Weight of the World looks at America’s rising authoritarian tide through the eyes of traditional friends and allies in Europe. Many of our guests have lived under authoritarian regimes themselves or have first-hand experience combating extremism. All of them have a personal understanding of how fragile democracy can be. They offer advice for concerned citizens everywhere on how to beat back the threats to free, open societies and stay united during increasingly dark times.
Maria Popova knows authoritarianism when she sees it. Born in communist-era Bulgaria, she pursued her university education in the U.S. and is now a professor of political science at McGill University in Canada, specializing in democratic transformation, rule of law, and the weaponization of the judiciary in Eastern Europe and Russia. Alarmingly, and in “one of the biggest surprises” of her academic career, she’s seeing the backsliding towards authoritarianism that she studies in Eastern Europe now happening in America, a country she considered the pinnacle of democratic development.
Maria talks to us about the frightening similarities between the democratic erosion happening in the U.S. and her area of specialization, from using the law as a weapon, to the damage conspiracy theories are causing, to the place of immigrants in democratic societies and the Trump administration’s assault on traditional allies. She also has some tips on how to turn back the tide of democratic unraveling that sometimes seems to be happening everywhere, all at once.
14 Sept 2026
WOWcast: Norm Eisen
Norm Eisen is a man in constant motion: ambassador, Obama ethics czar, author, defender of democracy par excellence. In conversation with WOW, he recalls the darker chapters of his family history and the lessons he drew from this. He talks about the transatlantic alliance and the multiple threats it faces today. And with a big-picture view, he reminds us that the U.S. has survived its own very dark moments and come out the other side and gives some advice on how we can do so again today.
19 Jan 2026
WOWcast: Weight-lifting: A special WOW live event
Weight of the World began with the idea of creating community. Not just through podcasts, but also with public events that invite people to spend time together hashing out potential solutions to fractious times – or simply reaching beyond their usual bubbles to make new connections.
In a special bonus episode, WOW partners with the Vaclav Havel Library and New York University Prague to bring you a lively public discussion on what it takes, from both society and us as individuals, to build healthy civic engagement. At a moment when many citizens feel less power to affect meaningful change through elections, charity, and activism, this wide-ranging conversation considers what would it take to rebuild societies that uphold humanitarian values and encourage personal agency in the name of collective good.
9 Dec 2025
WOWcast: Best of Season One
We've had the pleasure of speaking to an amazing array of Europeans (and one American) who've shared their unique personal perspectives on the Trump administration's assault on U.S. democratic norms and institutions. One by one, they've all offered fantastic advice on how we can all push back together against rising authoritarianism. That's why we thought we'd use this week's podcast to revisit some of the best and most essential counsel from our Weight of the World guests. Some inspiring food for thought as we get ready for a new year of challenges and opportunities in 2026.
2 Dec 2025
WOWcast: Philip Reeker
Philip Reeker
24 Nov 2025
WOWcast: Tomáš Sedláček
Tomáš Sedláček is a man on a mission. An economist, philosopher, presidential advisor, and author, he’s now also the director of the Václav Havel Presidential Library in Prague, and he’s blazing a trail to spread the philosophy of the Czech playwright/president to a world hungry for a deeper, more meaningful narrative.
Havel’s writings are more relevant than ever today, says Tomáš, and the framework for so many of the answers to our most pressing questions are there for the picking. In his trademark style, Tomáš takes us on a tour of philosophy, pop culture, religion, and more, that leads us back to Havel and why a kind of “Havelian democracy” may be the best antidote to the creeping authoritarianism that is eating away at our western societies on so many fronts.
18 Nov 2025
WOWcast: Tomáš Madleňák
Everyone’s life has an inflection point. For Tomáš Madleňák, it came on February 21, 2018, when Slovak investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová were shot dead in their home in a mafia-style hit. Angered by the culture of impunity that led to the murders, Tomáš left a promising career in foreign policy to follow in Kuciak’s footsteps.
Untangling ties between criminality and politics have convinced him of the threat that corruption poses to Slovakia’s still-young democracy. And while he once looked west for democratic role models, he now sees the trend working in reverse: the United States looking east for lessons in autocracy.
11 Nov 2025
WOWcast: Jan Urban
Born into a family of stalwart communists in post-war Czechoslovakia, Jan Urban grew up as ‘the perfect commie kid,’ ready to do battle with the imperialist west. But a classroom fistfight, and a surprising confession by his father, a high-ranking member of the Communist Party, began to change all that.
A trip to London in the swinging ‘60s – and a chance encounter with Paul McCartney – didn’t hurt either.
3 Nov 2025
WOWcast: Gabrielius Landsbergis
Gabrielius Landsbergis has had a front-row seat to history, both as an observer, as a child growing up in a prominent Lithuanian family as the country regained its independence from Soviet occupation, and as a politician and diplomat, making an impact on the world stage himself, via his values-driven diplomacy.
After finishing his four-year term as foreign minister, Gabrielius reflects with WOW about the onslaught of challenges that democracy is facing both in the U.S. and around the world. The situation is serious - events playing out now will determine our shared future. That's all the more reason that moral values and the transatlantic alliance must remain central to the ongoing fight for freedom and against repression.
28 Oct 2025
WOWcast: Maksym Eristavi
When Maskym Eristavi was a small boy in eastern Ukraine, his father gave him the gift of a tape recorder. What ensued was a passion for asking questions and recording the personal stories of the people around him. There were colorful memories of weddings and birthdays, but there were also silent gaps where relatives vanished without a trace, and their narratives along with them.
Ever since, Max has spent his life detangling his authentic personal story from the web of Ukraine’s official history as dictated by Moscow imperial rule. With the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, resistance has become a full-time job.
20 Oct 2025
WOWcast: Katalin Cseh
Hungary's Katalin Cseh knows a thing or two about opposing strongmen. She founded one of the first opposition parties to the country's perpetual prime minister, Viktor Orban, served as a Member of the European Parliament, and is currently an MP in the Hungarian National Assembly. She's been pushing back against authoritarianism in her own country for over 15 years, and she's now worried the Orban regime's playbook is being exported as a blueprint for illiberal regimes around the world, including to the U.S. Katalin has some clear advice for people about how to manage these attacks on liberal democracy, and an inspiring message about civic engagement, solidarity, and making a difference together.
14 Oct 2025
WOWcast: Martin Laine
What does it mean to grow up together with your country? Ask Martin Laine, an investigative reporter who was born two years after his country, Estonia, began to build back from a half-century of communist control. The country is now a robust democracy, but Martin doesn't take it for granted. "Democracy is something that's constant, and has to be protected constantly," he says.
7 Oct 2025
WOWcast: Natalie Kocab
Natalie Kocab is a writer, musician, and, more recently, a passionate pro-democracy activist. Born to an American mother and a Czech father in communist Czechoslovakia, she straddled two incredibly diverse worlds while growing up in a dissident family. In conversation with Weight of the World, Natalie talks about her unique childhood, her evolution to activism, the all-too-familiar red flags of authoritarianism she sees in the U.S. today, and the importance of uniting at a grass roots level to defend democracy.
30 Sept 2025
WOWcast: Amari Fecanji
Born in 1984, growing up under Uncle Enver in Communist-era Albania, it took an American to ask him for the first time what he thought about things.
23 Sept 2025
WOWcast: Petr Kolář
Petr Kolář is one of the Czech Republic’s foremost diplomats, having served as ambassador to the United States, Russia, Sweden, and Ireland. He is currently an advisor to the Czech president, Petr Pavel. In conversation with Weight of the World, he talks about his personal and professional ties to America, the threat of rising authoritarianism, and what we all must do to safeguard democracy and the transatlantic alliance.
16 Sept 2025
Trailer: Welcome to Weight of the World
Weight of the World is a media and public events platform aimed at bringing together European voices of solidarity at a time when humanitarian values and historic alliances are under assault.
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