In the era of political bots, fake news, and digital propaganda, what would happen if a Tinder-like app replaced elections? Is it possible to automate democracy or would policies become sellable outcomes?

In this episode we dwelve into DISCO SOUR, a novel by Giuseppe Porcaro where a dating app addicted politician embarks on an existential odyssey to save democracy from tinderpolitics.

Bastian Balthazar Bux is a space-lover, a smartphone addict and a leading member of The Federation®, the European network of civil society and local governments. In the aftermath of a continental civil-war, nation-states have collapsed, the European Union™ holds on preventing anarchy, and it’s mandatory to include branded trademarks in common language. Bastian has just been unexpectedly dumped by his boyfriend through an app, the BreakupShop™ service.

Heavy hearted, he just wants to drink, work and forget his romantic woes. However, he discovers that Nathan Ziggy Zukowsky, the alleged illegitimate son of Roman Polanski, is planning to sell plebiscitum®, a tinder-like app that is meant to replace elections, at the same conference he is invited to attend in Chile. Haunted by his past relationships he embarks on a mission to save democracy.

Giuseppe Porcaro is the author of DISCO SOUR, a novel about Europe and democracy in the age of algorithms, among the winners of the Altiero Spinelli Prize for Outrech of the European Union in 2018. Giuseppe is interested in how the intersection between technology and politics is moving towards uncharted territories in the future. He also focuses on narrative-building and political representations in the European Union. He works as the head of communications for Bruegel.

Europarama is a podcast series about science fiction and the future of Europe by Giuseppe Porcaro, brought to you by the Are We Europe podcasting family. Europarama is a follow-up project to DISCO SOUR, a novel about Europe and democracy in the age of algorithms.