hi Max, a few decades ago two journalists were able to bring down president Nixon, they never feared for their lives. I might be biased, but those two in Russia wouldn’t have survived 48 hours.
on the other hand, the American society is violent, you can’t walk alone at night, there are campuses which give you armed escorts when you go back to your dorm at night, if you’re black you fear the police.
there are also societies in northern Europe where you really feel free and if there is manipulation, boy, they do it really well, nobody notices it.
great job, ciao.

hi Greg
if Navalny was in Italy, he would be one of the many government opponents we listen to every day on State TV.
as for the deep state and the social giants like facebook it looks to me that you have an apocalyptic, doomsday and conspirational approach to politics and power at large.
in the west they don’t like Putin because he is a dictator, it’s as simple as that, for sure democracy in the west is far from perfect but at least they don’t arrest opponents at airports.
having said that I respect your point and in no way do I think that I am right.
ciao

hi Max, in one of your answers you say “икогда не будет честных политиков”, and you’re right, because we, the people, want somebody to tell us a nice story with a happy ending. Imagine an honest politician who tells voters “well, I’ll do what I can but don’t expect much from me”, nobody will vote for that person.
talking about truth an objectivity, one day a politician was talking with a famous American journalist, the politician told the journalist “I will tell you the whole truth” and the journalist replied “I don’t care about the truth, just tell me the facts”.
I don’t know about Navalny and I agree with you, he’s totally biased against Putin, but one fact is for sure, in Russia journalists get killed amid the indifference of the state-run media.
I find it difficult to believe the Russian Government when it is involved in State doping which was revealed by Russian top figures who produced tons of evidence and who, strangely, fled Russia.
In the end, when Russia becomes an international pariah there are two options: either there is a worldwide plot to destroy Russia or, more simply, it is behaving in a way that is no more acceptable.
wonderful podcast, really loved it.
ciao