The Zebra Meme and Visible Corruption

The Washington Roundtable discusses how the anti-corruption candidate Péter Magyar brought down Hungary's autocratic Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and what implications that victory holds for the far-right movements around the world that Orbán helped embolden. The panel is joined by Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton professor who has lived in Hungary and studied its democratic backsliding. Together, they unpack how Magyar’s campaign succeeded by connecting Orbán’s corruption to the everyday struggles of Hungarians, and how that approach might inform Democratic strategy in the 2028 Presidential election.

This week’s reading:

• “America’s Orange Jesus,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “The Hungarian Election Shows That Even Strongmen Can Lose,” by Andrew Marantz
• “TMZ Gets Political,” by Paula Mejía
• “Who Is the U.S. Negotiating with in Iran?,” by Sudarsan Raghavan
• “ ‘The Peace President’ Gets Belligerent with Iran and the Pope,” by Robin Wright
• “How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply?,” by Garrett M. Graff
• “How Project Maven Put A.I. Into the Kill Chain,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus
• “The Extremes of Israeli Public Opinion,” by Isaac Chotiner

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

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