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Guests featured in this episode:Masha Gessen,  a distinguished journalist & staff writer for the New Yorker.  Born in Moscow in the Soviet Union, Masha moved to the United States in 1981, only to return to Russia as a journalist a decade later. A strong critic of Putin's regime from the very outset, Masha decided to leave Russia and return to the US due to the politically motivated crackdown on gay parents by Russian authorities.They have authored 11 books, most recently, Surviving Autocracy (2020), an insightful account of the Trump Presidency that also draws on their experience of living in Russia. Two of their other books discussed within the podcast are; The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, and The Man without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (2012).  GLOSSARYWho was Boris Yeltsin? (00:19:15 or p.5 in the transcript)Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician who became president of Russia in 1991, he was the first popularly elected leader in the country's history, guiding Russia through a stormy decade of political and economic retrenching. During his first presidency Yeltsin publicly supported the right of Soviet republics to greater autonomy within the Soviet Union, took steps to give the Russian republic more autonomy, and declared himself in favour of a market-oriented economy and a multiparty political system.At the same time, Russia's parliament, the Congress of People's Deputies, had grown increasingly hostile toward his free-market reforms. Yeltsin and the Congress were also deeply divided over the question of the balance of powers in Russia's proposed new constitution, which was needed to replace the obsolete 1978 Soviet-era Russian Constitution. On September 21, 1993, Yeltsin unconstitutionally dissolved  the Congress and called for new parliamentary elections. In response, hard-line legislators attempted a coup in early October but were suppressed by army troops loyal to Yeltsin. Parliamentary elections and a referendum on a draft constitution were held in December. Yeltsin's draft constitution, which increased the powers of the presidency, was narrowly approved, but the anti-reform character of Russia's newly elected parliament, the Federal Assembly, compelled Yeltsin to govern primarily by executive decree in the coming years.In another spectacular comeback, however, he won reelection over a communist challenger in the second round of elections held in July 1996. He spent the months after his electoral victory recovering from a heart attack he had suffered that June during the rigours of the campaign. The state of Yeltsin's health was a recurring issue.In the late 1990s political maneuvering dominated much of the country's government as Yeltsin dismissed four premiers and in 1998 fired his entire cabinet, though many were later reappointed. The following year the State Duma initiated an impeachment drive against Yeltsin, charging that he had encouraged the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, among other  allegations The Duma, however, was unable to secure the necessary votes to proceed. Ever unpredictable, Yeltsin announced his resignation on December 31, 1999, in favour of what he characterized as a new, energetic leadership. He named Prime Minister  Vladimir Putin acting president, and in turn Putin granted Yeltsin immunity from future prosecution. Source: Who was Vladimir Zhirinovsky? (00:29:53 or p.7 in the transcript) Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician and leader of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from 1991 to 2022. Known for his fiery Russian nationalism and broad anti-Semitic asides, he later acknowledged his Jewish roots.Much of Zhirinovsky's personal history is vague, unknown, or disputed. He left his hometown at age 18 to attend Moscow State University, where he studied Turkish and other languages. After graduating about 1969, he went to work as a translator in Turkey, but he was expelled under murky circumstances eight months later. After returning to Moscow in 1972, he worked in various state committee and union posts. He completed an evening law program at Moscow State University, earning his degree in 1977 and then working in a state-run law firm (from which he was later asked to resign). In 1983 Zhirinovsky landed a position as head of the law department at the Mir publishing company, a post that served as a springboard for his political career.Zhirinovsky cofounded the LDPR in 1989. The following year the party was launched in Moscow, and Zhirinovsky was asked to become its chairman, but by October his views had provoked his expulsion. In the spring of 1991 Zhirinovsky created his own party, giving it his previous and party's name, and in June he first ran for the Russian presidency; he ran several times for presidency during his long political carrier. A figure as colorful as Zhirinovsky was bound to be the object of rumour and speculation. It was widely reported that his career could have been possible only under the auspices of the KGB. Source: Democracy in Question? is brought to you by:• Central European University: CEU• The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD• The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media!• Central European University: @CEU• Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentreSubscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!  

If you're like us, you've heard a lot about Ukraine but don't really know anything about Ukraine. So here's two (asterisk) books about Ukraine: The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen (2012) vs Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (1996).

Listener Ana and I have been talking a lot about the Eastern European view of the current Russo-Ukrainian War. She's from North Macedonia, which is north of Greece, south of Kosovo, and next to Albania. Her country was founded in 1991 after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and has been in the constant push and pull of the West and Russia's sphere of influence. She gives us some perspective on life in this position as well as the growing concern in her nation about Putin's militarism.  Video - https://youtu.be/C3HfyL1cVvY Ana - https://www.facebook.com/ocean.charting Chechnya: War Without a Trace - https://tubitv.com/movies/415299/chechnya-war-without-a-trace The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladmir Putin - https://amzn.to/3ii2Dfa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 36: In this episode, host Angie Gust talks about three  healing roots from the earth – garlic, ginger and tumeric.  Studies show they are great for our immune system, having potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties. Although studies on the combined effects of these roots are scarce, adding all of these superfoods to your diet is likely a good idea. Turning to the environment, have you been noticing more talk about regenerative agriculture? Regenerative agriculture is a way to produce food with fewer environmental and social impacts. According to an article published in F1000 Research, regenerative agriculture has the potential to improve soil health, restore biodiversity, contribute to farm profitability, and reduce pollution from agrichemicals. Consider purchasing your foods from farmers practicing regenerative agriculture. References Burgo, J. Apr 15, 2014. Vladimir Putin Narcissist? https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/04/vladimir-putin-narcissist/360544/ Corn, D. 2/2022 Is It Amnesia or Hypocrisy That Fuels the GOP's Crazy Response to Putin? https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/02/is-it-amnesia-or-hypocrisy-that-fuels-the-gops-crazy-response-to-putin/ Frankel, J. 2015.The traumatic basis for the resurgence of right-wing politics among working Americans. Psychoanal Cult Soc 20, 359–378. https://doi.org/10.1057/pcs.2015.53 Garlic and ginger. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/garlic-and-ginger-benefits#7.-May-promote-a-healthy-immune-response Gessen, M. 2013. The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. Penguin Publishing. Ginger History - Origin and Regional Uses of Ginger. http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/ginger-history/ Interesting Garlic Facts. http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-facts/garlic-facts/ Regenerative agriculture. https://heliae.com/10-regenerative-agriculture-practices/ Laber-Warren, E. Sept 1, 2012. Unconscious Reactions Separate Liberals and Conservatives. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/calling-truce-political-wars/ Sabalones Gonzales, M. Nov 11, 2020. What Are the Psychological Profiles of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump?https://soapboxie.com/us-politics/Psychological-profiles-The-Hubris-Syndrome-of-Vladimir-Putin-and-Donald-Trump Tierney, D. Sept 13, 2020. How Putin Got Into America's Mind. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/how-putin-got-into-americas-mind/616330/ Prasad S, Aggarwal BB. 2011. Turmeric, the Golden Spice: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor. S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd ed. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis. Chapter 13. PMID: 22593922. Robertson, IH. Mar 17, 2014. The Danger That Lurks Inside Vladimir Putin's Brain. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-winner-effect/201403/the-danger-lurks-inside-vladimir-putins-brain  

For Western audiences, the past few weeks have been a torrent of information about what's happening in Russia and Ukraine. Daily updates of Russian military advances. Horrifying videos of buildings exploding and innocent civilians being killed. Announcements of increasingly severe economic sanctions and major corporate pullouts. Charts showing the collapse of the ruble. Story after story about the hardships facing the Russian economy.Most Russians, however, are living in an alternate reality. This week, the Russian government made it a crime for journalists to spread what it considers false information about the “special military operation” in Ukraine — information that would include calling the war a war. As a result, many Western news organizations, including The Times, have pulled their employees out of Russia. The Kremlin has made it nearly impossible for people in Russia to access independent or international news sources. Russian state media coverage of the conflict has been, in the words of my guest today, “bland and bloodless.”That raises some important questions: What do ordinary Russians know about the war being waged by their government? How are they interpreting the collapse of their currency and impending financial crisis? What are they being told to believe? And is the propaganda machine working?Masha Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of many books on Russian history, politics and culture, including “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” and the National Book Award-winning “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.” And, perhaps most important, Gessen has been on the ground in Russia in recent weeks trying to understand how ordinary Russians are seeing and interpreting the world around them.This is a conversation that starts in Moscow, as Gessen describes what it was like to be there during the first days of the invasion. We talk about the eerie sense of normalcy in the city as the ruble crashed and the odd sense of calm in Pushkin Square as policemen in combat gear dragged protesters into a police bus. We then take a wider view on how Russians responded to economic sanctions in the past, how totalitarian societies make it impossible for people to form opinions, where Putin sees himself in a lineage of “brutal, expansionist dictators” like Ivan the Terrible and Joseph Stalin, why Putin governs Russia as if it were a 19th-century empire, what we learn when we listen closely to Putin's speeches and how this latest act of aggression is likely to play out.Disclaimer: This episode contains explicit language.Mentioned:“The Origins of Totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt“How Putin Wants Russians to See the War in Ukraine” by Masha Gessen in The New Yorker“The Future Is History” by Masha Gessen“First Person” by Vladimir Putin, Nataliya Gevorkyan, Natalya Timakova, and Andrei KolesnikovBook recommendations:“The Last Empire” by Serhii Plokhy“Manual for Survival” by Kate Brown“Babi Yar” by Anatoly KuznetsovThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.“The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Annie Galvin, Jeff Geld and Rogé Karma; fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair; original music and mixing by Isaac Jones; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Our executive producer is Irene Noguchi. Special thanks to Kristin Lin, Kristina Samulewski and Joanna Szostek.

How close did we come to losing our democracy during four years of Trump — and what will it take to strengthen our democratic institutions? In this episode, Hillary speaks with two people who have tackled these questions. First, we hear from writer and journalist Masha Gessen, who reflects on the perils of autocracy and shares a bold idea for how to move forward.  Then, Hillary catches up with Rashad Robinson, who, as the head of Color of Change, has been on the frontlines of holding elected officials and corporations accountable to Americans.  Masha Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of ten books, including Surviving Autocracy, the National Book Award-winning The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, and The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin.  Rashad Robinson has been the president of Color of Change (COC), the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, since 2011. Under Rashad’s leadership, COC has expanded its reach from 1.7 to more than 7 million members. 

Welcome to 2020! In a testament to how quickly we move from crisis to crisis in today's world, what was once thought topical will now be yesterday's news: nonetheless I'm all alone to discuss The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen! Music: Swing Has Swung by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

节目摘要 最近一些独立中文播客出现了在苹果Podcast无法被搜索到的情况，虽然《不丧》暂时不在受影响节目之列，但是为了以防万一，我们还是在节目一开始重新介绍了收听《不丧》的各种方式（具体方式在每期的shownotes里也有介绍）。 HBO的迷你剧《切尔诺贝利》刚刚落下帷幕，在我们看来，这部好莱坞制造的美剧到底都做对了哪些，又做错了哪些。 这一期我们所回答的听众提问是：什么是领养代替购买？该如何提醒身边选择购买纯种宠物的朋友？如何不失礼节地去宣传和普及这一观念？ 节目备注 欢迎通过微博关注我们的节目@不丧Podcast和女主播@constancy好小气。 关于线上读书微信群：由于目前群人数超过100人，无法继续通过扫码入群。想要入群的朋友可以先加我的微信号（ID: hongming_qiao），然后再拉你入群。 我们的电报(Telegram)听友群：不丧电报群 我们播客的邮箱地址：busangpodcast@gmail.com 这集播客中提到的相关作品的介绍和链接： 电视&电影 《切尔诺贝利》(Chernobyl)(2019) 《火线 第一季》(The Wire Season 1)(2002) 《大小谎言》(Big Little Lies Season 2)(2019) 书 S. A. 阿列克谢耶维奇，《切尔诺贝利的悲鸣》 Serhii Plokhy, Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Masha Gessen, The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russsia Masha Gessen, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life 音乐 "Carly Rae Jepsen, Too Much" "罗大佑，东方之珠" 其他 Masha Gessen, "What's HBO's 'Chernobyl' Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong" 《切尔诺贝利》官方播客: The Chernobyl Podcast 《国家地理》关于纽约乒乓球社区短纪录片：United by Ping Pong, These Players Find Community in a New York Park | Short Film Showcase 如何收听「不丧」 任何设备都可以通过访问「不丧」的网站在线收听 我们推荐使用泛用型播客客户端收听「不丧」 泛用型播客客户端直接通过播客上传者提供的RSS向用户提供播客内容和信息，不会有第三方的干涉；并且只要上传者更新了Feed，就能在客户端上收听到节目。 iOS平台上我们推荐使用Podcast（苹果预装播客客户端），Castro，Overcast和Pocket Casts。 Android平台上收听方式可以参照这里。 macOS和Windows平台可以通过iTunes收听。 现在你也已经可以在Spotify和Google Podcast平台上收听我们的节目。

节目摘要 最近一些独立中文播客出现了在苹果Podcast无法被搜索到的情况，虽然《不丧》暂时不在受影响节目之列，但是为了以防万一，我们还是在节目一开始重新介绍了收听《不丧》的各种方式（具体方式在每期的shownotes里也有介绍）。 HBO的迷你剧《切尔诺贝利》刚刚落下帷幕，在我们看来，这部好莱坞制造的美剧到底都做对了哪些，又做错了哪些。 这一期我们所回答的听众提问是：什么是领养代替购买？该如何提醒身边选择购买纯种宠物的朋友？如何不失礼节地去宣传和普及这一观念？ 节目备注 欢迎通过微博关注我们的节目@不丧Podcast和女主播@constancy好小气。 关于线上读书微信群：由于目前群人数超过100人，无法继续通过扫码入群。想要入群的朋友可以先加我的微信号（ID: hongming_qiao），然后再拉你入群。 我们的电报(Telegram)听友群：不丧电报群 我们播客的邮箱地址：busangpodcast@gmail.com 这集播客中提到的相关作品的介绍和链接： 电视&电影 《切尔诺贝利》(Chernobyl)(2019) 《火线 第一季》(The Wire Season 1)(2002) 《大小谎言》(Big Little Lies Season 2)(2019) 书 S. A. 阿列克谢耶维奇，《切尔诺贝利的悲鸣》 Serhii Plokhy, Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Masha Gessen, The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russsia Masha Gessen, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life 音乐 "Carly Rae Jepsen, Too Much" "罗大佑，东方之珠" 其他 Masha Gessen, "What's HBO's 'Chernobyl' Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong" 《切尔诺贝利》官方播客: The Chernobyl Podcast 《国家地理》关于纽约乒乓球社区短纪录片：United by Ping Pong, These Players Find Community in a New York Park | Short Film Showcase 如何收听「不丧」 任何设备都可以通过访问「不丧」的网站在线收听 我们推荐使用泛用型播客客户端收听「不丧」 泛用型播客客户端直接通过播客上传者提供的RSS向用户提供播客内容和信息，不会有第三方的干涉；并且只要上传者更新了Feed，就能在客户端上收听到节目。 iOS平台上我们推荐使用Podcast（苹果预装播客客户端），Castro，Overcast和Pocket Casts。 Android平台上收听方式可以参照这里。 macOS和Windows平台可以通过iTunes收听。 现在你也已经可以在Spotify和Google Podcast平台上收听我们的节目。

节目摘要 最近一些独立中文播客出现了在苹果Podcast无法被搜索到的情况，虽然《不丧》暂时不在受影响节目之列，但是为了以防万一，我们还是在节目一开始重新介绍了收听《不丧》的各种方式（具体方式在每期的shownotes里也有介绍）。 HBO的迷你剧《切尔诺贝利》刚刚落下帷幕，在我们看来，这部好莱坞制造的美剧到底都做对了哪些，又做错了哪些。 这一期我们所回答的听众提问是：什么是领养代替购买？该如何提醒身边选择购买纯种宠物的朋友？如何不失礼节地去宣传和普及这一观念？ 节目备注 欢迎通过微博关注我们的节目@不丧Podcast和女主播@constancy好小气。 关于线上读书微信群：由于目前群人数超过100人，无法继续通过扫码入群。想要入群的朋友可以先加我的微信号（ID: hongming_qiao），然后再拉你入群。 我们的电报(Telegram)听友群：不丧电报群 我们播客的邮箱地址：busangpodcast@gmail.com 这集播客中提到的相关作品的介绍和链接： 电视&电影 《切尔诺贝利》(Chernobyl)(2019) 《火线 第一季》(The Wire Season 1)(2002) 《大小谎言》(Big Little Lies Season 2)(2019) 书 S. A. 阿列克谢耶维奇，《切尔诺贝利的悲鸣》 Serhii Plokhy, Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Masha Gessen, The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russsia Masha Gessen, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life 音乐 "Carly Rae Jepsen, Too Much" "罗大佑，东方之珠" 其他 Masha Gessen, "What's HBO's 'Chernobyl' Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong" 《切尔诺贝利》官方播客: The Chernobyl Podcast 《国家地理》关于纽约乒乓球社区短纪录片：United by Ping Pong, These Players Find Community in a New York Park | Short Film Showcase 如何收听「不丧」 任何设备都可以通过访问「不丧」的网站在线收听 我们推荐使用泛用型播客客户端收听「不丧」 泛用型播客客户端直接通过播客上传者提供的RSS向用户提供播客内容和信息，不会有第三方的干涉；并且只要上传者更新了Feed，就能在客户端上收听到节目。 iOS平台上我们推荐使用Podcast（苹果预装播客客户端），Castro，Overcast和Pocket Casts。 Android平台上收听方式可以参照这里。 macOS和Windows平台可以通过iTunes收听。 现在你也已经可以在Spotify和Google Podcast平台上收听我们的节目。

Sam Harris speaks with Masha Gessen about Vladimir Putin, the problem of gauging public opinion in Russia, Trump’s fondness for dictators, the challenges of immigration, comparisons between Christian and Muslim intolerance, “fake news” and the health of journalism, the #MeToo movement, and other topics. Masha Gessen began contributing to The New Yorker in 2014, and became a staff writer in 2017. Gessen is the author of nine books, including The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, which won the National Book Award in 2017; and The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. Gessen has written about Russia, autocracy, L.G.B.T. rights, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump, among others, for The New York Review of Books and The New York Times. On a parallel track, Gessen has been a science journalist, writing about aids, medical genetics, and mathematics; famously, Gessen was dismissed as editor of the Russian popular-science magazine Vokrug Sveta for refusing to send a reporter to observe Putin hang-gliding with the Siberian cranes. Gessen is a visiting professor at Amherst College and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, a Nieman Fellowship, and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Commentary. After more than twenty years as a journalist and editor in Moscow, Gessen has been living in New York since 2013. Twitter:@mashagessen

Journalist and author Masha Gessen discusses ways of surviving an autocracy. Rule #1? Believe the autocrat. For this week’s episode of the e-flux podcast, we are featuring Masha Gessen’s lecture, "How We Survive an Autocracy," originally given on May 24, 2017 as part of an ongoing e-flux lectures series dedicated to discovering the protocols of twenty-first century truth, assuming that these still exist. Launched in February 2017, most e-flux lectures are live streamed on e-flux.com/live and archived at e-flux.com/video.   Masha Gessen is a journalist and author, whose most recent book, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, won the 2017 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Gessen is also the author of the national bestseller The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (2012). Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker.

Dr. Oleg Manaev evaluates the book The Man without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladmir Putin by Masha Gessen in this podcast. I'm really impressed by how Gessen's book flows on multiple tracks, tracing Putin's life back to boyhood, the story of his hometown of St. Petersburg, his KGB experience, and finally the last quarter-century of Russian history," Manaev said. "Even though many interpretations remain controversial, this book helps to understand modern Russia." Manaev is Global Security Fellow at the University of Tennessee Institute for Nuclear Security.

In the second episode on the life of Vladimir Putin, I analyze his communication strategy, his vast wealth and why it doesn't matter, and the possibility that Putin orchestrated multiple false flag terrorist attacks within Russia. Once again my main sources for this episode are "The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin" by Steven Lee Myers and "The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin" by Masha Gessen.

Masha Gessen is a Russian-American journalist and the author of, among other books, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. Since the election, she has been analyzing Donald Trump through the lens of Russian politics and personalities in a series of viral essays in the New York Review of Books. But as the Trump campaign's relationship with Russia has evolved into a dominant storyline of his presidency, Gessen has grown skeptical. She thinks the left has been overwhelmed by conspiratorial thinking on Russia. That doesn't mean, she hastens to say, that there is no conspiracy. But there is also wishful thinking, and lazy thinking, and a hope that the normal mechanisms of politics can be bypassed."For more than six months now, Russia has served as a crutch for the American imagination," Gessen wrote. "It is used to explain how Trump could have happened to us, and it is also called upon to give us hope. When the Russian conspiracy behind Trump is finally fully exposed, our national nightmare will be over."In this podcast, Gessen and I talk about all things Trump and Russia. I ask her for both the plausible and sinister explanations for the many meetings and mysteries that surround Trump's associates. We talk about the ways Trump is and isn't like Putin, how studying autocracies has helped her interpret this moment in American politics, the psychology of Jared Kushner, and much more. Enjoy!Books:Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear WitnessTimothy Snyder, On Tyranny  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We finally break the number one rule of BUNZ and talk about BUNZ. Bloomberg business reporter Gerrit De Vynck joins us to talk about the growth of Toronto’s biggest trading community and where it’s going next.  Then, we talk to CBC’s Pat Kelly about his new book This Is That’s Travel Guide to Canada - a satirical guidebook for the country that loves poutine, hockey and geo-blocking. Lastly, we talk to political gurus Chris Copperwaithe and Karim Bardeesy about open-source democracy building and the brooding U.S. election.  Vass is reading an advance copy of Shawn Micallef’s Frontier City: Toronto on the Verge of Greatness. Allison is reading The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen. TUNES: Don’t Dream It’s Over by Flock of Dimes feat. Sylvan Esso No Matter Where We Go by Whitney This is Love by Weyes Blood

What’s the nature of modern Russian propaganda? Our panel of four journalists from Russia and Ukraine discuss the changing face of Kremlin propaganda. The panelists were Masha Gessen, journalist and author of The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin; Vasily Gatov, visiting fellow at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Daria Dieguts, foreign … Continue reading The Changing Face of Kremlin Propaganda: Recent Developments and Strategies for 2016 →

Masha Gessen calls Vladimir Putin a ‘playground bully’ and a ‘thug.’ She should know: Russian herself, she is one of the world’s leading experts on Putin and his regime. A journalist who writes for the New Yorker and the New York Times among others, and the author of several books, including The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, Gessen spoke at Uncharted: The Berkeley Festival of Ideas, which took place in Berkeley, California in October 2015.

Crabb hates showtunes and Sales hates birds, so why not spend the episode talking about both? Join them in the piano room (aka the yoga room) while they talk about the difference between popular and literary writing. Plus, Crabb and Sales read their favourite mean-spirited iTunes reviews. Caroline O'Connor interview by Leigh Sales via 7.30Big Little Lies by Liane MoriartyThe Rosie Effect by Graeme SimsionI Am Pilgrim by Terry HayesPeas and Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners by Sandi ToksvigLucky Us by Amy BloomLittle Failure by Gary ShteyngartXinran's columns via The GuardianBuy Me the Sky: The Remarkable Truth of China's One-Child Generations by XinranH is for Hawk by Helen MacdonaldHelen Macdonald interview with Richard FidlerMy Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead GeorgeThe books of Gerald DurrellLace by Shirley ConranLeila Jeffries PhotographyRussian Trolls via The New York Times MagazineThe Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen

Masha Gessen has written for The New York Times, The London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, and others. Her book about Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy, came out in April. “The moment she said it, it was obvious that I'd been created to write this story. I'd covered both wars in Chechnya. I'd covered a lot of terrorism. I'd studied terrorism. And I'd been a Russian-speaking immigrant in Boston, which actually is the most important qualification for writing this book. It didn't give me special knowledge, but it gave me a lot of questions that I knew to ask that other people wouldn't.” Thanks to TinyLetter, Trunk Club, and Casper, for sponsoring this week's episode. Show Notes: @mashagessen Gessen on Longform [1:00] The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy (Riverhead Books • 2015) [34:00] Longform Podcast #30: Keith Gessen [48:00] Blood Matters (Harcourt • 2008) [50:00] Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot (Riverhead Books • 2014) [50:00] The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (Riverhead Books • 2012) [50:00] Dead Again (Verso • 1997)

‘I wouldn’t call it a miracle, I’d call it an accident’ – Gessen on Putin’s formative experience with the KGB. Christchurch City LibrariesRussian-American writer and LGBT activist, Masha Gessen has covered every major development in Russian politics and culture of the past two decades. She is the author of Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot (2014), as well as six other books, including the international bestseller The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (2012). Here, Judith Armstrong talks to Gessen about protest and politics in Putin’s Russia. See also: Why we underestimate Putin, according to Masha Gessen Masha Gessen is appearing at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival tonight and tomorrow and is also a guest of the Sydney Opera House Festival of Dangerous Ideas over the weekend. Read more coverage of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. Listen to other podcast episodes here. Judith Armstrong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.