In this episode, Heather and Colin walk through how Hitler and the Nazi Party executed their plan to dismantle Germany democracy and, often under-examined, how German democracy was rebuilt after World War II. Most importantly, they explore electoral system design decisions made to prevent a party like the Nazis from ever coming to power again, including the 5% threshold and the so-called "firewall against the far-right" — in German, "die Brandmauer."

Special thanks to the experts featured in this episode:  

Timothy Ryback, The Atlantic

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Martin Lange, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tour with a Berliner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠Jonny Pechstein⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Geschichte für Alle⁠

Dr. Berit Ebert, Bard College Berlin

⁠⁠Professor Thomas Gschwend⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠University of Mannheim⁠

⁠⁠⁠Nicola Hieke⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Landeskoordinierungstelle Bayern gegen Rechtsextremismus⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Bavaria State Coordination Office Against Right-Wing Extremism)

Brendan MacGurk, Tour Guide (to arrange a private tour, email inquiries to bmacgurk(at)web(dot)de)

Professor Doctor Magnus Brechtken, ⁠Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History⁠

By Timothy Ryback:

The Atlantic: ⁠How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days⁠

The Atlantic: ⁠The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler⁠

Timothy's forthcoming book: 53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy, The Atlantic Monthly Press, publishing September 2026.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Music and archival references⁠⁠⁠⁠  

For more information on More Equitable Democracy’s work, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.equitabledemocracy.org/⁠⁠⁠

For more information on Larj Media, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.larjmedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠