Recorded on November 8, 2017 In the first episode of "Timothy Snyder Speaks," historian and author Timothy Snyder discusses the lessons American citizens can take from the year since the "Russian cyber-victory over the United States." Timothy Snyder is a historian and professor at Yale University, specializing in Eastern and Central Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim nationally and internationally from both academic and general audiences....

In the 2016 presidential elections, America defeated itself. The Russian intervention, intelligent as it was, could only work because of our own failures: in media, in democracy, and in social justice. In the second episode of "Timothy Snyder Speaks," historian and author Timothy Snyder shows what the Russian attack can teach us about ourselves. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received...

What does oligarchy mean? In the third episode of "Timothy Snyder Speaks," historian and author Timothy Snyder explores the meaning of oligarchy, where it came from, how it endangers us — and how it connects the United States and Russia. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores the...

Sadopopulism: how America can be governed without policy and with pain. A guide to the logic of the Senate tax plan. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores the everyday ways a citizen can resist the authoritarianism of today. He is also the author of "Black Earth: The Holocaust as...

Too often these days invoking the name of Jesus or claiming Christian religion has become an escape from responsibility for plainly un-Christian behavior. Are Christians forgiven for everything because they find ways to blame others for their own actions? Perhaps the meaning of Christmas is something else, extending an idea of the good rather than defending what is plainly bad, and perhaps a Christmas greeting is a way to affirm others rather than claiming all righteousness for ourselves. ...

America First is not a foreign policy and it's not a domestic policy. It creates a vacuum of power filled by China, and a vacuum of values filled by Europe. It breaks the rules without proposing new ones. And so in the end puts Americans last. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores...

"America First" brings both political weakness and moral hazard. The last episode was about America's new weakness in the world. This one is about how "America First" leads Americans to turn against one another. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores the everyday ways a citizen can...

In 2016 Russia defeated the United States in a cyberwar, selecting the president of the United States. Since that victory, Russia continues its campaign in the dark corridors of cyber, colonizing us at every turn: from the Nunes memo to the Parkland shootings. Cyber-colonization can be resisted but first it must be understood. Here are a few things you can do now: Check out Hamilton 68: https://dashboard.securingdemocracy.org/ Check out Botcheck and add the browser extension:...

Without the people who seek facts, we can forget about justice, freedom, and equality. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores the everyday ways a citizen can resist the authoritarianism of today. He is also the author of "Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning" and,...

No matter what issue we think matters in the preservation of basic American interests, from Syria to Mexico, climate matters intensely. To deny climate change is not only to practice the politics of the big lie, it is to doom the country to irrelevance, impotence, and tremendous suffering. This will be the real test for our new secretary of state: will he continue to be a lobbyist for the energy industry, or will he serve the country? Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University,...

To speak of "collusion" is to misunderstand the Russia story. To understand Trump as an instrument of Russian power, we have to begin the Russia story in the proper place: Russia. In this talk, I explain Russian philosophy, strategy, and tactics. So that the Russian victory in the cyberwar of 2016 makes sense. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book,...

The Mueller investigation is not a contest of men but of principles. It is a contest between two ways of seeing the world, the outcome of which will very possibly determine whether or not the notion of an American republic makes any sense. This lecture is not about the details of the investigation, but about its wider sense and meaning for the future of the country. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books...

In one corner of the culture we have a conversation about fascism, and in another a conversation about cybersecurity. There is an unnoticed but basic overlap: the internet affects the human mind in much the way that fascists hoped their own rhetoric would. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America," tells...

History is not just what happens in time, it is how we we think about time. The present moment seems not just threatening but destabilizing because many of us are shifting from one sense of time to another. The concepts of eternity and inevitability conclude On Tyranny and frame "Road to Unfreedom." In this talk I explain them. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His...

What is it that precedes politics, underlies our constitution, and gives us a chance to be prosperous and free? The rule of law. We can best understand contemporary threats to that freedom and prosperity by reminding ourselves of the moral and intellectual fundaments of our political order. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. His books have received widespread acclaim. His most recent book, "The Road to...

The European Union is the largest economy in the history of the world and the most important zone of contiguous democracies today. What it lacks is a sense of its own history, which creates a surprisingly important opportunity for those who wish it ill, above all in Moscow. Here we try to explain what has made the European Union possible, and what will be necessary to defend its future. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the...