Democracy’s Lifeline: Engaging Citizens & Countering Misinformation with Dr. Tobias Endler
Democracy is not so much about casting your vote every couple of years, which is important, obviously, but it’s about the time in between, right? So in that sense, democracy is democratic debate.”
Today my guest is author and political scientist Dr. Tobias Endler. With over 20 years in academia, Tobias has published numerous books and articles on US politics, transatlantic relations, as well as democracy, media, populism, and current progressive movements. I have known Tobias for many years now and we often catch up online and in person to discuss political and social issues. It’s a busy year for major elections across the world and in today’s episode, we chat about the current state of democracy, so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.
Our conversation kicked off with me asking Tobias about how everything in life is becoming more political (00:35), social media platforms playing a more influential part in democracy (01:43), and the issue of misinformation (04:05). I asked Tobias about the rise of populism (06:58), the value of learning from history (11:24), using honest hope to promote democracy (20:19), and nefarious media platforms producing false narratives (20:56). Our conversation then moved on to providing some solutions, such as the role of civic duty (26:40), dealing with confrontation on social media (30:10), and initiatives and movements that are making a positive impact (40:35). Towards the end of our conversation, we discussed the impact of globalisation (45:17), bringing democracy into the home (50:27), and what Tobias is reading at the moment (53:53).
Show Notes
- Tobias’s website
- Publications by Tobias
- Tobias’s M100 profile
- The Franz Lebowitz Reader
- On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
- For more, hear my conversations with Dr. Fergal Lenehan, Tina Lee, and Brain Milne
If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe, review and rate: Spotify and Apple Podcasts
The Comfortable Spot Podcast 