Uncommon Decency

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Your intellectual euro-trip in podcast form, with co-hosts Jorge González-Gallarza, François Valentin and Julian Graham. Through interviews and analysis, Uncommon Decency will seek to engage with the freshest thinking on European issues. Get in touch at @UnDecencyPod or undecencypod@gmail.com, and consider supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod.

94. The Americanization of Race, with Tomiwa Owolade & Remi Adekoya
“As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Romans, I seem to see "the Tiber foaming with blood". That tragic and intractable phenomenon which we watch with horror across the Atlantic but which is interwoven with the history and...
93. The Spanish Right's Coalitional Conundrum, the EU's Looming Migration Crisis & Ukraine's Counteroffensive—Decency Deep Dive
Welcome to another Decency Deep Dive. This week we tackle three thorny topics. Non-subscribers will hear us lay out the ongoing coalitional dynamics on the Spanish right in the wake of last month's regional and local races, as well as the looming...
92. Who Are Today's Europeans? with Ben Judah
We are extremely lucky this week to host Ben Judah, Director of the Atlantic Council's Transform Europe Initiative, but most importantly for our purposes, the author of the recently published (2023), a travelogue of sorts that compiles short...
91. Erdoğan's Odds-Defying Presidential Win, with Birol Baskan & Judd King
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected as President of Turkey in a run-off on May 14th this year, all but assuring him a spot as one of the world's longest-serving leaders (he will have served 25 years altogether after this historic third term). His...
90. Zelensky's World Tour, Sunak's Comeback & Mitsotakis' Winning Formula—Decency Deep Dive
It's debating season again at Uncommon Decency. This week we are chatting about Zelensky's rock star world tour, unpacking the Greek center-right's triumph and weighing the Conservatives' (low) chances for a similar performance in the UK. Join us...
89. Charles III: Last King of Britain? with Peter Riddell
“Soon there will only be five kings left: the king of spades, of clubs, of hearts, of diamonds, and the king of England”. King Farouk of Egypt was off in his prediction, but the permanency of the British monarchy has recently come under heightened...
88. The Rise (and Fall?) of Erdogan, with Ryan Gingeras & Birol Baskan
In the mid-1990s, the mayor of Istanbul was quoted saying: “democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off”. That mayor is now president and his critics fear he believes Turkey has reached its...
87. Macron in China, Meloni Magic—Decency Deep Dive [BONUS]
It's debate season on Uncommon Decency. This week we evaluated President Macron's visit to China, and the premiership of Giorgia Meloni. As well as what stood out to us from the first part of this year. Enjoy! As always, please rate and review...
86. The Ghost of Franco & Spain's Memory Wars, with Michael Reid & Nigel Townson
“If only mine were the last drop of Spanish blood to be spilled in civil strife. God willing, may the Spanish people at peace, so replete with extraordinary virtue, at last find homeland, bread and justice”. Who among today’s Spaniards could...
85. The European Union and the Habsburg Myth, with Helen Thompson & Caroline de Gruyter
“I was born in 1881 in the great and mighty empire of the Habsburg Monarchy, but you would look for it in vain on the map today; it has vanished without trace”. We begin with this quote from Stefan Zweig’s memoir The World of Yesterday (1942)...
84. 2023: French Revolution? with Nicholas Vinocur & Cole Strangler
"Is it a revolt? No sire, it's a revolution". While this famous exchange is attributed to Louis the XVIth and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, odds are that French President Macron has had similar conversations with his aides in the past few...
83. Going East: Europe's New Center of Gravity, with Jana Puglierin & Timothy Garton Ash
While the geographic center of the EU is apparently in a small Bavarian field, its political center is harder to pin down. Historically, it was probably somewhere between France and Germany, but with the war in Ukraine, this center has seemingly moved...
82. Empires on Trial, with Nigel Biggar & Felipe Fernández-Armesto
On episode five of this show, the late Gyórgy Schópflin, then retired and in the twilight of his life, made a lucid observation about what, at bottom, set his native Hungary apart from his adoptive Great Britain. “Hungary has no post-colonial...
81. The Democratic Recession, with Martin Wolf
"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead...
80. Qatargate: Sheikhs, Cheques and Balances, with Frank Furedi & Thomas Fazi
Since mid-December, a corruption scandal has been unfolding in Brussels that could soon begin rock the European Union's (EU) very foundations. Eva Kaili, a 44-year-old Member of the European Parliament (MEP), was detained by Belgian authorities...
79. Ukraine—One Year On [BONUS]
“Exactly a year ago, I broadcast a message that contained the two things that remain most important now: that Russia had launched a full-scale war against us, and that we are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat anyone. Because we are...
78. Spycraft: How the West Battles Chinese Balloons & Russian Agents, with Dan Lomas
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". These words by American statesman Benjamin Franklin are often paraphrased into “those who sacrifice liberty for security, deserve...
77. How the Muslim Brotherhood Cracked the EU, with Florence Bergeaud-Blackler & Tommaso Virgili
«With your democratic laws we will colonize you, and with our koranic laws we will dominate you». This rather bellicose warning for Europeans came from a 2002 speech by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, one of the key intellectual leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood...
76. Putin's Eyes and Ears: Into Russia's Spy-State, with Andrei Soldatov
"The Soviet State Security Service is more than a secret police organization, more than an intelligence and counter-intelligence organization. It is an instrument for subversion, manipulation and violence, for secret intervention in the affairs of...
75. 2022—Year in Review [BONUS]
It’s that time of the year again—a time to look back on the year lapsed and make resolutions for the coming one. At episode 75, Uncommon Decency readies to enter its third calendar year—we launched in October 2020—with a potent mix of hope and...

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