Danube Institute Podcast

We asked Jacques Sapir, a French economist and expert on Russia at the School of Economic Warfare in Paris and at the Moscow School of Economics, about the state of the Russian war economy. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique ideas. H...

It’s a race that has been kept politely out of the mainstream discourse, spoken of only in the tech press. But this week, Jensen Huang, CEO of chip Goliath NVIDIA, decided to lob it into the mainstream, with a warning: “China” he said, “Is going to win the AI race.”  Huang’s warning was directed towards America. He later clarified his comments, saying that he wanted America to win the race. But th...

Just as Boomers like Steve Jobs once remade America in their own liberal image. Just as the Millennials gave us Woke and Hustle Culture: what happens when the Zoomers get into the saddle? This month on View from the Danube, we’re looking at youthquakes. In Britain, a younger set seems to be throwing off the old softly-softly of their political culture, calling out migrant crime and brazenly leadin...

We talked to Hall Gardner, Professor Emeritus in the Department of International and Comparative Politics at the American University of Paris, about the analysis of the three major geopolitical conflicts in the world. Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – abo...

Professor Jacques Sapir is a leading expert on the Russian economy, and part of the Institute of Economic War in Paris. In this wide-ranging historical discussion with the Danube Institute's resident economist, Philip Pilkington, he talks through the long view on Russia's strengths and vulnerabilities. From Stalin doing the impossible to repel the German invasion, to the possibility that collapse...

In 1969, Willie Brandt became Chancellor of the German Federal Republic.  A hulking man of immense charisma, he broke the stronghold of Konrad Adenauer’s Christian Democrats, and with it, set his country on a new path with regards to the Eastern Bloc.  Brandt judged the old policy, Adenauer’s staunch anti-Communist Hallstein Doctrine, to have failed.  In collaboration with his aide, Egon Bahr, he...

We talked to Márton Ugrósdy, Deputy State Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister's Political Director, about the political significance of Viktor Orbán's White House visit. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique ideas. Hos...

Since 1990, every July, across the Carpathian basin, from Sopron to Szeged, from Kaposvar to Koloszvar, Hungarians pile into friends' cars, or slow trains, and set out on a long journey East. From Budapest itself, the Hungarian capital, they will travel more than 800 kilometres.   Actually, it is less a journey, and more like a pilgrimage. And it is one that will take them ‘across the forest’...

We asked the former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore about everything you always wanted to know about the geopolitics of the Pacific, but were afraid to ask. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique ideas. Host: Tamás Maráczi, a j...

We asked Curtis Yarvin, political philosopher, entrepreneur, computerscientist, and CEO of Urban Tiger about the ideological causes and politicalconsequences of Charlie Kirk's assassination. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers,experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique idea...

In February of 2024, Vladimir Putin sat down with Tucker Carlson for a long-form interview.  This was billed as a titanic clash. After years of hearing about the Russian leader, now, Western audiences were to hear from him, shattering a taboo that had held since the outbreak of the Ukraine War.  The world waited to hear. And what we heard was… baffling. Boring.  With only his opening question, Car...

We spoke with John Whittingdale, former Political Secretary to PM Margaret Thatcher, about the Iron Lady's life and legacy at the Danube Institute's Thatcher conference in Budapest. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique ideas. H...

Sweden. Europe’s eternal model of the right path. And increasingly, also its vision of the wrong road.  Since the year 2000, Sweden has run the mass migration experiment at hyper-speed. And equally, it is now running a counter-revolution at similar pace. Anyone familiar with the country will be aware of the Law of Jonte and the concept of the Thought Corridor.  Swedes are herd-like: it is very har...

We asked Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, about Europe's bright or dark future at the Brain Bar festival in Budapest. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicians – about their unique ideas. Host: Tamás Maráczi, a journalist at the Danube Institute...

Something’s brewing in Central. Here in the so-called Visegrad Four - Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, the shape of your average parliament no longer mirrors that of the wider Europe. In Hungary, Viktor Orban’s challenger in the 2026 elections will be a centre-right former Fidesz cadre. In Poland, Donald Tusk ran from the centre-right to narrowly beat the conservative right of Law and Justice....

We spoke with Robert Wilkie, Chairman of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute and former United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs about Trump's three unresolved geopolitical games. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its guests – decision-makers, experts, academics, and politicia...

What is Israel planning to do after the Western recognition of Palestine? Will there be a point when Washington doesn’t back Israel further? Why has the Hungarian government become a staunch pro-Israeli government? We spoke with the former Political Director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the fragile situation of the Jewish state. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Dan...

Is there a season to burn? And are we now in it? Vice President JD Vance guest-hosted the Charlie Kirk Show, in lieu of his assassinated friend. At the end of the webcast, Vance gave one of the most extraordinary closing monologues in TV history. Visibly upset, naming the Soros Foundation and the Ford Foundation as wealthy accomplices to violent left-wing radicalism, he promised little short of ve...

Britain has become a meme. Twenty years ago, it was still the floppy charms of Hugh Grant that served to frame American impressions of this distant province within its imperium. Notting Hill England still lived, alongside other cliches. But in the past twelve months, the varnish has truly rubbed off in the minds of many foreign spectators. Thanks in part to ardent anglophile Elon Musk, Britain has...

Will there ever be a Palestinian state? Do the Palestinians have a right to form a state? If there is a one-state solution, what will happen to the Palestinian population? Why is compromise impossible with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority? We asked the head of the Shomron Regional Council, the quasi-leader of the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria about the fading two-state solution. The Danu...

Is reliance on Russian energy a choice or a necessity? Has Hungary made efforts to diversify its energy resources since 2022? What alternative energy supply routes does Hungary have? What will Hungary do if Donald Trump asks it to stop buying Russian oil? We asked the Hungarian State Secretary for Energy about Hungary’s energy policy. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute,...

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis sent 40000 volts through the global geopolitical system. The discovery of Soviet missile bases, 90 miles off the coast of America could not stand. But could it be reversed? Today, we know how the story ends. The boats turned back. World War Three was postponed. But at the time, it wasn’t so obvious. Sean Nottoli is a visiting fellow at the Danube Institute...

What is the importance of Hungary in Europe? What is the significance of the upcoming election in Hungary? Why do European institutions continuously criticize the policies of Fidesz? We asked the head of the MCC School of Media about the changing political landscape in Hungary. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank that asks its gu...

China and the West have known each other for longer than we commonly admit. For most of that time, a small cognoscenti have taken each other's ideas and run with them, in mutual admiration. In this episode of Danube Culture, Philip Pilkington and David Dusenberry look over their recent lectures and seminars on the topic, up to an essay they co-authored entitled: 'The Western Roots of China...

What are the ideological roots of this self-hating Western mentality? What did the ancient people know about the purpose of life that we do not? What are the symptoms of the decline of Western civilization? We asked Swedish-American author and philosopher Benedict Beckeld aboutour significant problem. The Danube Lectures is a video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based conservative thi...