A reporting trip to Warsaw to look into how the country is rebuilding after a decade of a hard-right party's rule.
This is an edition of Field Notes, a behind-the-scenes at how one of our journalists reports out a story on location. They detail their trip in a timestamped diary format and take you along with them as they report their story. This article originally appeared in the Vox Explainer, our members-only newsletter about how we make our journalism.
Today, we have an edition of Field Notes, a reporter’s log from Today, Explained senior producer and reporter Miles Bryan. He and Today, Explained co-host Noel King recently took a trip to Poland for a series of stories about rebuilding and maintaining a democracy.
Hey there Vox members,Earlier this month Today, Explained co-host Noel King and I traveled to Warsaw, Poland, for a week to report out a question we can’t stop thinking about around here: What’s coming after Trump? Our colleague Zack Beauchamp went to Brazil to investigate why that country was able to fend off an authoritarian takeover by its former Trump-like president, Jair Bolsonaro. And we went to Poland for the weather — just kidding! We went because that country is already a few years into its “after Trump” era. A liberal coalition is in power, and has been trying to figure out how to rebuild after the populist, hard-right Law and Justice party ruled for nearly a decade. What we found surprised us — and left us with some big questions about what strategy America’s Democrats should adopt if they win in 2028.You can listen to our episodes here and here.
—Miles Bryan, senior producer and reporter, Today, Explained
Saturday, January 31
5:30 pm ET: I live in Philly, which makes getting gear via FedEx from the NYC office a breeze normally, but the massive snowstorm that rocked the East Coast in January delayed my equipment for days. When it arrives the day I am set to fly out, I am thrilled and relieved! A radio producer can never have too many mics to choose from.
Sunday, February 1
2:00 pm Central European Time: After a smooth flight, I check into my hotel in Warsaw and take a walk. It’s also far below freezing here, but unlike the East Coast, the Poles have a handle on snow clearance.
Sunday, February 1
6:00 pm CET: We have our first interview this evening with the spokesperson for a far-right party gaining popularity in Poland. I hustle to get us set up to record in my hotel room and…I’ve forgotten a component of one of my mic stands. Ah well, nothing a little ingenuity — and a loan from the mini bar — can’t handle.
Monday, February 2
10:30 am CET: Noel and I interview Mateusz Morawiecki, who was Poland’s prime minister from 2017 to 2023. When we asked him why his right-wing party was unable to win a third term in 2023, he was remarkably frank: They pushed too hard to tighten abortion rules.
Wednesday, February 4
10:00 am CET: Noel and I spend most of our time in Poland heading from one interview to another, but on Wednesday, we have some free time and head to Warsaw’s Jewish history museum.
Before the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, Poland was home to millions of Jews, and Warsaw had a massive and vibrant Jewish quarter. The Nazis killed nearly all Polish Jews and razed Warsaw’s Jewish neighborhoods. The museum is a detailed and heartbreaking journey through the history of Judaism in Poland — from the first settlers in the 10th century to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, when Jewish fighters stood up to the Nazi exterminators in a heroic, if doomed, effort. By the end of our tour neither of us could hold back tears.
12:00 pm CET: After we recover from our museum visit, our Polish colleague Grzegorz Sokol drives us out of Warsaw into the countryside to try and meet some rural Polish voters. Grzegorz is an absolutely essential part of this reporting trip; in addition to translating for us, he arranges many of our most interesting interviews.
2:30 pm CET: We find some really interesting interviewees on our reporting trip outside the city. After a few hours trudging through the snow, we decide to reward ourselves with a Polish treat: pierogies!
Thursday, February 5
12:00 pm CET: Another of our more memorable meals is at Bar Bambino, one of the last of Warsaw’s once-ubiquitous “bar mlecznys” or “milk bars.” These restaurants were a standard during Poland’s communist era. The name is a bit misleading: The “milk” is meant to convey that they traditionally don’t serve meat, which was expensive and rare. These days the remaining milk bars offer meat dishes, but their prices are still rock-bottom.
Friday, February 6
7:00 pm CET: It’s our last full day in Warsaw. After we wrap up our last interview, Noel, Grzegorz, and I have dinner and then headed to the Palace of Culture and Science for a final drink.
Central Warsaw was almost entirely razed by the end of World War II. After the Soviets took control of Poland, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin decided to offer the Poles this building, constructed in the center of the city, as a gift. Completed in 1955, the massive, art deco-esque building has loomed over the city ever since. For many years, the Palace of Culture and Science was a symbol of Soviet oppression, but these days it’s been reclaimed by Warsaw residents as something entirely their own. It now houses a couple of fun bars, multiple theaters, and an art-house movie theater. By the end of the week, I am ready to go home. But, looking up at the Palace in the Warsaw mist, I am a bit sad to leave too.
Listen to the Today, Explained episodes from this reporting trip:
One Battle for Democracy After AnotherFor nearly 10 years, Poland’s authoritarian government chipped away at the country’s freedoms. Here’s how Poles mobilized to get their democracy back before it was too late.
The authoritarian hangoverBeating an authoritarian regime at the ballot box is hard, but rolling back its changes is harder. Just look at Poland.
PLUS: Reporter Extra: If Dems win in 2028, how can they roll back Trump’s changes?Miles Bryan shares findings from his reporting trip to Poland on the rocky road to regaining democracy after a decade of far-right leadership.