Best Democracy In Lockdown Podcasts (2025)

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The Red Pill 1:04:20

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27d ago1:04:20

1:04:20

A toxic army of trolls goes after women in the gaming industry, giving birth to an online movement of disaffected men. This "manosphere" contributes to the resurgence of Donald Trump and a constitutional crisis that holds American democracy in the balance.By Long Lead & PRX

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Going Viral 55:15

1M ago55:15

55:15

After the twin disasters of the massacre in Myanmar and the 2016 election, social media undergoes a reckoning in the halls of Congress… until a novel virus uncorks a global pandemic and a contagion of hoaxes, conspiracies, and lies online.By Long Lead & PRX

1
Weapons of Mass Distraction 44:06

1M ago44:06

44:06

North Korea hacks a movie studio over a screwball comedy, inspiring America’s enemies to launch cyberattacks against the U.S. To roil an election, one even unleashes a network of trolls pitting ordinary Americans against each other, online and in the streets.By Long Lead & PRX

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How One Simpsons Joke Made Bill Oakley Famous 30 years Later | Simpsons Taught Me Everything 52:40

1M ago52:40

52:40

This episode of STME features the one and only Bill Oakley, legendary Simpsons writer, co-creator of Mission Hill, and originator of the Simpsons "Steamed Hams" joke which spiraled into an internet phenomenon and later the namesake of his newfound food influencer career. We talk Simpsons, Mission Hill, The Mullets, and of course, burgers.…

1
Enragement Equals Engagement 36:40

2M ago36:40

36:40

With the dawn of the newsfeed, Facebook begins a mass experiment on the human psyche — what we like and hate, what makes us happy and angry. Over the course of a decade, its algorithm drives the world to like, comment, and eventually, kill.By Long Lead & PRX

1
The Facebook Revolution 41:27

2M ago41:27

41:27

In Egypt, a ragtag group of young activists uses social media to spark a revolution and remove a dictator from power. They credit Facebook with the fall of the regime… until the platform is turned against them.By Long Lead & PRX

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Establishing Connection 48:52

2M ago48:52

48:52

At the dawn of the new millennium, the internet yields powerful tools for coordinating and organizing online. From the 9/11 hijackers to flashmob pranksters to activists, it puts power in the hands of the people, for better and for worse.By Long Lead & PRX

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The End of the World as We Know It 42:17

2M ago42:17

42:17

The internet as we know it today is a harrowing landscape. But in its quirky infancy, the web changed everything about how we lived, shared, shopped, and communicated. Then a computer bug threatened to shut it all down forever.By Long Lead & PRX

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14 Times Whole Towns Became Delusional Springfield-style | The Simpsons Taught Me Everything 1:02:27

2M ago1:02:27

1:02:27

This week on The Simpson's Taught Me Everything, Michael Swaim sits down with Robert Brockway of Cracked fame to unpack14 Times Whole Towns Became Delusional Springfield-style.

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Trailer: Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet 3:14

3M ago3:14

3:14

When was the last time you felt good about the internet? Today’s online landscape is a harrowing one. People screaming at each other on social media. Violent videos going viral. Cyberbullying, racism, misogyny. Back in the day, the web gave power to the people, and going online could actually be fun. In LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET, Pulitzer-…

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A Master of Scams and Cons Reacts to Marge vs. The Monorail (featuring Brian Brushwood) | The Simpsons Taught Me Everything 1:08:47

3M ago1:08:47

1:08:47

Michael Swaim brings in Brian Brushwood (Scam School/Scam Nation, Modern Rogue), a magician and his expert witness in scams, for episode three of The Simpsons Taught Me Podcast to delve more into the musical con man influence behind the classic Simpsons episode, Marge vs. The Monorail. They also debate whether the end result determines if someone w…

1
The Simpsons Reference That Unlocked Buddy Hackett's Best Joke | The Simpsons Taught Me Everything 49:15

3M ago49:15

49:15

On episode two of the Simpsons Taught Me Everything Podcast, Michael Swaim is joined by fellow comedy writer, Danielle Radford (Honest Trailers), to continue to delve into more Music Man references from the Conan O'Brien written episode, Marge vs. The Monorail. They also dissect Buddy Hackett's famous duck joke that he told on the Tonight Show with…

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The Sex-Crazed Con Man Who Inspired Conan's Monorail Episode | The Simpsons Taught Me Everything 1:03:31

3M ago1:03:31

1:03:31

Each and every week, Michael Swaim & his guests are going to zoom way, way too far in on a single Simpsons bit and unpack it for a month's worth of jokes, Simpsons games, and education.

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Introducing: The Simpsons Taught Me Everything 1:00

3M ago1:00

1:00

Everything Michael Swaim knows about the world, he learned from The Simpsons—and now, he's passing on all that useless information to you. On Simpsons Taught Me Everything, Michael Swaim takes a single joke from The Simpsons and pulls the thread of its origins, unraveling bits of history, pop culture, and otherwise random trivia we never knew we ne…

1
Generation Lockdown 1:08:10

1+ y ago1:08:10

1:08:10

Raised on active shooter and lockdown drills, Gen Z has endured an onslaught of violence — and emerged inspiring a wave of activism, a powerful gun safety movement, and hope.By Long Lead & PRX

1
A Good Guy with a Gun 48:46

1+ y ago48:46

48:46

Easy to handle and easy to conceal, handguns went boom in the 2000s, the same moment when many Americans — falsely and tragically — began to equate guns with safety.By Long Lead & PRX

1
The Right to Bear AR-15s 48:54

1+ y ago48:54

48:54

After a devastating, now largely forgotten, mass-shooting prompted lawmakers to take aim at assault weapons in the 1990s, their ban backfired — and caused gun sales to explode.By Long Lead & PRX

1
The Hardliners 46:23

1+ y ago46:23

46:23

In the 1980s, a pair of intimidating NRA leaders recast the organization in their own imposing images as the group went on an all-out offensive against gun regulations.By Long Lead & PRX

1
Shall Not Be Infringed 33:40

1+ y ago33:40

33:40

The Second Amendment may have begun as a Constitutional afterthought, but a late 20th-century ideological shift caused some to view it as a sacred right in the name of self defense.By Long Lead & PRX

1
A Uniquely American Problem 41:04

1+ y ago41:04

41:04

Mass shootings have plagued the U.S. for generations. But in 1999, when shots rang out in a suburban Denver school, it was different. What changed? Everything.By Long Lead & PRX

1
Trailer: Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust 3:30

1+ y ago3:30

3:30

This season host Garrett Graff, in collaboration with The Trace, recounts how a very specific, carefully manufactured fear has driven explosive demand for guns across the U.S. It’s the history of how firearms went from being an ordinary part of rural American life to a menacing element in modern society — and the epidemic of gun violence that’s com…

1
January 6: Day of the Rope 56:06

2+ y ago56:06

56:06

Emboldened by COVID lockdown protests and fighting Black Lives Matter demonstrators, far-right extremists and white power groups prepare to overthrow the government on Jan. 6… or a later date.By Long Lead & PRX

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MAGA: American Carnage 51:17

2+ y ago51:17

51:17

After Trump’s election, far-right extremism explodes, and internet racism boils over into the real world. From Charleston to Charlottesville to Christchurch, experts warn of a race war.By Long Lead & PRX

1
The Bundys: A Call to Arms 44:24

2+ y ago44:24

44:24

When the government seizes Cliven Bundy’s cattle over unpaid grazing fees, militias like the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers—which are later at 1/6—aid a standoff on his ranch.By Long Lead & PRX

1
Info War: From the Fringe to Fox News 44:16

2+ y ago44:16

44:16

Using conspiracy theories and anger to amass enormous audiences in the 1990s, Rush Limbaugh and Bill Cooper pave the way for Fox News to mainstream far-right outrage.By Long Lead & PRX

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Oklahoma City: Sic Semper Tyrannis 40:49

2+ y ago40:49

40:49

Experts claimed 1995’s Oklahoma City bombing was a lone-wolf event, but Timothy McVeigh’s act of retribution for the Waco siege, shows how domestic extremism has evolved.By Long Lead & PRX

1
Ruby Ridge: The Revolution Begins 57:01

2+ y ago57:01

57:01

The government lays siege to Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where Randy Weaver and his family are hiding out in the shadow of a growing white supremacist movement, a year before Waco.By Long Lead & PRX

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Waco: The Spark 39:10

2+ y ago39:10

39:10

Out of the flames of a tragic government mishap—the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas—the modern far-right movement is born.By Long Lead & PRX

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Trailer: Long Shadow: Rise of the American Far Right 2:58

2+ y ago2:58

2:58

The Ruby Ridge raid, the Waco siege at the Branch Davidian compound, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jan. 6 insurrection… they are all explosive moments in recent U.S. history. But connect the dots between these—and other—seemingly disparate, violent events, and you’ll answer some of the most existential questions facing the U.S. today: How did Amer…

1
Long Lead Presents: The Depths She'll Reach 1:58

4y ago1:58

1:58

Out now from Long Lead, The Depths She’ll Reach, the story of how Alenka Artnik emerged from mental health struggles to become one of the world’s most elite athletes. A multimedia feature by Xan Rice and Daan Verhoeven, produced by Long Lead. https://onjustonebreath.com/By Long Lead & PRX

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Branka Vierda (YIHR CRO) - Dealing with the past, transitional justice, and youth activism in the Balkans 30:30

4y ago30:30

30:30

In this episode of the World Youth Movement for Democracy podcast, WYMDTalks we will have the opportunity to hear more about dealing with the past, transitional justice, and youth activism in the Balkans, the region that was once, during the 1990s, heavily affected by the war. We have the pleasure of talking to Branka Vierda, Coordinator of Justice…

1
WYMD Talks with Hasan Hasanovic a Srebrenica genocide survivor 1:34:06

4y ago1:34:06

1:34:06

In this episode of WYMD Talks Hasan Hasanović, a Srebrenica genocide survivor, shares his story with the youth across the world. Hasan was only 19 years old when forces of the Republika Srpska army killed more than 8000 people in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July of 1995. Today, he works at the Srebrenica Memorial Center and is the author…

1
How do we move on from 9/11? 52:59

4y ago52:59

52:59

When we think about 9/11, we often only think of the tremendous loss of life on that day. But what we sometimes forget about are those who made it; the thousands of people who survived the attacks, but have had to carry it with them every day since. Firefighter Jay Jonas and Port Authority Police Officer Will Jimeno were in the Twin Towers on Septe…

1
What was the Saudi connection to 9/11? 30:22

4y ago30:22

30:22

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, which was also the home of al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. In the days after September 11, dozens of his friends, family members and business associates left the U.S. on secret flights bound for The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That has led to questions that four presidents have avoided an…

1
Who was the 20th hijacker? 39:28

4y ago39:28

39:28

Immediately after 9/11, investigators began piecing together the plot. In the flight manifests, they discovered a pattern: A team of five terrorists hijacked every plane that day, except for one. United Airlines Flight 93 had only four hijackers. Investigators believed one person was missing from that group. Who was the 20th hijacker — if there eve…

1
Could 9/11 have been stopped before it happened? 46:26

4y ago46:26

46:26

Before 9/11, FBI Special Agent John O’Neill kept setting off alarms about the emerging terrorist organization al-Qaeda and their mysterious leader Osama Bin Laden. As a result of his warnings the FBI knew terrorists were planning a big attack and the CIA even had eyes on two of the eventual hijackers prior to the attacks. So what went wrong? Why di…

1
WYMD Talks with Spouzhmai Akbarzai, a feminist and an activist from Afghanistan 35:47

4y ago35:47

35:47

After the United States started withdrawing from Afghanistan, during the first days of August the Taliban swiftly took over cities and provinces. Finally, on August 15 2021 the Taliban have entered Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. In this episode of WYMD Talks, we talked with Spouzhmai Akbarzai, a feminist and an activist from Afghanistan. We dis…

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Was there a “fifth plane” on 9/11? 34:24

4y ago34:24

34:24

After the first two hijackings, the nation’s air traffic controllers quickly and efficiently grounded thousands of planes flying to and over the continental United States. Their quick thinking is said to have potentially saved countless lives. But what if another plane was meant to be hijacked that day, and never made it off the ground? What if the…

1
Who issued the order to shoot down Flight 93? 39:38

4y ago39:38

39:38

With the Capitol under attack, the President on Air Force One, and the Defense Secretary missing, Vice President Dick Cheney was the most powerful man in the country on the morning of 9/11. From a bunker beneath the White House, he gave fighter pilots flying above the Capitol permission to shoot down hijacked commercial planes. But did Cheney actua…

1
What was the target of United Airlines Flight 93? 27:58

4y ago27:58

27:58

Every defense mechanism the U.S. government had on 9/11 failed except for one: the passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93. They were on the final plane to be hijacked that day and heard reports of the attacks from loved ones on the ground. Then they rallied to stop the terrorist plot. But where was the plane headed before it crashed? …

1
Why weren’t more people rescued from the Twin Towers? 45:41

4y ago45:41

45:41

After both towers of the World Trade Center were hit on September 11, 2001, first responders coordinated the largest emergency response in New York City’s history. But their heroism at Ground Zero was hampered by institutional bureaucracy and ultimately undone by decisions made decades earlier, when the Twin Towers were built. So why did these icon…

1
Youth Leader Feature - Let's Talk Activism! with Nandini Tanya Lallmon 24:16

4y ago24:16

24:16

We got on a live podcast with activist Nandini Tanya Lallmon to speak about her activism and the challenges the LGBTIQA+ community faces in Mauritius. Nandini Tanya Lallmon, from Mauritius, is a social justice activist advocating for sustainable development at the intersection of gender, technology and human rights, who was also appointed as the Af…

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Trailer: Long Shadow: 9/11's Lingering Questions 2:28

4y ago2:28

2:28

Many of us watched the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 unfold right before our eyes. In the years since, law enforcement, congressional inquiries and the press have successfully uncovered more about what happened that day. But now on the 20th Anniversary of the attacks, many mysteries remain. Hosted by bestselling author and reporter Garr…

1
The long-hauler of lockdowns: how the year-long lockdown has affected human rights and democracy in Botswana 44:47

4+ y ago44:47

44:47

We are joined by Bonolo Magowe of Democracy Works Foundation and Dumiso Gatsha of Success Capital, who are both African Union Youth Charter Hustlers for Botswana. Join us as we explore how a year of on-again off-again lockdowns and related restrictive measures aiming to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have affected human rights and democracy in Botsw…

1
Why Democracy? 24:59

5y ago24:59

24:59

Our system of government was never intended to be a democracy. Although many believe that we live in one, they have never been asked to vote on the decisions made by said government. Yet they think that they are empowered just the same. Democracy is a political system featuring the principle of the 'rule by the people.' Instead of having one person…

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End-The-Lockdown #NOMASKS - 12pm Saturday 12 September Aotea Square, Auck NATIONAL RALLY FOR FREEDOM 11:13

5y ago11:13

11:13

National Rally for Freedom is here family! UPDATE as follows...New Zealanders are taking Aotearoa back! Take care dear whanau! If you are concerned about Facebook's new censorship policies that are on the way, please go to www.joinwithus.co.nz to ensure we can keep in touch with you. Privileges Committee acts like kangaroo court The Co-Leader of Ad…

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Dr Rashid A Buttar Interview Billy Te kahika New Zealand testing ground for the New world Order 1:03:53

5y ago1:03:53

1:03:53

The New Zealand Public Party has merged with Advance New Zealand and will stand for purposes of the General Elections in October as a component party of Advance New Zealand. New Zealand Public Party (NZPP) is still a party and will continue as such, but for this 2020 election, you will need to PARTY VOTE for Advance New Zealand. The New Zealand Pub…

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Advance NZPP Billy Te Kahika Talks About Mother prison 14 day, Pakuranga College fake Covid 19 error Minister of health 14:41

5y ago14:41

14:41

The New Zealand Public Party has merged with Advance New Zealand and will stand for purposes of the General Elections in October as a component party of Advance New Zealand. New Zealand Public Party (NZPP) is still a party and will continue as such, but for this 2020 election, you will need to PARTY VOTE for Advance New Zealand. The New Zealand Pub…

1
NZ FAKE LOCKED DOWN: Billy Te Kahika, Speaking At Lockdown Protest In Whangarei BTK - TE TAI TOKERAU 6:20

5y ago6:20

6:20

It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to be a freedom fighter. Our country has already suffered economic carnage created by the Government. And for what? We put up with extreme measures once. Twice is not acceptable. Sign our petition to tell the Prime Minister you oppose Labour's Second Wave of planned lockdowns! Labour’s Second Wave of Lockdowns -…

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NZ FAKE LOCKED DOWN: Whangarei, MASSIVE PROTEST Against LOCKDOWN Billy Te Kahika TE TAI TOKERAU 2020 17:05

5y ago17:05

17:05

It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to be a freedom fighter. Our country has already suffered economic carnage created by the Government. And for what? We put up with extreme measures once. Twice is not acceptable. Sign our petition to tell the Prime Minister you oppose Labour's Second Wave of planned lockdowns! Labour’s Second Wave of Lockdowns -…