When History Pushes Back

USA, Europa og demokratiets skjebneår

The 1930s and 1940s were a period when the course of history could easily have taken very different directions. In Mellommannen, Geert Mak takes us back to the years 1933–1945, when the United States and Europe were caught in the midst of economic crisis, ideological struggle, and world war. Through the people surrounding Franklin D. Roosevelt – above all his adviser and intermediary Harry Hopkins – Mak shows how individual decisions came to have far‑reaching consequences for both continents. Set against Europe’s situation today, marked by war, polarization, and shifting power structures, this conversation opens up questions about historical parallels, moral choices, and the vulnerability of democracy. What happens when institutions are put to the test – and who becomes decisive when the world begins to falter? Moderator: Mari Skurdal, Editor-in-Chief of Klassekampen