In this episode of Crossing Channels, Richard Westcott (host) talks to Davide Luca from the University of Cambridge and Laurenz Guenther from the Toulouse School of Economics about what lies behind the rise of populism.

They explore why populism is not only about elections or political leaders, but also about how people experience representation, inequality, place and trust in democracy.

The conversation examines how spatial inequality, economic anxiety, cultural attitudes and social media shape political behaviour, why some voters feel unheard by mainstream parties, and what democratic systems can do to rebuild stronger connections with citizens.

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform

Season 5 Episode 8 transcript: MS Word / PDF

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and IAST visit our websites at https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

With thanks to:

Audio production by Alice Whaley
Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Pauline Alves

More information about our host and guests:

Laurenz Guenther is a Research Fellow at the Toulouse School of Economics (IAST) and a Fellow at Bocconi University's Institute for European Policymaking; from August 2026 he will also be a Visiting Scholar at Nuffield College, Oxford. His research combines political and experimental economics to study populism, immigration and political representation — including how gaps between citizens' preferences and those of their elected representatives shape support for populist parties. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bonn (2023). He has been named one of the "40 under 40" by the German business magazine Capital.

Dr Davide Luca is an Assistant Professor in Regional Economics at the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, and Fitzwilliam College’s DoS for his department. His research is interdisciplinary, and focuses on the interactions between territorial inequality, socioeconomic outcomes, and public policy delivery. Before joining Cambridge University, Dr Davide Luca was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and worked for the European Commission. He holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the London School of Economics and Political Science. More information about him can be found on his website: https://davideluca.com/

Richard Westcott (host) is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. Last year, Richard left the corporation and is now the communications director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city.