{"podcast":{"title":"Profile","slug":"profile-385281","podcast_index_feed_id":385281,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qjz5.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjz5","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0m1xcml.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":691,"summary":"An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T04:19:30.283908+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profile-385281"},"episode":{"title":"Viktor Orbán","slug":"viktor-orb-n","published_at":"2026-04-11T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profile-385281/viktor-orb-n","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profile-385281","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002tzft","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0ncrvff.mp3","summary":"Viktor Orbán has been a powerful force in Hungarian politics for nearly 40 years, spending 20 of them as Prime Minister. This weekend he’s trying to win a sixth term in the top job, as voters go to the polls in parliamentary elections. The story of his political career is entwined with the story of Hungarian democracy; at the end of the Cold War, a young Orbán emerged as both canny operator and gifted orator in the anti-Communist youth movement, Fidesz, steering it through splits and ideological shifts into government, first between 1998 and 2002, and then again from 2010 to today. As a pursuer of self-described ‘illiberal democracy’ who casts the EU as his constant adversary, Orbán has become an icon for the global hard right and, to his critics, a borderline autocrat and populist. Presenter Stephen Smith speaks to those who know him well to understand the personal side of this very political beast. Guests: Esther Pataki - former Press Secretary to Viktor Orban David Campanale - Liberal Democrat activist, journalist and fellow of the Danube Institute Zsuzsanna Szelényi - founding Fidesz member and author of Tainted Democracy:Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary Nick Thorpe - BBC Budapest correspondent Presenter: Stephen Smith Producers: Ben Crighton, Nathan Gower Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Janet Staples Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill","meta_description":"Viktor Orbán has been a powerful force in Hungarian politics for nearly 40 years, spending 20 of them as Prime Minister. This weekend he’s trying to win a…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":866,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/profile-385281/episodes/viktor-orb-n/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profile-385281/viktor-orb-n.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}