{"podcast":{"title":"The Conversation Weekly","slug":"the-conversation-weekly-1380543","podcast_index_feed_id":1380543,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/the-conversation-weekly/","website_url":"https://theconversation.com/us/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/61904e1d-6692-498c-8a58-277a7cfdae55/1611166542483-58b6f7d3c94d8860121628183369a447.jpeg","author":"The Conversation","episode_count":285,"summary":"A show for curious minds, from The Conversation. Each week, host Gemma Ware speaks to an academic expert about a topic in the news to understand how we got here.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-10T02:20:37.951683+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-weekly-1380543"},"episode":{"title":"The Making of an Autocrat: manufacture a crisis","slug":"the-making-of-an-autocrat-manufacture-a-crisis","published_at":"2025-12-28T14:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-weekly-1380543/the-making-of-an-autocrat-manufacture-a-crisis","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-weekly-1380543","url":"https://theconversation.com/us/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/cb40dc50-3eda-4bbb-a6a0-4e109e7b07b7.mp3","summary":"Donald Trump has sounded the alarm, over and over again, that the United States is facing an “invasion” by dangerous gang members. He blames immigrants for the country’s economic problems and claims protesters are destroying US cities. Trump is not the first would-be autocrat to manufacture a crisis to seize extraordinary powers. As Natasha Lindstaedt, an expert in authoritarian regimes at the University of Essex, says in episode 3 of The Making of an Autocrat, a strongman “loves a crisis”. \"A crisis is the way that they mobilise their base, the way that they can depict themselves as the saviour, as this messianic type of figure that is going to save people from this chaotic world.\" So, is the United States really facing a national emergency? Or is this just a tactic on Trump’s part to amass more power? This episode was written by Justin Bergman and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Sound design by Michelle Macklem.","meta_description":"Donald Trump has sounded the alarm, over and over again, that the United States is facing an “invasion” by dangerous gang members. He blames immigrants fo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":866,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-conversation-weekly-1380543/episodes/the-making-of-an-autocrat-manufacture-a-crisis/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-weekly-1380543/the-making-of-an-autocrat-manufacture-a-crisis.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}