Collusion in Austria

Zack, Jenn, and Alex break down how a six-hour video of a far-right party leader drinking in Ibiza brought down Austria’s government. The story involves a fake Russian oligarch’s niece, a far-right party founded by former Nazis, and a plot to subvert the country’s independent media. The Worldly hosts make sense out of this sprawling drama, and explain what it tells us about the broader far-right movement across Europe. Alex tells us what it’s like on the ground in Austria (he’s actually there), Zack practices his German pronunciations, and Jenn manages not to curse for once. Alex wrote a fantastic explainer on the whole scandal. Der Spiegel, one of the two media outlets that viewed the secret video, has a great piece laying out everything that was on the tape. Here’s a selection of clips from the longer conversation, with subtitles.  This feature on Hungary from Zack explains why references to trying to build a media landscape like Viktor Orbán’s are so scary. Here is the anatomically implausible music video for the Vengaboys song that has become the anti-Strache anthem. Jenn mentioned this Vox article about the far-right parties in Europe joining forces to win seats in the European parliamentary elections. The head of Germany’s far-right party AfD said Austria’s scandal was “singular” and had nothing to do with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices