Overlapping crises, enforced political passivity, a new political normal: all things that gradually dismantle a democracy. Ferenc Laczó talks the death of democracy in a new episode of Gagarin.

Although it makes for a great dramatic effect, the theories of the sudden death of democracy disregard the gradual erosion and capture of institutions, and the role of the populace – argues political scientist John Keane on the Gagarin podcast.

Russian aggression, climate disaster and technological singularity – it takes a professional optimist to seek the humanist potential in these threats. An interview with André Wilkens, director of the European Cultural Foundation. Gagarin podcast.

The centuries-old debate over whether certain countries belong to the East or the centre of Europe has fairly little to do with geography. In this episode of Gagarin, the Eurozine podcast, anthropologist Iván Kalmár discusses privilege, race and cultural hegemony.