Is it Fascism Yet? M Gessen and Jason Stanley with host Anna Funder
28 September 2025
Talks and Ideas
Every day there’s an alarming new headline (or several) from America. Every day a new attack on its Constitution. How do we make sense of what is happening with Australia’s number one ally right now? Renowned experts on fascism and autocracy make the tough calls on the state of the United States.
| Date | Time |
| Sunday 28 September 2025 | 4pm - 5pm |
| Ticket | Price |
| Standard | $45.00 |
| Buy 2-3 sessions and get 10% off Book here | $40.50 |
| Buy 4 sessions and get 15% off Book here | $38.25 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
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9am, Tuesday 15 July 2025
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9am, Wednesday 16 July 2025
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9am, Thursday 17 July 2025
Wheelchair accessible:
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations in our theatres. To book accessible seating contact Box Office:
Telephone
+61 2 9250 7777
(Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
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Please note all tickets are Unreserved Seating (General Admission)
Run time
Each event runs for approximately 60 minutes, without interval
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Recommended for ages 15+.
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
Jason StanleyYou know you’re living in a fascist society when you’re constantly going over in your head the reasons why you’re safe.
Useful information:
Is the world’s most powerful democracy failing?
How do we even begin to understand what is happening in America right now? People are routinely abducted by masked men and stuffed into vans. The military has been deployed against protesters in its second largest city. Universities and law firms are punished for not toeing the line. And every day there is a new assertion of unitary presidential power. And yet the daily headlines barely make a dent in our consciousness. Are we ill-equipped to understand what is playing out before our eyes?
Jason Stanley, an American expert on fascism who has decamped to Canada, and M Gessen, award-winning journalist who fled Putin’s Russia and now warns of echoes in the US, join Anna Funder, acclaimed Australian author of Stasiland and Wifedom, for this timely and chilling discussion.
How far has the US shifted to authoritarianism and is there any way back? And what does this mean for Australia and the rest of the world?
Presented by Sydney Opera House
28 September 2025
Curious
Curious is where culture, creativity and ideas collide. It’s for minds that never stop asking questions about the world and ourselves.
Dive into the ideas shaping headlines, sparking debate and changing the way we live.
M Gessen (they/them)
M Gessen is an opinion columnist with The New York Times and the author of 11 books of nonfiction, most recently Surviving Autocracy and The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, which won the National Book Award in 2017. Gessen is also a distinguished professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
Jason Stanley (he/him)
Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and a member of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. He writes and speaks about authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration and other topics. Jason is a descendant of Holocaust survivors – his uncle served several years in Auschwitz, his mother was raised in a Siberian labor camp, and his father experienced the madness of Kristallnacht. The impact of his family’s experiences led him to dedicate much of his work to studying the ideology and structure of injustice, and how it is enabled and concealed.
Anna Funder (she/her)
Host
Anna Funder’s latest book Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life, hailed as ‘spellbinding’ (Financial Times) and ‘electrifying’ (Observer), was a New York Times Notable Book, a Sunday Times Bestseller and won France’s prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. Anna’s Stasiland, a contemporary classic, won the Samuel Johnson Prize for best non-fiction published in English in 2004. Her novel All That I Am won the Miles Franklin Award and was a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. All of Anna’s books are international bestsellers published in many countries. Before turning to writing full time, Anna was an international lawyer, specialising in human rights and constitutional law.
Plan your visit
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. Resale restriction applies. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
Live Journalism
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Leave your earbuds at home and experience reporting reimagined. Three stories commissioned by Curious, performed live with immersive sound design. A rare fusion of journalism, craft and the power of sound.
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Gender and Power
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With ‘gender wars’ spreading across the western world placing lives at risk, M Gessen, one of the most insightful thinkers of their generation, examines the dark forces behind gender panic and why it has fallen on such fertile ground.
