by Kate Wheeler | Aug 20, 2026 | Lucid
Lucid, August 20, 2026 During the Cold War, America played a double game, fostering democratic ideals and culture in Europe while backing coups to install right-wing dictators in other parts of the world. That game is over. Now, President Donald Trump and his fellow... by Kate Wheeler | Feb 2, 2025 | Lucid
Lucid, February 2nd, 2025 It seems like the plot of a political thriller. We are living through a new kind of coup in which Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has taken over the payment and other administration systems that allow the American government to... by Kate Wheeler | Aug 14, 2024 | Lucid
Lucid, August 14, 2024 Republicans for Harris is a great pro-democracy move because it builds on a proven democracy-promoting strategy: bridge-building, or the creation of spaces and occasions that bring people of opposing political beliefs into contact so they may... by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | May 30, 2024 | Lucid
Lucid, May 30, 2024 Day after day they appeared, many of them dressed in dark suits and red ties, in homage to their leader. They came from Washington D.C. or from the states that had sent them to Congress to do damage control and prop up a personality cult that... by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | May 15, 2024 | Lucid
Lucid, May 15, 2024 It’s been a while since I wrote about the situation in Ukraine, and this post builds on the writing I have done on Russia’s imperialist war, from an early hope that Vladimir Putin’s invasion would “be a game-changer for democracy,” to... by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Apr 5, 2024 | Lucid
Lucid, April 5, 2024 As you know, I’ve been concerned about the concerted effort by Trump and his Republican enablers to turn Americans away from democracy and cause them to lose faith in democratic institutions, from the courts to the press to elections. In case you...