{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Central Europe Matters","title":"E9 | Season finale: Keep the lights on","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3034,"description":"There are powerful forces conspiring to hollow out our democracies—a transnational alliance of tech oligarchs, ideologues, and the politicians who serve them. Those of us who want to live in free, open, democratic societies face a formidable opponent. Fighting this, exposing it, is not easy, and it is not going to get any easier. But there are many of us doing what we can, using the means we have and the skills we possess, to make sure the lights stay on.\nI'm an independent podcaster, without the backing of a big, established media organization. If you like what I'm doing, please share this podcast with someone you know. Please also consider rating/reviewing the pod and subscribing to the show newsletter; links at the bottom of the show notes. Thanks for your support and watch this feed for special episodes and updates about season 2.\n\nIn the season finale of Season 1: Democracy Under Attack, we take one last drive in our rental Škoda across Slovakia to meet people fighting for their democracy in several different ways.\n\nWe begin in Bratislava to speak with Tomáš, an expert on the information space and disinformation warfare who is clear-eyed about the challenges we face in our democratic societies. We then follow the winding mountain roads to Central Slovakia and the town of Revúca for one more conversation with Diana, this time about activist burnout and how she focuses on the local and the interpersonal when she is feeling overwhelmed by the big picture. Finally, we head to north-central Slovakia and the city of Martin to meet Jakub and Jozef, who have started a local initiative called Martin for Democracy dedicated to keeping the fight for democracy front-and-center in their local community.\n\nAll of my guests today share one thing in common: through their relentless work and commitment to calling things by their true names, they are keeping the lights of Slovak democracy on.\n\nEpisode breakdown:\nIntro: The stakes of the current battle and why the fight for...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/1wT1KDI0_HEdpVeYhqaQlyESRg1HeZe5pVUYeqi1hEI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mYWVm/NmJhOTExMzczNzA5/MjgyNGI1ODliMjdm/NmY5YS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}