Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright was America’s first-ever female Secretary of State, from 1997 to 2001. Her distinguished career of public service includes positions in the National Security Council, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and on Capitol Hill. In her latest book, Fascism: A Warning, Albright gives us an urgent examination of fascism in the 20th century and how its legacy shapes today’s world. A fascist, observes Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.”

In this episode, we hear from Albright, who sat down in April 2018 at the Paramount Theatre to discuss Fascism: A Warning with Mark Suzman, Chief Strategy Officer and President in Global Policy and Advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Albright draws upon both her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to demonstrate how fascism not only endured through the twentieth century, but how it now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II.