In this episode, we discuss threats to democracies and electoral processes with Nicolás Prados.
Nicolás is Projects Lead at Southern Pulse, focusing mainly on political risk and organized crime. Originally from Spain, he has worked for a number of years in Mexico, before obtaining a DPhil in History and an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Southern Pulse, he taught Latin American history at University College London and at the University of Oxford, and collaborated with a number of media outlets from Spain, Mexico and Colombia. His academic and professional interests focus on the challenges of establishing democracies in unstable contexts.
Listen on Apple Podcasts / Spotify by RSS feed, on Youtube, or right here:
How to Steal an Election – How to get on a Watchlist
If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!
Books and media mentioned during the episode, and suggestions for further research on this topic:
- Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World (Anne Applebaum)
- Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century (Daniel Treisman & Sergei Guriev)
- The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy Around the World (Gideon Rachman)
- How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive (Marcel Dirsus)
Additional reading suggestions can be found on our 2025 geopolitical reading list.
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The hosts:
Lewis Sage-Passant is a researcher in the field of intelligence and espionage, and a former British Military Intelligence Officer. Lewis holds a PhD from Loughborough University in intelligence studies, and is an adjunct professor in intelligence at Sciences Po Paris. He has extensive experience working and living in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions in a variety of geopolitical analysis and intelligence roles, supporting the energy industry, the financial sector, leading technology firms, and the pharmaceuticals sector. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the BBC, France24, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, The New Arab, El Mundo, GQ, and others, discussing intelligence, geopolitics, and security topics.
Colin Reed is a geopolitical risk adviser working in the US technology sector, specialising in strategic intelligence and global planning for businesses and executives. In his current role he works to identify, assess, and inform senior technology leaders on emerging topics of geopolitical & economic significance, and chairs an intra-business Geopolitical Strategy Council which works to align company posture to global events. He is a dual graduate of both Russian History and International Relations from North Carolina State University and a postgraduate in International Security from Georgetown University. Colin previously worked for the US government and engages regularly with industry groups and security professional associations on the intersectionality of multinational business and international affairs.
The production team:
Producer: Edwin Tran
Researchers: Alex Smith & Aleksandra Szylkiewicz
Additional credit goes to several unnamed members of the Encyclopedia Geopolitica team, as well as our colleagues in the intelligence and security community who helped to make this podcast possible.
If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!
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