I read the print edition at the library (PTL that its shelves are still full) but there is a recent New Yorker article by Andrew Marantz titled "Is It Happening Here?" in which he discusses some points adjacent to your discussion.
I can provide a link and will post it below as I suspect the original is paywalled. I have found a different link that may work, but anyhow, the author references other research including the authors of How Democracies Die, but what I found interesting was the section where he wrote about the hollowing out of Central European University amidst Viktor Orban's solidification of power in Hungary and the inconvenient questions it raises for citizens (I"m grossly paraphrasing here and will spoiler a quote that is taken slightly out of context)
Marantz saying that "in the real world the cataclysm often comes in on little cat feet, muffled and distant so that people continually adapt, explaining away the anomalies" seems to be what a large part of our populace is undergoing.
IMO, it's a good article and while a slightly longer read, it's worth the time.
Link:
https://milled.com/the-new-yorker/is-it-happening-here-STvOfTBFmOuoAthB
This is a podcast link below and not the article. I didn't listen to the podcast.
https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/political-scene/how-bad-is-it-andrew-marantz-on-the-health-of-our-democracy