio engineering by James Battershill

Theme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Waring factions have dominated the headlines, but inside the Your Party conference the embers of hope for a different kind of politics were still burning.

Investigative reporter Ethan Shone tells what the mood was like among the party members following months of public spats and PR disasters.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/

In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. Support the show by visiting https://www.openDemocracy.net/donate/

Credits:

Presented by James Battershill

Audio engineering by James Battershill

Theme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

—

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve normalised the idea that the world is ending, that society is tearing itself apart, that our countries — wherever we live — are falling apart. But what does that really look like? What does it feel like? What emerges in the aftermath?

In this episode host Aman Sethi speaks to Renata Salecl, a Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and political theorist to decode how the experiences of post-socialist countries can help us understand the crisis gripping the West.

A Passion For Ignorance - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9780691240992

The Spoils of Freedom - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9780415073585

On Anxiety - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9780415312769

The Tyranny of Choice - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9781846681868

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/

In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. Support the show by visiting https://www.openDemocracy.net/donate/

Credits:

Presented by Aman Sethi

Story production by Ayodeji Rotinwa

Audio engineering by James Battershill

Theme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

—

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

02:30 Post socialist societies

07:22 The modern respect for cunning

08:45 Lessons from pop culture

10:16 The (mis)use of fake news

13:53 On accelerationism

16:11 The dissolution of societies

18:53 Times when nothing and everything changes

20:50 Those that enjoy life the wrong way

22:24 Neoliberal collapse

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.