The Democracy for Sale podcast

In this episode of Democracy for Sale, Peter Geoghegan is joined by Professor Kim Lane Scheppele to unpick the high-stakes election in Hungary. With Orbán trailing in the polls for the first time in sixteen years, we investigate the transnational network of money and influence fighting to keep him in power.From JD Vance’s surprise appearance at a Budapest rally to the "Golden Spider" web connecting far-right movements across Europe, this is a forensic look at the "Hungarian Playbook" and how it is being exported to the United States via Project 2025.

Alan Rusbridger knows a scandal when he sees one. As editor of the Guardian he oversaw some of the most important stories in recent decades: cash-for-questions; phone hacking; WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden. Rusbridger thinks he’s looking at another scandal right now. “GB News is essentially Reform TV,” he tells me in today’s Democracy for Sale discussion. “A broadcaster has become the media arm of a political party, and nobody is doing anything about it.” This isn’t just about a scandal about a failure to enforce broadcasting rules, although it is that, too. At root, it’s a story about how money buys influence in British politics, and how our election laws are failing to keep up.