Albania in the 1980s was the last bastion of Stalinism in Europe. It was difficult to visit, and a place of poverty, executions and secret police, but for LSE politics professor Lea Ypi it was also home. She talks to Alex Andreou about her astonishing memoir Free: Coming of Age at the End of History, which details her childhood in one of Europe’s most repressive countries, what came afterwards, and what it truly means to be free.

“The fall of the Berlin Wall was brushed aside as something that didn’t concern Albania”

“At some point the state slogan was gone and was replaced by a coca-cola advert”

“I’ve spent half my life under socialism, half my life under liberalism… neither of these systems delivered what they set out to”

“To live in real democracy means to have a real say in the laws that are made”

“What we have is not a democracy, but rather a liberal representative system”

https://amzn.to/3HcK7Qw Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices