Episode 20: How to hold an election
For the final episode of the series, Ben goes back to basics and asks: how can democracies hold free and fair elections? It’s not as simple as setting...
Episode 19: AI and democracy
This week, we’re looking at another big potential challenge facing democracy: AI, or artificial intelligence. Ben wants to know how worried we should ...
Episode 18: Facing the climate crisis
One of the biggest challenges of our time is climate change. This week, Ben wants to know how effective democracies are when it comes to fighting the ...
Episode 17: When politics turns nasty
Democracy can often be knocked off course by political violence, but in some places it’s become an ingrained part of how politics is done. This week B...
Episode 16: How corruption corrodes
Where does the boundary lie between bad behaviour and outright corruption? This week Ben wants to understand how corruption and the fight against it ...
Episode 15: On the campaign trail
It often feels like America is stuck in a perpetual election campaign cycle. How much do campaigns matter? Ben speaks to three guests who have followe...
Episode 14: What makes a good US president?
American voters have chosen the two candidates who will vie to become the next US president. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump couldn’t be more different...
Episode 13: The devil's in the demographic
Polling organisations often define Americans by their ethnic and racial identity. Ben wants to know if these voter “blocks” remain intact at the ballo...
Episode 12: The dangers of identity politics
Democratic societies are a melting pot of people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but when political alliances are formed around a par...
Episode 11: When to take to the streets
The history of protest and democracy is long and complex, but taking to the streets has resulted in major democratic changes in the past. This week, B...