American Decadence (2022) | Nick Bryant, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Geraldine Doogue & Adam Tooze

American Decadence (2022) | Nick Bryant, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Geraldine Doogue & Adam Tooze

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas November 13, 2022 Duration: 57:38

While we've all watched the rise of the US in our lifetimes, its recent decline has been a hot topic of conversation with ballooning inequality, military overreach, gun violence and police shootings, the great recession, and a dramatic slide into decadence and division provided by recent politics and structures of power. While the idea of a slightly less-powerful America might be attractive to many countries tired of US dominance, can we reach the conclusion that America has reached a of tipping point into irreversible decline? 

One of the BBC's finest foreign correspondents, Nick Bryant has covered some of the most momentous events of our times, the attacks of September 11, the war in Afghanistan, the Asian tsunami, the election of Barack Obama and the presidency of Donald Trump.

Historian and author Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an expert commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda — and the threats these present to democracies today. Author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Strongmen and over 100 op-eds and essays in CNNThe New Yorker, and The Washington Post, she brings historical perspective to her analyses of current events. 

Geraldine Doogue is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter, best known for her work with ABC RN Saturday Extra which specialises in foreign policy, regional issues and agenda-changing commentators.

Prize-winning historian, writer and economic commentator, Adam Tooze combines deep historical expertise with up to date economic analysis to answer questions about current and future political power and economical shifts that could be used to navigate in our dynamic contemporary world.


For more than a decade, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas has curated a space where provocative thinking isn't just welcomed, it's the entire point. This podcast is a direct line to that stage, offering an archive of talks that deliberately unsettle comfortable opinions and interrogate the stubborn problems we often agree to ignore. Each episode captures a live conversation from Australia's original disruptive ideas festival, presenting arguments that can be exhilarating, uncomfortable, and vitally important. You’ll hear from a compelling roster of festival alumni-including leading experts, intellectual troublemakers, and visionary authors-who share perspectives that conventional discourse frequently sidelines. The discussions here aren't theoretical exercises; they grapple with the pressing and difficult issues shaping our society and culture right now. Tuning in means granting yourself access to a decade-long tradition of intellectual courage, where the core assumption is that some truths are only reached by first entertaining a dangerous idea. It’s a chance to listen as boundaries are pushed, not for shock value, but for clarity. The result is a consistently challenging and refreshing audio experience that complicates simple narratives and expands what feels possible to talk about.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Podcast Episodes
Ruth Ben-Ghiat (2022) | Return of the Strongman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:28
From Russia and China to America, Turkey and beyond, illiberal leaders have used corruption, machismo, disinformation, propaganda and violence to stay in power and expand their influence for decades. With authoritarianis…
Adam Tooze (2022) | F=Fail [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:58
The 21st century was supposed to be better than this. As we confront the impacts of climate change, wars old and new, the pandemic and its aftermath, and a dangerously fragile global financial system, it's time to ask 'W…
Jacqui Lambie (2022) | On Blowing Things Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:29
Known as one of the most fierce and outspoken politicians in the country, Jacqui Lambie does not hold back. Not with her opinion, her work ethic, or her convictions. And she's done the unthinkable, for a politician, she'…
Masha Gessen & Tom Switzer (2014) | Putin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:35
It's been over 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union and 22 years since Vladimir Putin came to power. Now in the throes of a Ukraine invasion, the Russian regime combats any c…
Jesse Bering (2012) | We Are All Sexual Perverts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:21
We may not want to admit it, but there is a spectrum of perversion along which we all sit. Whether it's voyeurism, exhibitionism, or your run-of-the-mill foot fetish, we all possess a suite of sexual tastes as unique as…
FODI: The In-Between | 08.5 | Endtropy | B-Side [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:01
A playerless piano performs a repeating piece of music in which every note of a scale is played on every beat of the bar. The melody is absorbed into chaos, as the words of Noami Klein and Waleed Aly speak of our interco…
FODI: The In-Between | 07.5 | Revivification | B-Side [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:47
CellF is a cybernetic musician and the world's first neural synthesiser, created by Perth-based artist and researcher, Guy Ben-Ary. Its 'brain' is made of biological neural networks bio-engineered from the artist's own c…
FODI: The In-Between | 06.5 | Tongues | B-Side [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:02
Tongues is an explicit, potent musical manifesto, exploring having your voice taken away, in response to Roxane Gay and Kate Manne's discussion. Tongues is written and performed by Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian Inuk improvisat…