This Is Why Humiliated Trump Lives in Fear

About this episode

Joanna Coles discusses the psychological dynamics of authoritarian leaders and the current political climate in America with expert guests.

In this special episode of the Daily Beast Podcast, Joanna Coles brings together a revealing collection of conversations about the forces reshaping America, from the psychology and behavior of strongmen to the increasingly visible signs of political and institutional upheaval. Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains why authoritarian leaders become more paranoid and dangerous as they accumulate power, how corruption and humiliation become tools of control, and why she believes Donald Trump may be on a trajectory toward failure. Kurt Andersen discusses his new novel The Breakup, his vision of an America fractured by political violence, and why the country may be living through an American tragedy. Plus, Farrah Tomazin reports from Washington on Trump's physical transformation of the capital, the troubled Reflecting Pool project, and the surprisingly empty Great American State Fair. #ad Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BEAST at https://www.oneskin.co/BEAST #oneskinpod #ad Download the Kalshi app and use code TDB to get $20 when you trade $20. https://kalshi.com/r/tdb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Joanna Coles

Guests: Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Kurt Andersen, Farrah Tomazin

Topics covered

• authoritarianism
• political violence
• psychology of power
• Trump's influence
• political upheaval
• American tragedy

Keywords

• Trump
• authoritarian leaders
• political control
• psychological behavior
• political tragedy
• American politics
• corruption

Sponsors

OneSkin, Kalshi

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Daily Beast

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