that our elected representatives pass laws. they spend money. they choose how the money is spent. the traditional way and this we know for a hundred years. this is page one in the authoritarian s playbook. the traditional way to get rid of the rule of law, to get rid of democracy is find a way to make an exception. declare a state of emergency, declare a state of war, declare a national emergency. then you use that opening and push it and push it and push it. this is, just to take an example, how the republic in germany, where i am right now, collapsed. states of exception opened the way for authoritarians to make law, to make changes without the congress, without the parliament. so he s right about the fundamental issue. national emergencies are something to be very careful about. timothy snyder, always good to hear your perspective. thank you very much for joining us. let s go back to the shutdown now. the longest shutdown ever. guess who the public blames for
disrupted. that s why i like to shut it down right as it s happening or fact check people in realtime before they continue on with the lie. and i think that s important to do. people get upset and say, oh, well you re shutting down my right to speak. no, you re lying to people and i understand the process of repeating and people will believe it. i recommend a book called on tyranny by timothy snider. they try to destroy truth, and they don t want there to be any truth. they want everybody to be fighting with each other and turning against each other and eventually tuning out because they get to this point where they say this is too much spectacle. this is what putin does. there s too much spectacle, and we re going to get mad at each other and stop expecting anything from the government. that s what trump is doing. it s cleary a strategy.
powerful books. almost register like a long magazine article, one big thick idea rather than as a sort of treaty or like a long form book. the first one, people think it s controversial i m saying this but the first one is this book on turnny by timothy snider. whether or not you talked to your friends about it, everybody you know has been reading and rereading over the course of this year. this is a sleeper best seller and again, a small work of terrifying power. but now we re about to get the second small, very specific, very powerful dart of a book that people will be carrying around in their backpacks and purses and bags for a long time. this new become is from the person who was the communications director from the campaign called dear madam president: an open letter to the women that will run the world. it is a small book. it s a fearless little book. let me read you something.
idea rather than as a sort of treaty or like a long form book. the first one, people think it s controversial i m saying this but the first one is this book by timothy snider. whether or not you talked to your friends about it, everybody you know has been reading and rereading over the course of this year. this is a sleeper best seller and again, a small work of terrifying power. but now we re about to get the second small, very specific, very powerful dart of a book that people will be carrying around in their backpacks and purses and bags for a long time. this is from the person who was the communications director from the campaign called dear madam president. an open letter to the women that will run the world. it is a small book. it s a fearless little book. let me read you something. quote, it s election night
honduras. stay tuned and we ll give you the answer. we have an exciting way of getting gps after the show is over. it is our flipboard page which has all the greatest announcements you ve come to expect as well as word from me. this week s book of the week is timothy snider s blood lands. if you wanted to understand the history of what s going on between ukraine and the russian west, you have to read this harrowing history. between 1943 and 1945, 14 million people died in eastern europe, killed by stalin or hitler. snider explains how and why this part of the world became the 20th century s hell hole. and now for a last look. a last look at an aberration, an unusual place that soon will cease to exist. believe it or not, there is one country on earth that is home to both u.s. and russian soldiers. the opposing nation stationed a