In the opening scene of the Oscar-nominated film The Secret Agent, a dead body lies in front of a gas station in the middle of nowhere. When the police arrive, they are not interested in the body, but ...

During the last year of the first Trump presidency, M. Gessen wrote a book about what lessons Americans could learn from countries like Russia and Hungary. The book, called “Surviving Autocracy,” ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: M. Gessen is a New York Times columnist who won a George Polk award for opinion writing in 2024 and is the author of 11 books, including “Surviving Autocracy” and “The Future Is History ...

The Oxford dictionary defines “demagogue” as “a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.” Merriam ...