Episodes
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Today's show welcomes back Wilson Center Disinformation Fellow Nina Jankowicz, who first appeared on this podcast way back in December 2017. She's back now to discuss her new book, How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict, which "takes the reader on a journey through five Western governments' responses to Russian information warfare tactics" (Estonia, Georgia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine) and "shows what is at stake: the future of civil discourse and democracy, and the value of truth itself."
Ну погоди, episode 14Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”
Order the book here from the publisher or at Amazon, and follow Nina on Twitter here.
Music and audio:Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
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Today’s show looks at the case against Khabarovsk Governor Sergey Furgal, whom federal agents arrested on Thursday, July 9, and promptly flew him to Moscow where he was arraigned on charges that he organized violence (including several contract killings) against business rivals in 2004 and 2005.
Today's guest is András Tóth-Czifra, a political analyst based in New York and the author of the No Yardstick blog, where he’s written for almost 10 years about Russian politics, often focusing on the country’s more remote regions.
Music and audio:
Ну погоди, episode 14Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod / Link / LicenseSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
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Missing episodes?
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A freelance journalist in Moscow with bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Foreign Policy, The Nation, Politico, and more, guest Alec Luhn discusses reporting Russia’s Arctic and journalism about environmentalism more broadly. How do you sell Western readers on these themes? What does it take to get to remote areas where the climate crisis is most destructive? Listen and find out.
Follow Alec Luhn on Twitter here.Music and audio:
Ну погоди, episode 14Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
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Today's guest is Yuval Weber, the Kennan Institute Associate Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies. He was also the inaugural Daniel Morgan Graduate School-Kennan Institute fellow and previously taught at Harvard University as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Government.
Ну погоди, episode 14Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”The Bandit by Kevin MacLeod
Dr. Weber is working on a book now that asks why pro-market economic reform efforts in Russia follow similar trajectories even among very different types of government like monarchy, communism, and “sovereign democracy.”
Check out his DMGS bio here and follow him on Twitter here.
Music and audio:
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4483-the-bandit
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4522-thinking-music
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
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On today’s show, “The Russia Guy” welcomes Michael Schwirtz, a journalist from The New York Times staff who just won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. The award was granted for “a set of enthralling stories, reported at great risk, exposing the predations of Vladimir Putin’s regime.”
“Russia Ordered a Killing That Made No Sense. Then the Assassin Started Talking.””Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say”* “How Russia Meddles Abroad for Profit: Cash, Trolls and a Cult Leader”* “How a Poisoning in Bulgaria Exposed Russian Assassins in Europe”
The newspaper's winning work includes six articles and two documentary videos published in 2019. Now an investigative reporter with The New York Times, Michael has been with the newspaper for 14 years, having started in the Moscow bureau and then working at the Metro Desk, first covering the New York City Policy Department, then as part of Metro's investigative team, reporting about brutality and corruption in the New York State prison system and at Rikers Island in New York City.
The four winning works that Michael authored or co-authored are the following:
You can read them all here:https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-new-york-times
Follow Michael Schwirtz on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/mschwirtz
Support this very podcast here:
www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock
Music and audio:
Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7s
Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today’s guest is Miriam Elder, a political reporter at BuzzFeed, where until recently she worked for many years as the world editor. Before that, she was the Russia correspondent for The Guardian, and her work has been featured in many other publications, including The Financial Times, The Atlantic, The Moscow Times, and more. Miriam is also the first Western journalist who reported extensively on Pussy Riot. She was kind enough to come on this podcast and answer some questions about life in Moscow, life as an editor, and the ups and downs of writing about Russia.Follow Miriam Elder on Twitter:https://twitter.com/MiriamElderFollow Miriam's reported at BuzzFeed:https://www.buzzfeednews.com/author/miriamelderSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQModern Jazz Samba by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4063-modern-jazz-sambaLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today’s guest is Brian O’Toole, a senior fellow in the Global Business and Economics Program at the Atlantic Council. Brian previously worked at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2009 to 2017, becoming a senior adviser to the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). As a senior adviser, Brian helped manage the implementation of all OFAC-administered economic and financial sanctions programs, and provided strategic direction of the internal management of the agency. He additionally played a central role in designing the U.S. sanctions regime in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and negotiating the multilateral sanctions imposed by the European Union and G7 in coordination with the United States.Brian came on “The Russia Guy” to discuss the recent shipment of Russian medical supplies to New York City and the geopolitical scandal that erupted as a result.Brian O’Toole at the Atlantic Council:https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/brian-o-toole/“A Mystery Wrapped In An Enigma Inside A Russian Coronavirus Aid Shipment To The U.S.,” By Mike Eckel:https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-coronavirus-aid-shipment-u-s-mystery-sanctions-propaganda/30529019.htmlSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQWalking Along by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4603-walking-alongLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The Bandit by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4483-the-banditLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today’s guest is Jill Dougherty, a Russia expert who worked as a journalist at CNN for 30 years before shifting to work in academia. At CNN, she served as a White House correspondent, a foreign affairs correspondent covering the U.S. State Department, as a U.S. affairs editor, a managing editor for CNN Asia/Pacific, and for almost a decade as Moscow Bureau chief. Jill was kind enough to come on this podcast to discuss her many years in this field, how she’s seen it change and evolve over time, and what she makes of Russia’s past, present, and future. She also explained her new podcast for the Wilson Center, “KennanX.” Jill Dougherty on Twitter:https://twitter.com/jillrussiaThe KennanX podcast:https://www.wilsoncenter.org/collection/kennanx-podcastSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQThinking Music by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4522-thinking-musicLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The Bandit by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4483-the-banditLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today’s guest is the man behind one of the longest-running, best Russia blogs ever written. If you’ve even a fleeting interest in Russia’s military, you’ve probably read the Russian Defense Policy blog at least once, and on today’s episode of The Russia Guy, you can finally hear from the author, who asked to remain anonymous, which is how he’s always maintained his blog, of course. How do you sustain a blog for more than a decade? Where do you go for information to maintain expertise on an issue like Russian defense policy? Is open-source intelligence the future? This and more in the interview.The blog:https://russiandefpolicy.blog/ Follow Russian Defense Policy on Twitter:https://twitter.com/russiandefpolicSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is New York Times Moscow correspondent Anton Troianovski, the author of the March 6, 2020, article, “As Bernie Sanders Pushed for Closer Ties, Soviet Union Spotted Opportunity,” which addresses previously unreported archival documents uncovered in Yaroslavl, where Sanders traveled in 1988 in a combination of civic diplomacy and his own honeymoon. The story has been provocative among many Sanders’s supporters, so here's Troianovski explaining why he wrote it.The article itself:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/world/europe/bernie-sanders-soviet-russia.html“Excerpts from the Sanders Files in a Russian Archive”https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/world/europe/sanders-russia-excerpts-archive.htmlSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- On The Russia Guy’s 100th episode, today's guest is Julia Ioffe, now a correspondent at GQ Magazine, a former Moscow-based reporter, a prominent public figure in both academic settings and cable news, and the author of an upcoming book about Russia. In the interview you’re about to hear, Julia talks about the steps that led her to journalism, the differences of working with official sources in Moscow and Washington, D.C., what it’s like to have a personal connection to the news, and the highs and lows of life as a writer.Follow Julia on Twitter:https://twitter.com/juliaioffeRead her stories at GQ:https://www.gq.com/contributor/julia-ioffeSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Oliver Carroll, the Moscow correspondent for the British newspaper “The Independent.” Ollie has lived in and reported from Moscow and Kyiv for more than a decade, he’s back in the Russian capital now, and he was kind enough to come on this podcast to discuss the latest political shakeup in the Russian government and the constitutional amendments, as well as his long career reporting from Russia, Ukraine, and the war-torn Donbas.Follow Ollie on Twitter:https://twitter.com/olliecarrollRead his work at The Independent:https://www.independent.co.uk/author/oliver-carrollSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today’s guest is Elizaveta Fokht, a journalist the BBC’s Russian-language service, who's also reported for Russian news outlets like Dozhd and RBK. Earlier this month, she and her colleague, Andrey Zakharov, wrote a spectacular story about a new media holding company called “Patriot,” which unites several websites with connections to Evgeny Prigozhin, the Russian catering magnate (who also dabbles in media, mercenaries, and God knows what else).Read their report (in Russian) here:https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-50632900Read an English-language summary at Meduza here:https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/12/04/why-so-negativeFollow Elizaveta on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/lizafohtSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Lincoln Pigman, a Master’s graduate student at Oxford University and a research fellow at the Foreign Policy Center. He’s written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many other outlets, usually about Russian cyberspace. About a year ago, he wrote an article in the Journal of Cyber Policy, titled “Russia’s Vision of Cyberspace: A Danger to Regime Security, Public Safety, and Societal Norms and Cohesion.”Follow Lincoln on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/lincolnpigmanSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Ariel Cohen, a scholar focusing on political risk, international security and energy policy, and the rule of law, working as a specialist on Russia, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. He’s currently a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, the director of the Energy, Growth, and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center (which promotes tax reform and public-private initiatives to improve the investment climate in transition and developing economies), and he’s a columnist at Forbes.Ariel talked at length about growing up in the Soviet Union, and how his childhood experiences inform his thinking to this day, not just about Russia, but about human nature and geopolitics. And he discussed conditions in the U.S. foreign service these days, where he says the demise of regional studies has done serious damage. Also, he talked about how he came to political risk analysis.Follow Dr. Cohen on Twitter:https://twitter.com/Dr_Ariel_CohenSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Olesya Vartanyan, Crisis Group’s analyst for the “EU Eastern Neighbourhood.” Based in Tbilisi, she researches and produces reports on regional security issues in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on breakaway regions in the South Caucasus. She told Kevin what it’s like to go from a career in journalism to the world of professional analysis, and let him ask her ignorant questions about the region.Follow her on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/Olesya_vArtFind her Crisis Group expert page here:https://www.crisisgroup.org/who-we-are/people/olesya-vartanyanSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Gasan Gusejnov, a linguistics professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. Many people in Russia are learning about him right now because of a Facebook post he shared on October 29, where he complained that Russians show too little interest in other languages. He said specifically that newsstands in Moscow — a city with hundreds of thousands of ethnicities besides Russian — offer only publications in “the miserable and foul Russian language.” He also argued that Russians try to justify their aversion to other languages as the privilege of a “great power,” but this insularity, he says, is actually the result of Russia’s “barbarity.” The Facebook post led to a national scandal, including threats and even a whole segment on pro-Kremlin pundit Dmitry Kiselyov’s network TV show. Gasan discussed the issue and why he thinks so many have reacted so harshly.https://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/72525472Support this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's guest is Tikhon Dzyadko, a journalist who’s worked for Russia’s top independent radio and television broadcasters, Ekho of Moscow and TV Rain, or Dozhd, and he’s now deputy director of news programs at TV station broadcast online in Russia, RTVI. Tikhon talked to Kevin about how he got into journalism, the challenges facing independent reporters in Russia (specifically when it comes to sources), and what he thinks about Russia reporting in the United States.Follow him on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/tikhondzyadko Check out his reporting at RTVI here:https://rtvi.com/team/tikhon-dzyadko/Support this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- On today's episode, Kevin reflects briefly on his first trip to Moscow in seven years, and reviews a new investigative report by Meduza about special government communications services issued by Russia's Federal Protective Service — and why nobody actually uses them.Read the article here:https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/10/09/nobody-s-homeSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
- Today's show welcomes back Dr. Alina Polyakova, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, an adjunct professor of European studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a specialist in far-right populism and nationalism, and Russian foreign policy. Last month, Alina and her colleague, Chris Meserole, wrote a policy brief for Brookings, titled “Exporting Digital Authoritarianism: The Russian and Chinese Models,” where they say Russia, China, and other states are using high-tech means to expand their influence around the world, and they argue that the United States and other democracies need to take action to limit the effects of these efforts. Read the paper here:https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FP_20190827_digital_authoritarianism_polyakova_meserole.pdfFollow Dr. Polyakova on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/apolyakovaSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic and audio:Ну погоди, episode 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHd3sxpEbo&t=7sОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)
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