Thread. Of the 14 essays I published in 2020 (along with #Strongmen), I highlight this June @CNN piece about Trump's efforts to make journalists political enemies. My greatest thanks to everyone in the press who worked to shed light on abuses of power. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/opinions/journalists-attacked-during-protests-trump-authoritarianism-ben-ghiat/index.html
This August @nybooks piece on the workings of cooptation and corruption is unfortunately more relevant than ever, given how GOP politicians are falling in line to back Trump's last-ditch self-coup: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/12/co-opt-corrupt-how-trump-bent-and-broke-the-gop/
What happens when #strongmen leaders, who cultivate an aura of omnipotence, fall ill? I looked at Trump, Bolsonaro, Berlusconi, and more in an October @NewYorker essay that starts with DT's Mussolini balcony scene: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/trump-the-coronavirus-and-what-happens-when-strongmen-fall-ill