Lucid
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Joyce Vance, Casey Michel, THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali, Mary L Trump, Kristof Szombati, Nathaniel StinnettA newsletter for big-picture thinking about autocracy and threats to democracy around the world
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 957 | Founded | 6 years ago | Last Issue | 3 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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lucid.substack.comLatest Issues
Authoritarian Accelerations and Love and Empathy as Remedies: My Conversation with Mary Trump
Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. On Thursday, Oct. 15, at 1pmET, I’ll be in conversation with the lawyer and journalist Katie Phang, who in April 2026 filed a federal lawsuit (Phang v. Blanche) against Acting U.S. At...
Trump’s Use of Violent Speech and Spectacles Echoes the Autocrat’s Playbook
Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. Here are a few upcoming speaking engagements. For those near Ames, IA, on October 26 I will be giving the Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science at Iowa State University. My top...
This Week’s Lucid Events
Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. I’ll publish a new essay tomorrow on how Fascists and other authoritarians stage spectacles of violence. It is prompted by the U.S. government’s intention to livestream an execution b...
Reg. Info Tonight’s Q&A, 8-9pmET
And some photos from the Dies Academicus at the University of Geneva
Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all subscribers. Here is the link to register for tonight’s Q&A, 8-9pmET. Please don’t share this link with anyone, because these Q&As...
Here’s How to Save American Democracy from the Oligarchs
I’m pleased to publish this guest post by Casey Michel. He is a journalist who writes on corruption and illicit finance, and is the author of American Kleptocracy, Foreign Agents, and his 2026 book United States of Oligarchy: How America’s...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Historian of authoritarianism and propaganda. NYT Bestseller: Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. Now writing: Resisting Autocracy. Consultant film & TV. Rep'd by CAA & The Gernert Company.
Former federal prosecutor. MSNOW legal contributor. Law Professor. Writes with chickens & knitting at hand. Author of Civil Discourse on Substack. My first book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy, is a NYT bestseller!
Casey Michel writes on international corruption and dark money for a range of outlets, including The New York Times, Financial Times, and more. He is the author of multiple books on the topic, including the brand new "United States of Oligarchy."
The Left Hook is a thoroughly opinionated and biased intellectual playground for people who enjoy political, cultural, and religious hot takes without corporate censorship and nonsense centrism.
Mom, wife, writer, defender of democracy.
Kristóf Szombati is a political anthropologist based in Berlin, formerly active in Hungarian green politics. He writes about authoritarianism, democracy and the far right, and co-hosts the podcast This Authoritarian Life.
Founder & Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project. Obsessed with behavioral science, data science, and getting people to vote.
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