Afleveringen
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In the 13th episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Maximilian Oehl about what it takes to win political contests in a campaign landscape that is rapidly evolving. From the tabloid and TV tactics of the 1990s to the rise of partisan private news networks like FOX News, to digital campaigning and ultimately algorithmic interferenceâhow do these shifts shape not just campaign strategies but also public perception and voter behaviour?
Dr. Maximilian Oehl is a German lawyer and social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of Brand New Bundestag, a non-partisan grassroots organisation advocating for progressive, future-oriented politics in Germany. He also leads the campaign agency Media Force, which combats extremism and disinformation on social media.
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In the 12th episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Nikola Ilic about grassroots organising and campaigning for change in the face of rising authoritarianism. From training everyday people to become agents of political change, to building movements that shift the balance of power, they explore what it really takes to challenge autocratic rule. Whether you're a seasoned activist or just starting out, this conversation is your guide to understanding how power worksâand how citizens can wield it. From Otporâthe Serbian resistance movement of the late 1990sâto todayâs global rise of authoritarianism, Nikola tells a story of activism that spans three decades.
Nikola Ilic is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and the founder and CEO of ChangeLab Global. He is a program curriculum facilitator at the Obama Foundation, and he co-leads Volt Europaâs leadership development program.
Audio clip at the top of the episode: YouTube, ICNC International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, âBringing Down a DictatorâŠâ
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In the eleventh episode of This Time Tomorrow, Benni and Omri sit down with Anna Lerner Nesbitt for a conversation about the intersection of democracy, sustainability, and innovation.
Together they explore how democratic systems can foster more inclusive and sustainable solutions to the worldâs biggest challenges. Anna shares her insights on the role of technology, policy, and civic engagement in shaping a future that is both equitable and forward-thinking.
The episode delves into real-world examples and ideas that highlight the potential of innovation when guided by democratic values. Tune in now to be inspiredâand join the movement to build a more sustainable and democratic tomorrow.
Anna Lerner Nesbitt is the CEO of Climate Collective, with over 15 years of experience in climate finance and technology, including roles at Meta, the World Bank Group, and the Global Environment Facility.
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In the tenth episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Daniela Vancic about the ongoing, student-led protests in Serbia. Whatâs been happening over the last few months, why did it start, and whatâs at stake? And, importantly, what can democracy-defenders around the world learn from these frontlines against authoritarianism? As Daniela points out, this is truly a grassroots movementâwith no identifiable leaderâand theyâve been out on the streets every day for months⊠How are they doing it, and whatâs driving them?
Returning TTT contributor Daniela Vancic is a Serbian-American activist and campaigner, and the European Programme Manager at Democracy International.
Source, clip at the top of the episode: YouTube, DW News, âProtestors in Serbia Put PressureâŠâ
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In the ninth episode of This Time Tomorrow, Benni and Omri discuss a recent interview with historian Paul Kennedy in Engelsberg Ideas. In particular, they zoom in on Kennedyâs statement that the EU is âthe last enlightenment project.â
Is the enlightenment on the way out? Are we witnessing the end of rational thought, and the coming of a second Dark Age?
Tune in for a bit of scientific history, a lot of name-dropping, and a healthy call to action in the name of truth and democracy.
Source, audio clip at the top of the episode: Podcast, Bannonâs War Room, ep. 4354.
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Democracy is often a story of compromise and slow deliberations, but thereâs also the certainty of knowing that when you land yourself in a difficult spot, a community of people will have your back. Itâs the certainty of knowing that youâre part of a society that makes decisions together, and that takes shared responsibility to see them through.
In the third part of my monologue for democracy, I want to talk about why, as so called ordinary people, we can be misled into thinking that our interests are actually better represented by those anti-democrats and demagogues who seek to utilise our human capacity for selfishness and cruelty for their own authoritarian ends.
The answer I will begin to give may be considered by some as controversial, because it may seem to call into question the idea of truth. But before I go any further than that, I would summarise my argument as follows: It matters what story we choose to believe.
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In Yann Martelâs novel, Life of Pi, the eponymous main character finds himself on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean together with a bengal tiger, an orangutan, a zebra, and a hyena, following a catastrophic accident on a Japanese freight ship. The hyena ends up killing the zebra and the orangutan, and the tiger eventually kills and eats the hyena. Pi survives by creating a raft out of flotation devices, which allows him to separate himself from the lifeboat and the tiger. When he finally washes ashore in Mexico, he has survived at sea for 227 days.
While recovering in a hospital, Pi is questioned by Japanese Ministry of Transport officials who want to understand what caused the freight ship to sink. The officials quite understandably find Piâs story very difficult to believe. So Pi offers them a second story in which heâs not on the lifeboat together with animals, but with other survivors from the freight ship, one of whom is his own mother. The officials soon understand that there are parallels between the two stories Pi tells them. When heâs finished, Pi points out that neither story can be proven, and neither fully explains why the ship sank. In other words, the officials have to choose which story to believe.
As Iâve said before on this podcast, I spent much of 2024 inhabiting a far-right populist information environment in order to understand the persuasive powers that have facilitated the rise of authoritarians across the globe. And while what I found there was often blatant misinformation and obvious fabrications, I also found a story and, for a while, I made an effort to believe it. It goes like this:
There are only two kinds of people in the world today: You are either a globalist or a nationalist populist. You are either a so called âanywhereâ, or a so called âsomewhere.â
The âanywheresâ are those who have bought into and benefit from the internationalist, expat economy which says you should always be prepared to move your life to wherever thereâs a job, and feel no attachment to your home town or your compatriots. Then there are the âsomewheresâ who, by not fitting into this model, are cast out from society to languish in the peripheries, as they eventually lose their jobs or fail to adapt to a changing economy that doesnât see their skills, values and needs as relevant. For every useless somewhere, thereâs an immigrant who can take their jobsâand they will happily work for less money. As more and more jobs disappear or become unobtainable, more and more âsomewheresâ are cast out to the edges of society where they are made invisible to the ruling metropolitan elites of internationalist âanywheresâ.
When you find yourself inhabiting this model of thinking, then you perceive your criticism of society as a true and righteous reaction to a ruling elite that has decided that everything you believe in, from your heritage to your place in the world, is a lie and a relic of the past. Who could then blame you when you welcome those populists who say they will restore your values and reprioritise your needs over the luxury concerns of foreigners and globalists.
That overarching story is so compelling to so many people who feel left behind, that it masks those features of reality that clearly contradict it. The lies and distortions become invisible when the whole system is a fairytale. And in all places where itâs been believed, it has facilitated a politics that never really about you, and we can see it playing out in the US, a country that is right now accelerating towards disorder and chaos, and in so doing risks taking much of the world with it.
*
In Life of Pi, one story describes the facts of what transpired over the course of the 227 days Pi spent on the lifeboat. The other story is metaphorical and while not true to fact, it explains and makes sense of a difficult and traumatic experience. The book posits that it matters which stories we choose to believe in, as human experience can be difficult to quantify. Between observable fact and our perception of life, there is always some degree of mystery, and that mystery is the space in which stories emerge.
As defenders of democracy try to influence where we will be this time tomorrow, it is my conviction that we must not blame or vilify those who believe the other story. We must, however, challenge that story and provide them with a better one in which they can see themselves.
Defenders of democracy must not tell a story that comforts, but rather one that provides an identity and a community for all people. They must be honest about the urgent challenges we face globally and the fact that the solutions are found in international cooperation, not in national isolation and competition. Right now, we are heading in a direction where tomorrow, more people will have less, and a very few people will have almost everything. More people will find themselves in danger of armed conflicts, of losing their social safety net, of becoming gravely ill, of not being able to pay their bills, and of not being able to keep their family safe, warm and fed. And itâs all because of a bad story.
So now youâre asking me: OK, Ted, whatâs your story then? Whatâs the alternative? Whatâs the story you think we should believe in?
And the truth is I canât be expected to provide it alone. That would be wrong. And it would be undemocratic. Thatâs what autocrats do. It is not the role of democrats to provide the one truth for all to adhere to and live by. For us, the story is in the grind, itâs in the belief that tomorrow will be better, that weâre only as free as the least free among us, and that progress and enlightenment is always possible if we work together.
To defend democracy right now is increasingly to defend the diminishing rights, power and influence of almost all people in the world, against those who seek to reshape the world as a kleptocracy.
Now is the time for all of us to put our shoulders to wheels.
Join a party or a cause.
Get working. Get thinking. Take action.
Letâs write a better story.
â
Source, clip 1: Youtube, EU Debates, âDemocracy Under Threat?âŠâ
Source, clip 2: Youtube, Liberal Democrats, âConference Live: Ed Davey LeaderâsâŠâ
Source, clip 3: Youtube, CNN, âAOC and Bernie Sanders TakeâŠâ
Source, clip 4: Youtube, Politicon, âJames Carville: Why We Lostâ
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In the eight episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Paula Cipierre about Artificial Intelligence. From manufacturing to marketing, from healthcare to social media, AI plays a significant role in shaping our society. But how does it impact our democracies and geopolitics? Whatâs at stake, why does it matterâand how do we ensure that AI helps us create better democracies, not dystopian autocracies?
Paula Cipierre is an expert in data ethics, privacy, and public policy. She currently serves as the Director of Data Ethics & Innovation at ada Learning GmbH, a platform dedicated to personal growth and organisational development, facilitating collaboration towards a more digital and sustainable future. Prior to her role at ada Learning, Paula was the Head of Privacy & Public Policy (Germany/EU) at Palantir Technologies, where she worked at the intersection of privacy engineering, legal compliance, and public affairs.
Paula has been an active participant in debates on data ethics and innovation. âShe is co-author of the book, From Artificial to Augmented Intelligence. For more insights into her perspectives, you can watch her participation in the discussion "Making AI a Force for Good" on YouTube.
N.B. The creation of this post was supported by⊠You guessed itâAI.
Visit ada Learning GmbH at: https://www.join-ada.com/en
Source, clip 1 at the top of the episode: YouTube, Noah Yuval Harari, âAI and the future ofâŠâ
Source, clip 2 at the top of the episode: YouTube, DW Shift, âWill AI Laws Protect Us?âŠâ
Source, clip 3 at the top of the episode: YouTube, EU Debates, âVon der Leyen unveilsâŠâ
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In the seventh episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk about whatâs been happening on the two sides of the Atlantic:
1) the accelerating collapse of whatâs been known as the constitutional order of the United States of America, and
2) what Europeans have been calling âReArm Europeâ.
What does this all mean for democracy in Europe and worldwide?
For the US Democrats, the campaign of a lifetime awaitsâŠ
This is no time for liberal democrats around the world to rest on their laurels.
Source, clip at the top of the episode: YouTube, The Daily Show, âJon Stewart Knocks DemsââŠâ
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In the second part of my Monologue for Democracy for This Time Tomorrow, I want to talk about Matt Goodwin and the speech he gave at Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall on February 24.
The reason I want to talk about Goodwin is because he appeared in my YouTube feed, and if heâs appearing in my Youtube feed then chances are heâs also appearing in the Youtube feeds of other UK-based men between the ages of 20-40.
Why does that matter?
Because before he went on stage to deliver his speech at the conference, Goodwin was introduced as someone who defeats his opponents with pure facts and statistics.
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
However, as far as Iâm concerned, facts and stats are a lot less important to Goodwin than feelings, and right now, feelings are more important to talk about than stats.
# Intro music #
While I wasnât overly familiar with Goodwin before I listened to his speech, I did know of him through Substack. I had followed him there last year back when I was looking to inundate myself with right-wing populist content, and I remember finding his material persuasive due to how it tended to combine incendiary language with a preference for listing. Simply put, I found Goodwin to be an effective communicator, but in the sense that he made me feel threatened in a way I had not felt previously. Much like a horror film might make me look for ghosts under the bed for a few weeks, Goodwinâs writing made me wonder if perhaps I should treat myself, a foreigner in this country, with a healthy dose of skepticism and fearful apprehension.
A quick look at Goodwinâs Substack as Iâm writing this monologue appears to confirm my past impression. His most recent Note, which describes his most recent article, says: âNEW POST. Why universities in the West are dying. The diversity obsession, bad managers and ideological extremists are killing campus.â You get the idea. Itâs the stuff of big feelingsâespecially fear.
Goodwinâs speech at the Cornwall conference alarmed me because much of it seemed inspired by the American context, and there are good reasons why we in the UK should be wary of anything that seems lifted from the Americans right now. Itâs possible Iâve just missed that this is how supporters and associates of Reform UK talk these days, but Goodwinâs repeated use of the phrase âI want my country backâ and then painting immigrants as murderers and rapists, and the politicians who allowed them in, as the people who took his country away from him seems a little more MAGA than Iâve become used to.
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
Indeed, it seemed a little like something Steven Bannon, the subject of my previous monologue, couldâve written. Bannon often advises his audience to âsee what you seeââto trust what their own eyes says about their realityâwhile at the same time priming his viewers and listeners to see what he thinks they should be seeing and how they should feel about it.
Now, should Brits really be asking for their country back? Whoâs taken it from them? And whyâŠ?
If youâve never asked yourself those questions before, then chances are youâve never pondered the answers to them either, because why should you have?
Are these good and pertinent questions, or is the person asking them simply trying to shape your reality for you?
Goodwin says in his speech that he believes in British identity, history and collective memory, and in the place built by his parents and their parents and so on.
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
But then he says that the people in power, the political classâpresumably people like Keir Starmer, an Englishman who grew up in Oxtedâdo not believe in this, and that theyâre actually destroying it.
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
Goodwin says, âwe can feel it and sense itââthe elite minority does not care what the forgotten majority thinks. The elite minority is big on everything except the British people, and theyâre especially big on immigrants.
Goodwin goes on to suggest that these immigrants that the minority elite favour over British people apparently do the jobs that six million out of work British people could do, and they also hate British people and the British way of life, and theyâre also more likely to commit crime and, interestingly, take more money out of the system than they put in, even though they also, as said, take jobs from out of work BritsâŠ
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
Goodwin goes on for about eighteen minutes or so, and I could carry on relaying the ways in which he seems to believe that dangerous immigrants, DEI and foreign aid betrays British taxpayers while making Britain less safe, but I donât want to do that because that would lead me down a road where I start comparing Goodwinâs facts and stats with mine, and thatâs not what this monologue is about.
Statistical information are not merely objective factsâthey are shaped by context, audience and the speakerâs goals. For example, I would rather be told that exercising is good for my health than be told that not exercising could shorten my life. And so if I wanted to scare you about the threat posed by asylum seekers, I might pick a piece of statistical information that suits my objective and, well⊠you go figure the rest.
So, Iâm not going to say that Goodwin is wrong. You can listen to his full speech on YouTube and that way you can make up your own mind.
Instead Iâm just going to ask you to do something.
Iâm going to ask you to do exactly what Bannon says. Iâm going to ask you to see what you see.
And then Iâm going to ask you if the Britain you see when you look out your window really is the same place that Goodwin describes. If the Britain you see isnât one where people actually get along with one anotherâfrom the pubs to the cafes to the corner shops, from the workplace to the post office queue to your very own streetâ regardless of where they come from. If it isnât indeed a place where most people, regardless of where they were born, are outraged by the same things, and want the same things for themselves and their children, and if it isnât a place where people feel pride over their collective resilience and fortitude, and their nationâs ability to persevere through times of hardship, even when the odds are looking quite bad.
I donât know if Goodwin is even a member of Reform UK, but he sure has the air of a future party leader. He has the polished looks of a quarter zip City banker, heâs a highly articulate academic, and to boot, ostensibly quite willing to go further on inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric than Nigel Farage. And now heâs telling you that he wants his country back. He wants you to feel that. He wants you to be scared that someone is trying to take your home away from you.
Is that stats and pure fact?
Or is it really the opposite?
# Sound clip from Matt Goodwinâs speech at the Reform UKâs conference in Cornwall [YouTube, Matt Goodwin, âI Want My Country BackâŠâ] #
See what you see.
See whatâs right in front of you.
Ted Verver-Greijer is the co-creator and producer of the podcast, âThis Time Tomorrow.â
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In the sixth episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Philipp SĂ€lhoff about the German post-election landscape. The centre heldânarrowlyâbut where does the country go from here? What does the incoming government need to do deliver a better future for Germany and to stave off the authoritarian threat from the political extremes? What does the election result mean for Europe and the EU?
What Germany does next is crucial to the future of Europe. Our democracy is up against it⊠Now what?
Philipp SĂ€lhoff is the Managing Director at Polisphere and one of the founders of Wir Sind der Osten.
Source, clip at the top of the episode: YouTube, BBC News, âTrump Congratulates GermanyâsâŠâ.
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In the fifth episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to SebastiĂĄn Rodriguez about what it takes to win political campaigns.
Who is currently doing great work?
What tools are being developed to help facilitate effective campaigning and citizen participation?
How do we shape agendas that engage voters?
âIn this era, we are going back to messaging. And that is good. Why? Because progressives and pro-Europeans have been too focussed on the digital means [âŠ] We are going to go back to an era where research and messaging is going to be so important,â says SebastiĂĄn.
SebastiĂĄn Rodriguez is a Campaign Strategist for European Movement International and the founder of European Campaign Playbook and Rollout Democracy.
Source, clip at the start: YouTube, Sky News, âGerman Election: Final pollâŠâ
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This is the first episode of the This Time Tomorrow: Monologues for Democracy series.
Transcript
One of my favourite story-telling tricks is to start as close to the end as possible. So letâs start right now.
# Sound clip from Steven Bannonâs speech at CPAC [YouTube, RSBN, âFull Speech: Steve BannonâŠâ]. The clip ends where he does the Nazi salute. âThe only way we lose is if we quit. The only way we donât have victory is if we surrender. The only way they win is if we retreat. And weâre not going to retreat, weâre not going to surrender, weâre not going to fight. Fight, fight, fight.â #
On the morning that Iâm writing this, Steven Bannon, Donald Trumpâs former strategic adviser, nowadays one of the most powerful influencers on the MAGA side of the Republican Party, performed a Nazi salute at the Conservative Political Action Conference. I donât need to remind you that this comes a few weeks after Elon Musk performed the same salute at Donald Trumpâs inauguration.
Another one of my favourite story-telling tricks is that you must not put a loaded rifle on the stage unless you intend to use it.
That one is a little tricky. Thereâs indeed a rifle on the stage⊠But weâre not the ones who put it there. And we must make sure itâs not used.
# Sound clip from Steven Bannonâs speech at CPAC. âThe toughest part of this war is ahead of us. Iâve never promised you sunlit uplands. I said itâs ahead of us. Maybe decades. But itâs times in American history that people have to lay it all down. Youâre expendable to get to the bridge to the other side, you know that. Youâre not asking for a handout, youâre not asking for a pat on the head, right, youâre not asking for a thank you, all youâre asking for is âwhere is my musket, where is bayonet, and where do I go over the top.ââ # [As Bannon was saying this, RSBNâa MAGA broadcasterâwas hawking âTrump Combat Knivesâ on screen. See photo above.]
Now, more than anything else, I want to make clear who it is Iâm talking to.
Iâm not talking to the activists for democracy, and if youâre listening to this podcast thereâs a chance that youâre one. In many ways, itâs the already converted, those who already believe in democracy, those who already believe in a fair and future-facing politics that we want to speak to.
We want to mobilise those who care enough to act. Those who want a better future not only for themselves, but for other people as well. Those who believe democracy is worth defending.
But Iâm not talking to you right now, Iâm talking to someone else.
You may be a man, or a woman, young, middle-aged or a pensioner. I donât know your colour of skin or religion. But I know one thing about you, and itâs that youâre not sure what to think anymore.
Youâre not sure what to believe.
Because things donât feel right, things donât feel good.
You may be looking out of your window at a once flourishing neighbour thatâs gone slightly downhill in the last few years. You may not have serious financial or personal problems, but you are concerned about the people around you who doâthe number of rough sleepers outside your grocery store, or young people being cut out of the property market, or the deteriorating state of public services. Youâre worried that the people who paid in are no longer able to cash out.
Or you may be worse off than that. You may feel that the dreams you dreamt as a kid have not come true, and through no fault of your own. You did all the things you were supposed to do, you got an education, you worked hard, and yet somehow youâve been evicted from the society of dreamers. Maybe youâre renting a poorly serviced flat in a less than desirable area, maybe you have a job you never quite signed up for, maybe you donât think social mobility exists anymore, or at least not in a way it did when you were a kid. Youâre worried that youâll never have what society promised you, what your parents had.
Maybe youâre worse off still. Maybe you grew up in a rough part of town where a lot of people never went to high school or university. Some fell into trouble, others picked up where theyâre parents left off, only slightly worse, slightly less able to get a job or a place of their own. Unable to rent a flat on your own, you may not feel you were evicted from the place where you grew up, but perhaps that an alternative no longer exists. All the exits are closed, and you feel invisible to the people in power, in the inner cities, the elites. Youâre worried that everyone but you are getting a fair shot at life.
I donât know exactly who you are, but I know that youâre many and I know youâre all united by the same discontentedness, the same sense of injustice, and an anger that is building towards fury. I know this because Iâve stood at the edge of democracy and peered into the abyss, only to find that my own, distorted face was looking back at me.
What are the people in power doing? They make promises and yet they perpetuate the same old politics that seem to create more problems than it solves. You donât see progress, you just see nice words. Rubbish on the pavement, potholes in the street, you canât get a doctorâs appointment, canât find a nursery that is affordable, thereâs mould in the bathroom and itâs too expensive to heat the flat and the list goes on and on and on. The politicians who talk so nicely, are they your friends, or is it time for something different? Is it time to stick it to the man?
Well, what does the man really not like?
Itâs the people who say that the man is full of it, who say the man is only it for the elites. The people on the right who for years were described as fascists and whose only voters were uneducated idiots, racists and outsiders.
And as time passes, nothing changesâthe only thing that changes is that the bad men are getting more popular. And like you theyâre unhappy.
Theyâre unhappy with everything youâre unhappy with.
They speak to your anger and discontent.
They tell you thereâs an enemy.
And they want you on their side.
Embrace it, they tell you.
Do people call you a racist? Own it. We donât want to be in your club. They dare you to do it. Racist, fascist, sexist, transphobe, whatever it is. Wear it as a badge of honour. Of course, they wrap it all up in nice words, them too.
Weâre not racists, weâre not sexists, weâre not this or that, we just believe in meritocracy, we believe in safety and security, in freedom, we believe that you should have the right to do whatever you want, and we believe that everyone but you are getting a slice of the cake, from the immigrants to the Ukrainians to the diversity hires to the establishment elites. You shouldnât be shut up, you should no longer be silenced. Youâve been silenced for long enough. With us, youâre no longer silenced, your voice is amplified. We donât like it here and weâre going to change things no matter what.
This is how the end begins.
# Sound clip from Steven Bannonâs speech at CPAC. âYouâre expendable to get to the bridge to the other side, you know that. #
Do it, then. Do it, do it today: Perform a nazi salute. Tell yourself itâs OK, tell yourself itâs a Roman salute, not that such a thing ever existed before Mussolini.
Do it, do it at work.
Tell yourself it doesnât mean what you think it means.
Tell yourself that the people who perform Nazi salutes are still on your side and that they are not coming for you too in the end, that youâre not expendable to them, that youâre not just someone going over the hill⊠And for what? For a society where tech billionaires bow to the King who lets them rob the state while all you get is to see your immigrant neighbours hounded out of the country, trans individuals told they donât exist, less international aid for the poor, and gutted public services in the name of efficiency.
Start as close to end as possible. Start right now.
And if youâre not too far along, if youâre not knee-deep in Russian disinformation and far-right propaganda, if youâre listening to us, then this is the beginning. Join us against them. We have many fights to fight. Things need to get better for you and for all of us. We want better schools, we want fair distribution of societyâs resources, we want to talk more about fair taxation, and we believe there is a way to fix the potholes, to fix the schools, and to get more doctorâs appointments, to make your life richer, and it doesnât have to be at the expense of anyone else. It just takes work, and itâs not easy.
We have to be honest. The worldâs not easy. But they donât hold the answer. Their answer is in fixed bayonets. In close combat. In being ready to kill.
If youâre listening to Omri and Benni, then let me assure of you of this: politics is often complicated, the solutions arenât always straightforward, but the people we talk to here are all in it for the same thing. For a future that is better for all of us. You could learn something, if you choose to listen. Weâre close to the end, but we havenât yet chosen it.
Letâs start now.
# Sound clip from Steven Bannonâs speech at CPAC #
Ted Verver-Greijer is the co-creator and producer of the podcast, âThis Time Tomorrow.â
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In the fourth episode of This Time Tomorrow, Benni and Omri talk to Tobias Lechtenfeld about energy, climate change and the lack of investment in the green tech sector. What steps do European countries need to take in order to provide citizens and industry with access to reliable and affordable energy? Now that climate change skeptics have moved into the White House, what can Europe do to lead the world towards a green reindustrialisation?
âWe are moving forward, whether the Trumps of this world want it or not. Because itâs good business. And there is a future in this. Itâs not politicians that decide this alone. The investment case is there. Thereâs no safer industry to invest in than cleantech because we know that itâs the only industry for sure that will have a growing demand. I donât know if weâll ever need flying taxis. I donât know if we really need bitcoins. But I can tell you, we need to reindustrialise the entire planet, make it fossil free, thereâs no other way around itâŠâ
Tobias Lechtenfeld is Executive Director at Tech for Net Zero, Partner at 1.5* Ventures, and a former Campaign Manager for Volt Europa.
Source, clip 1: YouTube, Quest Means Business, âCan You Say âThe Draghi Report.ââ
Source, clip 2: YouTube, EU Debates, âMario Draghiâs Urgent CallâŠâ
https://techfornetzero.org/en/
https://one.five.ventures
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In this episode of This Time Tomorrow, Benni and Omri talk to Sam Nazari about disinformation, information manipulation, influence operations, and how our knowledge and information space gets used up in order to drive an authoritarian agenda.
How do influence operations work? What are some examples of influence operations? Why is this NOT an issue of freedom of speech, but one of tackling hybrid warfare against democracy? What does freedom of speech actually constitute? And what can people who want to live in a democratic society do to ensure that we have an information system that actually works?
Mentioned in the episode: Alliance4Europeâs report on Russian attempts to interfere in the German federal election
Sam Nazari is an open-source intelligence researcher at Alliance4Europe, focusing on Chinese and Russian influence operations.
Source, audio clip at the start of the episode: Youtube, BR24 - âIt is an existential momentâŠâ
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In the second episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Paulina Fröhlich about Germanyâs progressive future and how to overcome the threat from the far-right AfD. On February 23rd, German voters will go to the polls to decide their countryâs future⊠meanwhile, Europeâs post-war tradition of liberal democracy hangs in the balance.
Action, action, action! The far-right has already mobilised, and they are globally ascendant. This is no time for liberal democracts to rest on their laurels.
Paulina Fröhlich is the Deputy Managing Director at the think-tank, Das Progressive Zentrum, and responsible for the focus area âResilient Democracyâ.
Mentioned in this episode:
Source clip 1: Youtube, DW News, âAnti-American & pro-Russian?âŠâ
Source clip 2: Youtube, DW News, âGermany opposition leader Merz under fireâŠâ
Source clip 3: Youtube, Guardian News, âGermany too focused onâŠâ
Brand New Bundestag: https://brandnewbundestag.de/en
Das Progressive Zentrum: https://www.progressives-zentrum.org
Join Politics: https://innovationinpolitics.eu/showroom/project/joinpolitics/
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In the first episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni talk to Daniela Vancic about American politics, the anti-government protests in Serbia, and how to empower citizens through bottom-up initiatives and exercises.
Daniela Vancic is a Serbian-American activist and campaigner, and the European Programme Manager at Democracy International.
https://www.democracy-international.org
Source, audio clip 1: Youtube, MSNBC - âBiden shares âserious concernââŠâ
Source, audio clip 2: Youtube, The Telegraph - âElon Musk makes âNazi-style saluteââŠâ
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This Time Tomorrow is more than just a podcast about politics. Itâs a mobilisation tool for progressive democrats all around the world. Itâs a movement for a future-facing liberal democracy that spotlights the work of activists and their organisations as they take on anti-democratic far-right parties in local and national elections.
Donât just listen to This Time Tomorrow â join us.
Help set the agenda.
Help bring the analysis.
Help democrats win the fight against those that threaten to take away our freedom.
Hosted by Omri Preiss and Benjamin Zeeb. Produced by Ted Verver-Greijer.
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