Historian Timothy Snyder on Orban’s defeat, Christian nationalism, and What’s Coming Next

Next Question with Katie Couric · Apr 24, 2026 · 1h 4m

Snyder has spent his career studying how democracies collapse — and how they fight back. He's the Chair in Modern European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, the bestselling author of On Tyranny and On Freedom, and he's also the writer behind the popular Substack newsletter Thinking About.

In this conversation, Snyder uses Hungary's stunning election upset, in which opposition leader Péter Magyar defeated Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, as a roadmap for American democracy. He breaks down what made Magyar's…