Recently, many government norms we’ve taken for granted as “how America works” have been exposed to be just that - norms. They’ve proven to be malleable (and in some cases optional). For those of us who only know this country, it can be challenging to know what to make of it. While we’ve learned about other democracies’ deterioration and collapse through history, those moments feel far removed from the 🇺🇸 Democracy 🎇 we‘ve enjoyed here. 

Anne Applebaum, a staff writer for The Atlantic, is one of the voices I regularly turn to help make sense of it all. Her expertise has been helpful in putting this American moment in a broader context of democracy degradation. Spoiler alert: it’s not with soldiers marching in streets and what’s already happening in the US isn’t new. 

If you’re trying to make sense of this moment, I recommend her recent book, Autocracy, Inc., and the short 5-episode (30-minutes each) podcast, Autocracy in America, to understand what is in fact a pretty well worn playbook for how democracies can slip away.