With the world facing increasing threats to democracy, what lessons can we learn to prevent history from repeating itself?
Click the video to watch broadcaster and political commentator Iain Dale, editor of The Dictators, in conversation with Ben Rich, Chief Executive of Radix Big Tent, introduced by Vicky Pryce, explore warnings from history’s most infamous dictators and what they can teach us about the current world.
From ancient tyrants to modern autocrats, how do dictators seize power, exercise control, and ultimately fall? Are there warning signs? Can history help us to shape a more democratic future?
Iain Dale presents the Evening Show on LBC Radio and has twice been Radio Presenter of the Year. Iain is a regular pundit on Good Morning Britain, Politics Live and Newsnight. He co-hosts the award winning ‘For the Many’ podcast and ‘Iain Dale All Talk’. Iain writes for various publications including the New Statesman, the iNewspaper and the Daily Telegraph. He spent 20 years in publishing and runs online bookshop www.politicos.co.uk. He is Patron of the Fowey Literary Festival. Iain has written or edited more than 60 books, the latest being The Dictators, Why Can’t We All Just Get Along, The Prime Ministers, The Presidents, On This Day in Politics, Kings & Queens, and British General Election Campaigns 1830-2019. He is a non-executive director of the Lending Standards Board and an ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society and Diabetes UK. He is visiting professor of politics and broadcasting at the University of East Anglia.
Chief Executive of Radix UK since 2019, Ben Rich is a political strategist, writer and broadcaster. In 2021, he led the merger between Radix think tank and the Big Tent Ideas Festival and he continues to take overall responsibility for Radix Big Tent’s growing programme to promote system renewal. Former Chief of Staff and Campaign Director for then Liberal Democrat Leader, Tim Farron MP, Ben was also previously Chief Executive of the Movement for Reform Judaism and prior to that a Partner at City Public Relations firm, Luther Pendragon. He has been an adviser to the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, to blue chip companies such as Sky, British Gas, and Kimberly-Clarke, and to successful campaigns such as the one to introduce televised Prime Ministerial debates in 2010 and establish civil partnerships for mixed sex couples across England and Wales. He is the co-founder of the York Liberal Jewish Community and a coach to the Yorkshire junior chess team.
Vicky Pryce is the Chair of the Fellows at Radix Big Tent and a leading economist whose career includes being Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service and Chief Economist and Partner at KPMG. She is currently Chief Economic Adviser and board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. She is also Chair of the Economic Advisory Council for the British Chambers of Commerce and a visiting Professor at King’s College, London and Birmingham City University. In addition, she is co-founder of GoodCorporation, a company set up to advise on Corporate Social Responsibility.
