Oh, and I think Max you’re doing a great job discussing such a variety of topics about the real world we live in, and in a restrained and balanced way too. I first learned to read Russian in the time of the Iron Curtain and the scarce contemporary reading materials we got out of the Soviet Union were all very positive – no disasters, none of the diseases you find in the West, no poverty, no mismanagement, no corruption, no discrimination either, obviously. Immensely boring texts, all using the same structure and vocabulary, and uninformative by nature as everything that did not fit the mold was simply left out. Now, 40 years later, I get to see a glimpse of life in Russia, thanks to your podcasts and videos. Kudos to you!

You may not want to call it homophobia or discrimination, there surely is a lot of hatred around, and all this because these people appeared in an advertisement https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/05/russian-gay-family-in-controversial-ad-flee-to-spain-after-threats Yes it could happen in other countries too – homosexuals are abused, vilified, insulted, humiliated and beaten up for what they are even in gay Amsterdam. I would call that homophobia.

Max, thank you for your helpful (for learning the language) and instructive podcasts/vlogs. Very well done!!
There is a Wikipedia article about the US law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act?wprov=sfti1. It applies to:
“-people and organizations that are under control of a foreign government, or of organizations or of persons outside of the United States (“foreign principal”),
– if they act “at the order, request, or under the direction or control” (i.e. as “agents”) of this principal or
of persons who are “controlled or subsidized in major part” by this principal.” The text itself may or may not be clearer and more restrictive than the Russian law, but it would seem that just receiving money from various sources abroad is not enough to be qualified as “foreign agent”. And of course the interpretation of the law by a US Government can always be challenged in court, and the judges may think differently.
Protection against undermining activities, including propaganda and mis-information, I find acceptable, provided checks and balances are in place, to prevent just about any opposition to be moved out of the way by being labelled “propaganda”. These checks and balances include a free press and access to information about the actions of a government for critical journalists and even media abroad. With of without an independent justice system and media that can freely express divergent and opposing views the same law may in practice turn out to be a very different instrument.