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Front Burner

Trump, fascism and a warning from history

Historian Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, and On Freedom, looks ahead to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office. Snyder argues for the need to look back at past authoritarian regimes to understand what might happen next.
CBC News ·
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a Time magazine Person of the Year event at the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a Time magazine Person of the Year event at the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
Front Burner23:08Trump, fascism and a warning from the past

After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, historian and professor Timothy Snyder wrote a long post on Facebook. Here's how it started: 

"Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience."

Snyder went on to share twenty lessons about authoritarianism from the 20th century. They would lay the groundwork for his 2017 book On Tyranny. Fast forward to 2024, and Snyder's warnings about authoritarianism are being amplified once again. He joins the show to look ahead to the next four years of the Trump presidency, through the lens of his latest books: the just-released On Freedom and On Tyranny.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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