2020 Festival – Episode 3.
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In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually – as this book compellingly relates – the relationships soured too.
Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back?
In this episode Anne Applebaum returns to the Festival to talk about her book Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends. Anne is in conversation with Paschal Donohue, TD, Ireland’s Minister for Finance and President of the EuroGroup. The questions are asked by Deputy City Librarian Brendan Teeling, and the episode was recorded via Zoom on the 3rd October 2021.
