On January 29, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, journalist, and author of Autocracy, Inc. Anne Applebaum and journalist, lawyer, and founder of the Popular Information newsletter Judd Legum joined moderator Charlie Sykes, author of the To the Contrary newsletter and podcast, for a timely discussion on how political power is being reshaped in the U.S. and globally—and what it means for democracy.
The conversation examined how democratic institutions are increasingly undermined through gradual, legal changes that concentrate power, weaken accountability, and reward loyalty over principle. Speakers emphasized that the greatest danger lies not in any single leader, but in systems that normalize corruption, disinformation, and politicized governance.
Ukraine emerged as a critical test of democratic resolve, highlighting the global stakes of the moment.
The discussion concluded with a clear warning and reminder: democracy does not sustain itself—it survives only when citizens choose to defend it.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Anne Applebaum is staff writer for The Atlantic and author of the best-selling 2020 book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism and her latest book Autocracy, Inc. Applebaum is also a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the SNF Agora Institute, where she co-directs Arena, a program on disinformation and 21st-century propaganda.
Judd Legum is the founder and author of Popular Information, an independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism. Popular Information won the 2020 Online Journalism Award for Excellence in Newsletters, and the 2025 David Nyhan Prize for Public Policy Journalism. Its reporting was credited by Bloomberg for bringing a “political reckoning” to corporate America. Previously, Legum founded and served as editor-in-chief of ThinkProgress, a progressive media outlet. In 2008, Legum was the research director for Hillary Clinton’s first presidential campaign. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Pomona College.
Charlie Sykes is the author of the Substack newsletter, To the Contrary, and contributes to The Atlantic and MSNBC. His most recent book, How the Right Lost Its Mind, published by St. Martin’s Press, was released in October 2017.
Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time.com, USA Today, National Review, The New York Review of Books, the New York Daily News, and other national publications.
