The Making of an Autocrat: hijack a party

We used to have a pretty clear idea of what an autocrat was. History is full of examples: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, along with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping today. The list goes on. So, where does Donald Trump fit in? In this six-part podcast series, The Making of an Autocrat, we are asking six experts on authoritarianism and US politics to explain how exactly an autocrat is made – and whether Trump is on his way to becoming one. This episode was written by Justin Bergman and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Mentioned in this episode: Your support matters Support non-profit journalism you can trust. Donations 2025

You can listen to The Making of an Autocrat: hijack a party online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Making of an Autocrat: hijack a party is an episode from Politics with Michelle Grattan by The Conversation.

This episode is 18:03 long.

This episode was published on Dec 28, 2025.

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