Freedom: interview with Timothy Snyder | Writers Unlimited 2025

SOPHIE DERKZEN, TIMOTHY SNYDER in the programme 'Freedom: interview with Timothy Snyder' in Writers Unlimited 2025 - International Literature Festival The Hague. In Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1 - Saturday, January 25 2025 - in English - see http://www.writersunlimited.nl Historian Timothy Snyder is world-renowned for his books on tyranny and Eastern Europe. His latest book is about how freedom is at stake. On Saturday afternoon 25 January 2025, Sophie Derkzen interviewed him at the Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague about his book On Freedom. On Freedom is the equally brilliant and highly topical new book by the renowned Yale historian and author of the bestsellers Bloodlands and On Tyranny, among others. What is freedom? Why is our freedom at risk? And why is freedom our only chance of survival? Freedom is the core of our Western world, the heart of our democracy, but we have lost sight of what it means, resulting in crisis. Too many people see freedom as the absence of state power. We think we are free when we can do and say what we want and are hindered as little as possible by the state. But real freedom is not so much freedom from as freedom to - to thrive, to put things on the line for a future we choose and work for together. Timothy Snyder is an internationally leading historian specialising in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and the Holocaust. The professor of History at Yale University has published influential studies such as Nationalism, Marxism, and Modern Central Europe: A Biography of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz (1998); The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999 (2003); Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist’s Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine (2005); The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke (2008); Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010), Thinking the Twentieth Century (with Tony Judt, 2012); Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning (2015); On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017); The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America (2018) and the highly topical On Freedom (2024) Sophie Derkzen is a journalist and presenter with a fascination for international politics and culture. On Dutch national broadcaster NPO Radio 1 she presents Bureau Buitenland for VPRO, awarded the prestigious Silver Reiss Microphone for best radio programme of the year in 2022. She made the podcasts Stad in Oorlog: Charkiv een jaar onder vuur (City at War: Kharkiv one year under fire; winner Silver Reiss Microphone 2023) and Generatie Merkel (4**** in de Volkskrant). Interview with Timothy Snyder was curated for Writers Unlimited Festival by Ilonka Reintjens. From 23 to 26 January 2025, Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague was to be found in theatres, libraries and schools throughout the city: from Theater aan het Spui, Filmhuis Den Haag, Amare and Paard to Theater Dakota, Theater De Vaillant, the Laakkwartier, Nieuw Waldeck, Schilderswijk and Ypenburg libraries, the Institute of Social Studies and De Haagse Hogeschool. With over 120 writers, poets and spoken-word artists and musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. With readings, prose, poetry, storytelling, spoken word, author interviews, topical talks, films and music. SOPHIE DERKZEN, TIMOTHY SNYDER in het programma 'Freedom: interview with Timothy Snyder ' in Writers Unlimited 2025 - Internationaal Literatuurfestival Den Haag. In Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1 - zaterdag 25 januari 2025 - Engelstalig - zie http://www.writersunlimited.nl Historicus Timothy Snyder is wereldberoemd door zijn boeken over tirannie en Oost-Europa. Zijn nieuwste boek gaat over hoe de vrijheid op het spel staat. Zaterdagmiddag 25 januari 2025 interviewde Sophie Derkzen hem in het Writers Unlimited Internationaal Literatuurfestival Den Haag over zijn boek Over vrijheid. Timothy Snyder is een internationaal toonaangevende historicus gespecialiseerd in Centraal- en Oost-Europa, Rusland en de Holocaust. De hoogleraar geschiedenis aan de Yale University publiceerde invloedrijke studies. Zijn belangrijkste boeken zijn Nationalism, Marxism, and Modern Central Europe: A Biography of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz (1998); De rode prins: het einde van een dynastie en de opkomst van het moderne Europa (2008); Bloedlanden: Europa tussen Hitler en Stalin (2010), Thinking the Twentieth Century (met Tony Judt, 2012); Zwarte aarde: geschiedenis van de Holocaust (2015); Over tirannie: twintig lessen over de twintigste eeuw (2017); en De weg naar onvrijheid: Rusland, Europa, Amerika (2018) en het hoogst actuele Over vrijheid (2024). Interview with Timothy Snyder was voor Writers Unlimited Festival samengesteld door Ilonka Reintjens.