loved it

Super interesting listen. a little surprised the most egregious iron men of all in our time doesn't have an episode to himself. but all the episodes that are there are well narrated, and has lots of interesting insights.

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interesting stories

Fascinating stories about the politicians featured & their rise to power. Looking forward to more from Mr Glenny.

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Depressing but essential

Populist world leaders are dominating headlines and creating a novel type of politics that challenges democratic values and the liberal order.
Misha Glenny, journalist and successful author of McMafia, tells the stories of six iron men. These are:
Victor Orban,
Rodrigo Duterte,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Jair Bolsonaro,
Narendra Modi, and
Boris Johnson.

They influence the media, exert economic control, appoint judges, cultivate populism and seek to undermine the very institutions which brought them into power.

It's carefully researched and comprehensive, but not overly long.

The choice of including Johnson shows how he and Cummings employ the identical methods as the more insidious dictators to achieve the same outcomes.

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Bravo. Great analysis.

Great analysis. More, please! The world is so blind and/or lazy. Partly because of lack of education, partly because of opportunism, it is easier to turn a blind eye to what is happening.

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The Leaders Exposed

A must if you're into Politics, six leaders compared to each other, the Ironmen of the title, how they achieved power and how they wield it

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Illuminating & Rivetting

I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast series. It is informative without being boring; educational without being dreary or patronising and something you can easily bookmark and go back to.

The premise is that there are certain stereotypes of men - and they're all men, as the narrator mentions - who have come to power via a specific route. An untraditional route. Definitely not a salubrious route. The guests are knowledgeable and erudite and you are left feeling somewhat uncomfortable that these men have achieved what they have achieved whilst losing a portion of their humanity along the way.

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A TIMELY WARNING

This is an informative examination of the methods used by populist leaders to gain and hold power. Some might laugh at the idea of Boris Johnson being included among these so-called 'Iron Men'. However, he has clearly used many of these methods, such as spreading misinformation, avoiding scrutiny and showing an unhealthy disregard for Parliament and the law. It can be argued whether, in the Johnson/Cummings partnership, Johnson is the organ-grinder or the cute monkey. Nevertheless,this series should act as a warning to all of us who live in the UK. Populism is spreading across the world like a virus, and it's up to us to stay alert, control the virus and save democracy.

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Good insight into Boris

Please ignore the reviews claiming this to be ‘left leaning’, it really isn’t and actually could be far more critical of Mr Johnson and his decision making.

It does however give an understanding as to how calculated much of the Boris act really was. He is obviously an intelligent man but also incredibly self serving. I think sadly it shines more of a light on how removed from politics many of the public feel. This in turn allows the likes of Johnson to acquire power using sound bites, disinformation and lies.

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stimulating and authorative I wanted more.

the result of research and included interesting references which I want to pursue and the delivery was excellent.

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8 people found this helpful

Excellent

Hei found this series very intriguing and informative. A definite recommendation for anyone interested in global politics and the rise of populism and "iron men".

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1 person found this helpful