Ideas Folgen

After seizing power in a 1971 coup, Ugandan military commander Idi Amin promised a return to democracy — but he delivered a brutal dictatorship. Known for his erratic and sadistic behaviour, Amin’s reign was defined by ethnic purges, forced expulsions and total economic collapse. We continue our series, How to Defeat Authoritarianism, exploring the legacy of Idi Amin and the conflation of personality with totalitarian politics.Listen to other episodes in this series:How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Benito Mussolini's ItalyHow to Defeat Authoritarianism | Augusto Pinochet's ChileHow to Defeat Authoritarianism | Bashar al-Assad's SyriaHow to Defeat Authoritarianism | Today's AuthoritariansGuests on the podcast:Nam Kiwanuka is an award-winning Ugandan-Canadian journalist, host and producer with TVO.Nakanyike Musisi is a professor of African history at the University of Toronto, and an internationally recognized scholar of African gender, political, and social history.Derek Peterson is a professor of history and African studies at the University of Michigan. He is also the author of A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda.

What has become of the America that has for so long been held up as a shining example of ideals? In conversation at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival, documentary maker Ken Burns and American scholar and author Eddie Glaude unpack the vexed contradictions at the heart of American democracy, from the founding of the Republic in 1776 until today.

Behind every great chatbot are many human workers making decisions on how those chatbots behave and evolve. Recent PhD graduate Noah Khan has been observing these workers and shares his findings on their emotions and motivations as they design and build AI entities that communicate with users — influencing our own emotions and outlooks.