This is the first episode of Season 2 and the theme for this year is Democracy on Trial. Staffan I. Lindberg and Kelly Morrison of the V-Dem Institute join Kristan to discuss democracy and autocracy around the globe. Each year, the V-Dem Institute releases a Democracy Report, which analyzes the characteristics of democracy and each country's movement toward democracy or autocracy.

Staffan I. Lindberg is a Professor of political science and Director of the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and a founding Principal Investigator of Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). Kelly Morrison is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Varieties of Democracy Institute.