Is the Handmaid’s Tale author a prophet? The highly respected novelist and poet Margaret Atwood foresees a violent dictatorship in the US if Trump returns to power.
Trump will turn on Musk says Atwood
Political eye: Margaret Atwood puts her fascination with dictators down to being born during World War Two, whilst The Handmaid's Tale was inspired by the Reagan presidency. Glossary
Margaret Atwood - Canadian novelist whose best-known book is The Handmaid's Tale.
Tyranny - Cruel and aggressive use of power, often used to describe countries under the grip of a single oppressive leader.
Dictatorships - A form of government in which one person possesses all the power without any limits.
Abortion - The deliberate ending of a pregnancy.
Substack - An American online platforms through which people can publish newsletters.
Paraphrase - Rewording someone else's words. Often done to make their meaning clearer.
MAGA - Make America Great Again. The slogan was a key part of Trump’s election campaign in 2016.
Elon Musk - A South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'.
Hitler - A dictator, and the leader of Nazi Germany during World War Two.
Night of the Long Knives - A purge in Nazi Germany in summer 1934. Hitler ordered a series of killings of other Nazi leaders to sure up his power.
Meta - The new name of the company which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Concentration camps - A large prison for people held without legal justification, such as political prisoners or persecuted minorities. The first concentration camps were built by British colonial rulers in South Africa, but the term is most associated with Nazi camps, some of which were used to execute Jewish and other inmates as well as to imprison them.
French Revolution - The overthrow (and subsequent execution) of France’s king and aristocratic government in 1789. The revolution became infamous and influential worldwide.
Dystopian - Relating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice.