I’ve known Alinda Veiszer for probably more than a decade, though I can’t remember where or how we first met. What I am absolutely certain of is that within five minutes we were talking about public service media, because that is just who she is. Working anywhere near Hungary’s information ecosystem during the 16 years of Fidesz rule made many people disillusioned, exhausted, or aggressively pragmatic. Alinda had every reason to join them. She had very direct personal experience with the uglier side of the system. And yet she stuck to her convictions with a consistency that was 99% inspiring and, for cynics like me, maybe 1% annoying.
After being pushed off screen, she did not disappear. Instead, she built a successful audience-funded interview show on Patreon: long-form, public-interest conversations with some of Hungary’s most important cultural figures, from across the political spectrum, paid for by a loyal community of viewers. This is exactly the sort of thing that sounds impossi…
