I so enjoyed catching up with someone I consider a mentor and teacher in our collective battle for democracy, Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Her work and daily observations are foundational to my understanding of what’s happening today.
In our conversation, we discussed:
the low point of how US troops were treated in Alaska: “now we have an unprecedented situation where we have an autocratic president who [is] trying to wreck America for the benefit of foreign autocrats….Trump having the US military cleaning the red carpet to welcome him clapping for Putin. And if your goal is to take the prestige away from everything that brought America admiration in the world…having them clean the carpet so you can stand on it and clap for Putin is a way of taking them down.”
how my time in Russia shaped ways I view the attack on the attack on democracy in the US now
how I came up with the title “Laboratories of Autocracy,” and then wrote the book—it started out as a tweet!
how we must reframe the current districting battle as a full-out assault on democracy, and respond accordingly
how gerrymandering and a lack of democracy convert government from being about public service, to about serving private interests; “public welfare does not factor in at all,” as Ruth explains
how those who value democracy must both fight back against the attack on the 2026 election while also maintaining a “North Star” of ending gerrymandering everywhere
Ruth: “use the tools and spaces you have when you have them”
Why it’s so important that we rally now, heading into the ‘26 election — Ruth: “the normalization of corruption, of evil, is one of the biggest threats that is difficult to reverse”
When you have a moment, check out the whole discussion.
Thank you Caro Henry, Sandra Dingler, P. J. Schuster, Katie Steedly Curling, Maureen Drews, and many others for tuning into my live video!
