On 17 June 1972, a nightwatchman stumbled across a burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC – triggering what became known as Watergate, the investigation that ultimately led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
Fifty years on, the historian Colin Kidd reflects on Watergate’s renewed relevance in a populist, post-Trump era. Did the scandal help fuel today’s political conspiracy theories? And did Donald Trump’s war on “fake news” begin with the “journalistic aggrandisement” of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein?
Kidd examines the parallels between Nixon and Trump – “the vindictiveness, the casual indifference to norms, the authoritarian instincts” – and the long-term lessons of Watergate: that lobbyists, millionaires and law-breaking still loom large in a corrupt system.
This article was originally published on Newstatesman.com on 6 April and in the New Statesman magazine on 8 April 2022. You can read the text version here.
Read by Emily Tamkin.
Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.
How to listen to Audio Long Reads
1. In podcast apps
Audio Long Reads is available to listen on all major podcast players, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and more.
Content from our partners
Either click the links above to open in your preferred player, or open the podcast app on your device and search for “Audio Long Reads”.
Follow or subscribe in your podcast app to receive new episodes as soon as they publish.
2. On the New Statesman website
The podcast is also available to listen right here on the New Statesman website. Bookmark https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/audio-long-reads, where we will publish new episodes every Saturday morning.
3. On your smart speaker
If you have an Amazon Echo, Google Home or Apple HomePod, ask it to “play the latest episode of Audio Long Reads from the New Statesman”.
The command will also work on other smart devices equipped with Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri.
Related
