Yascha Mounk is a lecturer on government at Harvard University and a Fellow in the Transatlantic Academy of the German Marshall Fund. Published regularly in the New York Times and Die Zeit, he is working on a book about the crisis of liberal democracy. Before joining the panel at a Zócalo/NPR Berlin event, “Is Populism Undermining Western Democracy?” Mounk laughed in the Zócalo green room about his strange past in management consulting.
Q: Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?
A: Trying to get back to sleep in my bed.
Q: What superpower would you most like to have?
A: Knowing the future.
Q: What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?
A: Management consultant [big laugh].
Q: What’s your favorite spot in Berlin?
A: The Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg.
Q: What is your favorite train ride?
A: From Rome to Pisa along the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Q: What does it take to get you on a dance floor?
A: Alcohol.
*Photo by Marc Darchinger.
