Between Elon Musk's meddling and Romania's election rollercoaster, the state of Europe's democracies feels a little scary at the start of 2025. This week we talk to Tom Theuns, author of a new book about Europe's failure to stop the slow slide towards autocracy so far and what we can do to fix it.
Tom is a senior assistant professor of political theory and European politics at Leiden University. You can find out all about his book, 'Protecting Democracy in Europe', here, and follow him on Bluesky here.
This week's Inspiration Station recommendations: 'My Favourite Cake' and 'La Chimera'.
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Other resources for this episode:
Double Dutch on Instagram and TikTok
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
00:23 The headwinds of 2025
02:48 Bad Week: Fireworks
11:50 Good Week: Greenland's pro-independence movement
22:31 Interview: Tom Theuns on protecting Europe's democracies
38:01 The Inspiration Station: 'My Favourite Cake' and 'La Chimera'
43:13 Happy Ending: Ada Colau's amazing Instagram post
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