Episodes

  • Another front on the war against democracy is information warfare. Ben Ansell digs into how modern day autocrats are using this. For almost a decade China has been running a media influencing campaign in Africa. Now Russia has taken it mainstream, and digital. But how effective are these disinformation campaigns? What’s the endgame? And how can we build up our defence arsenal? 


    Guests:  


    James Ball, journalist and author of Post Truth and The Other Pandemic

    Emeka Umejei, research associate in the department of media studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa

    Ben Scott, CEO of Reset Tech 


    What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by Open Society Foundations. 

    To find out more about Tortoise:

    Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists

    Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

    Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more


    If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

    Host: Professor Ben Ansell

    Producers: Katie Gunning and Ada Barume

    Editor: Jasper Corbett

    Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In Ukraine, democracy is under attack. Ben Ansell investigates what that means for the country’s future. Is the war a death knell or a rallying cry for democracy? What is at stake and how worried should we be about the rise of autocrats?


    Guests:  


    Olya Onuch, Professor of comparative and Ukrainian politics at the University of Manchester

    Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, interim President of Freedom House 


    What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by Open Society Foundations. 

    To find out more about Tortoise:

    Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists

    Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

    Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more


    If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

    Host: Professor Ben Ansell

    Producers: Katie Gunning and Ada Barume

    Editor: Jasper Corbett

    Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  • The world’s biggest democracy is currently in the middle of an election that will take six weeks to play out and involve over a billion people. Ben Ansell takes a closer look at the state of democracy in India, to try to understand what’s happening elsewhere. 


    Guests:  

    Dr Pavi Suryanarayan, Assistant professor at the LSE

    Daniel Ziblatt, author of How Democracies Die

    Mitali Mukherjee, Director of the Reuters institute’s Journalism programme


    What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by Open Society Foundations. 


    To find out more about Tortoise:

    Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists

    Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

    Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more


    If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]


    Host: Professor Ben Ansell

    Producers: Katie Gunning and Ada Barume

    Editor: Jasper Corbett

    Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • Introducing: What's Wrong with Democracy?


    By the end of this year, countries making up half the world’s population will have held elections. But not all of them will have been free and fair. In ‘What’s Wrong with Democracy?’ Professor Ben Ansell of Oxford University will, with the help of academics, journalists, activists and writers, figure out whether democracy is working and how best to preserve democratic freedoms, equality and rights. 


    What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by Open Society Foundations. 


    To find out more about Tortoise:


    Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists


    Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content


    Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more


    If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]


    Host: Professor Ben Ansell

    Producers: Katie Gunning and Ada Barume

    Editor: Jasper Corbett

    Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.