The Diary Of A CEO May 11, 2026 New Episodes Anne Applebaum has spent decades studying how democracies collapse, how authoritarian systems rise, and why the warning signs are often ignored until it’s too late. She reveals why America is entering a dangerous new phase, and what happens next! Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and has hosted its Autocracy in America podcast. She is also a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies. She is also the bestselling author of books such as, ‘Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World’. She explains: ◼️ Why democracies rarely collapse overnight ◼️ Why America may be closer to autocracy than people think ◼️ How elected leaders can slowly take apart the system from within ◼️ Why corruption is one of the clearest warning signs of authoritarianism ◼️ Why Big Tech leaders are bending toward political power ◼️ How America’s allies are already preparing for U.S. betrayal ◼️ Why Russia, China, and Iran are challenging the democratic world order ◼️ Why America may never fully go back to normal after Trump 00:00 Intro 02:10 Why History Keeps Repeating 03:33 Democracy’s Biggest Warning Sign 05:12 Why Democracy Feels So Broken 07:41 The Biggest Threats Right Now 08:52 Why Democracy Is Rapidly Shifting 10:18 Could America Become An Autocracy? 12:05 What A Trump Third Term Means 14:56 Why Autocracy Appeals To People 19:12 Trump’s Wealth Changes Everything 21:27 Why Global Stability Is Collapsing 26:26 Democracy Vs Dictatorship: What Lasts? 27:38 Who’s Happier: Democracies Or Autocracies? 29:04 Would Informed People Choose Democracy? 30:45 How Putin Stays In Power 32:40 5 Tactics Autocrats Use 34:19 Are Tech CEOs Enabling This? 38:11 Can America Ever Return To Normal? 39:27 Why Nations Are Turning Inward 43:57 What This Means For Americans 45:39 The Most Dangerous Part Of Dictatorship 48:49 Why Trump’s Ratings Are Falling 50:48 Ads 52:50 The 2nd Tactic Autocrats Use 57:39 The 3rd Tactic Autocrats Use 59:40 The 4th Tactic Autocrats Use 1:05:58 Should Social Media Have Legal Power? 1:12:58 Can Citizens Really Leave China? 1:14:15 The 5th Tactic Autocrats Use 1:14:48 Why ICE Is Breaking Down 1:17:00 Ads 1:17:32 Is The American Empire Declining? 1:21:32 Is Politics Just Human Nature? 1:24:20 Does Democracy Create Extreme Capitalism? 1:26:27 How Democracies Defend Themselves 1:28:01 Is Mainstream Media Politically Biased? 1:31:42 Why Journalism Matters More Than Ever 1:33:11 How Algorithms Control Your Reality 1:34:19 Anne’s Personal Political Journey 1:40:48 What Regime Change Really Feels Like 1:44:18 Anne’s Toughest Setback Follow Anne: Youtube – https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/4pTtMb1 Instagram – https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/1GOn8p5 X – https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/8M5yUMK Website – https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GGmhcYf You can purchase Anne’s book, ‘Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World’, here: https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/D07471h

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

Eric Hoffer

A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer — the first and most famous of his books — was made into a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest television press conferences. Completely relevant and essential for understanding the world today, The True Believer is a visionary, highly provocative look into the mind of the fanatic and a penetrating study of how an individual becomes one.

About the author

Eric Hoffer

Eric Hoffer was an American social writer and philosopher. He produced ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983 by President of the United States Ronald Reagan. His first book, The True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that his book The Ordeal of Change was his finest work. In 2001, the Eric Hoffer Award was established in his honor with permission granted by the Eric Hoffer Estate in 2005.

Early life

Hoffer was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1902 (or possibly 1898), the son of Knut and Elsa Hoffer, immigrants from Alsace. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age five, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons two years later, but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. (“I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall.I lost my sight and for a time my memory”). After his mother’s death he was raised by a live-in relative or servant, a German woman named Martha. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was 15. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, and Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading.

Hoffer was a young man when his father, a cabinetmaker, died. The cabinetmaker’s union paid for the funeral and gave Hoffer a little over three hundred dollars. Sensing that warm Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles’ skid row, reading, occasionally writing, and working odd jobs. On one such job, selling oranges door-to-door, he discovered he was a natural salesman and could easily make good money. Uncomfortable with this discovery, he quit after one day.

In 1931, he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests along the length of California, he collected library cards for each town near the fields where he worked and, living by preference, “between the books and the brothels.” A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne’s book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. He also developed a great respect for America’s underclass, which, he declared, was “lumpy with talent.”

Longshoreman

Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected because of a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65.

Hoffer considered his best work to be The True Believer, a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. The Ordeal of Change is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.

Hoffer was a charismatic individual and persuasive public speaker, but said that he didn’t really care about people. Despite authoring 10 books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued his robust life of the mind, thinking and writing alone, in an apartment.