The Naked Pravda

Earlier this month, Meduza published an article by Andrey Pertsev about President Vladimir Putin’s shifting rhetoric when discussing the 1939 Soviet-Nazi nonaggression pact, as well as his growing criticism of Polish foreign policy in the year before the USSR cut a deal with Adolf Hitler. Despite being many decades old, these events remain hotly debated in Eastern Europe for obvious reasons: millions died in the conflict, which ended with Poland in the Soviet bloc for more than 40 years, and questions about blame and who only did “what was necessary” are still issues that offend and excite. That is undoubtedly why political elites today in both Russia and Poland often talk about the war, defending their own country’s legacy against allegations from abroad. On this episode of “The Naked Pravda,” however, we turn not to political elites, but four historians. Can scholarly work establish blame? Is this something that drives academic work? What is whitewashed in the debate playing out in speeches and news headlines right now? Listen to the show and find out. In this episode: (4:26) Geoffrey Roberts, a professor of history at the University College Cork in Ireland, explains how Vladimir Putin apparently sees the history of the late 1930s. (7:33) Tom Junes, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow and a historian at the European University Institute in Florence, says the only country we can rationally blame for starting WWII is Nazi Germany. (13:10) Arch Getty, a distinguished research professor of history at UCLA, says Putin gets more right about the history of the late 1930s than he gets wrong. (21:48) Ivan Kurilla, a professor of history and international relations at European University at St. Petersburg, discusses the challenges now facing historians of the 20th century in Russia and Eastern Europe. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In mid-January, administrators at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE, perhaps the best university in Russia, shared a proposal to impose greater restrictions on political activism within the university that would have prohibited individuals affiliated with HSE from mentioning this connection when discussing political issues or taking part in what school officials described as “socially divisive” activities. The university also announced that HSE is stripping all student media groups of their official status, apparently in response to the actions of a single student outlet called Doxa. About a week later, on January 24, HSE’s Academic Council held a 10-hour meeting. Among many issues, the council discussed the proposed amendments to the school’s internal rules, ultimately watering down many of the most draconian suggestions. To find out more about this situation and understand how it compares to political freedoms on U.S. campuses, “The Naked Pravda” spoke to a handful of scholars in Russia and America. In this episode: (1:53) Greg Yudin, a senior research fellow and associate professor of sociology at the Higher School of Economics, says HSE’s administration listened to students and reached a reasonable compromise. (4:28) Armen Aramyan, an editor at Doxa and a graduate student at the Higher School of Economics, says the amended rules adopted by HSE’s Academic Council are still too vague and restrictive. (7:42) Andrey Lavrov, HSE’s public relations director, addresses the compromise reached between the administration and disgruntled students. (22:15) Kris Olds and Mark Johnson, two scholars at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, describe restrictions on political activism on U.S. college campuses. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

The “Agora” human rights group and digital activists at Roskomsvoboda recently released a report on Russian Internet freedom in 2019, where they argue that the state authorities have settled on an Internet policy vector focused on “control, censorship, and isolation.” Late last year, Meduza published a story about how a Federal Protective Service veteran and the descendant of one of Russia’s most celebrated families of missile engineers has been appointed to serve as the director of a powerful new monitoring center inside Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state censor, which is responsible for enforcing legislation that took effect in November 2019 that is ostensibly intended “to ensure the integrity, continuity, stability, resilience, and security of the functioning of the Internet’s Russian national segment.”  The law, which charges a new division of Roskomnadzor with ensuring the RuNet’s stable operation and defense from external threats, is convoluted and potentially unenforceable. To find out more about Russia’s push for Internet isolation and its feasibility, “The Naked Pravda” turns to three experts. In this episode: (4:35) Tanya Lokot, an assistant professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University, looks at the strategic thinking in Moscow. (9:28) Alena Epifanova, a program officer at the German Council on Foreign Relations and author of “Deciphering Russia’s ‘Sovereign Internet Law,” explains deep packet inspection. (14:23) Marielle Wijermars, an assistant professor in cyber-security and politics at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki, asks why Russian regulators don’t enforce all the Internet regulations on the books. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In recent years, we’ve witnessed a strange convergence of Russian and American conspiratorial thinking. They’re talking about each other again in Moscow and Washington, often spinning stories that aren’t exactly rooted in facts. Whether it’s Russiagate in the United States or color revolution in Russia and countries across the former Soviet Union, diabolical plots are afoot. To find out what drives popular conspiracy theories in Russia and the U.S., “The Naked Pravda” turned to a handful of scholars who study the subject. Today’s show also takes a broader look at how Russians and Americans see themselves and each other. How did we get on this subject? Last month, Meduza investigative correspondent Liliya Yapparova, whose work we’ve discussed before on this podcast, wrote an article about a curious college course taught by Vitaly Grigorev, a military veteran and former instructor at the KGB Higher School. This winter term, Grigorev’s students in “national systems of information security” at the MIREA Russian Technological University — one of Russia’s biggest technological schools — are learning about many strange concepts, including popular conspiracy theories, like the “Dulles Plan” (which claims that former CIA chief Allen Dulles plotted to destroy the USSR by corrupting its “cultural heritage” and “moral values”). In this episode: (2:15) Liliya Yapparova tells the story behind her story. (6:02) Scott Radnitz explains the political science of studying conspiracy theories. (8:48) Ilya Yablokov, author of “Fortress Russia,” distinguishes between grassroots and elite conspiracy theories. (16:29) Eliot Borenstein, author of “Plots Against Russia,” says American unreflexivity is the stuff of Russian culture’s dreams. (29:46) Sean Guillory, host of the “SRB Podcast,” recalls America’s Red Scare during the race riots of the early 20th century. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Most weeks, it’s fair to say that you could probably roll your eyes at a 30-minute podcast about the inner workings of executive power in Russia. But the issue is suddenly urgent. Two days ago, Vladimir Putin delivered his annual state-of-the-nation speech, where he surprised the country by calling for Constitutional amendments that would radically redistribute power in the Russian state, possibly weakening the presidential administration. And then his entire cabinet resigned, and long-time Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was moved (some would say demoted) to a new number-two spot on Russia’s Security Council. While you never really need an excuse in Russia to talk about Vladimir Putin or the Kremlin, the inspiration for this episode of “The Naked Pravda” was Andrey Pertsev’s October 2019 story about Sergey Kiriyenko, Putin’s current first deputy chief of staff and the supposed manager of Russia’s domestic politics. But the article is more than a Kiriyenko profile. It offers a broader look at his office in the Kremlin and at the Putin presidential administration itself, which remains enormously hard to comprehend, even two decades after Putin first took office. To understand the mechanics of Kremlin analysis, or Kremlinology, host Kevin Rothrock turned to some of the brightest political experts around. In this episode: (3:51) Maria Lipman on Kremlinology’s shortcomings (5:42) Konstantin Gaaze says Russia’s state ideology was designed accidentally as a “life hack” (8:10) Brian Taylor on the presidential administration’s relationship with Russia’s Constitution (22:28) Yana Gorokhovskaia says the proposed reforms will weaken Russia’s super-presidential system (24:14) Sam Greene highlights the newfound importance of the State Council (25:58) Mark Galeotti explains Dmitry Medvedev’s new home: the Security Council “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

According to a report by the news agency “Rossiya Segodnya,” almost half of the articles in the foreign press about Russia are “negative.” This recent study leans heavily on the British media (which makes up more than a third of the entire sample), where nearly 40 percent of the selected coverage is supposedly biased against Russia. Meduza learned that hundreds of the articles Rossiya Segodnya examined in the British press share the same author: a man who’s worked in Russia since 1992 and now simply rewrites blurbs he finds in Russian tabloids, selected for him by Russian staff working at his news agency. To find out more about this peculiar individual and learn why the Russian authorities devote resources to studies like the one released this fall, “The Naked Pravda” spoke to Meduza‘s head of investigative reporting, Alexey Kovalev, who profiled Stewart’s bizarre career in journalism in an article this October, and to media scholars Sarah Oates and Vasily Gatov. In this episode: (2:47) Alexey Kovalev explains how he found out about Will Stewart, a prolific British reporter in Moscow who turned to tabloids after years of serious journalism. (9:46) Sarah Oates argues that officials in Moscow shouldn’t be surprised by the Western media’s Russia coverage, and it’s the trivialization of Russia that’s really vexing. (16:09) Vasily Gatov describes the “symbiosis” of security functionaries and public relations spin doctors who guide state decision making in Russia. (24:28) Concluding remarks by your host, Kevin Rothrock. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

The Russian Presidential Affairs Department’s Scientific Research Computing Center (GRCC) develops systems to monitor and deanonymize social-media users, and it sells these systems to government and private clients alike. Using the company’s services, insurance companies can root out dishonest employees, and security-guard companies can recruit new staff. Other GRCC programs allow the police to hunt down “extremists” online. In a special report published in late September, Meduza learned that these computing systems collect information on Russians not just from open sources, but also from leaked databases that are sold illegally on the black market.  To find out more about Russia’s database black market and how this information is being used, “The Naked Pravda” spoke to Meduza special correspondent Liliya Yapparova and Christo Grozev and Aric Toler, two top researchers at the investigative journalism website Bellingcat. In this episode: (2:01) Liliya Yapparova explains how she first learned about GRCC and its controversial products. (5:46) Kevin and Liliya discuss the ethics of using illegal databases to hunt down criminals, and the tradeoffs tech consumers accept when embracing news services. (9:15) Christo Grozev reviews Bellingcat’s history and how he came to the group. (11:39) Aric Toler describes “digital stalking” and talks about Bellingcat’s mid-October report about one of the alleged Skripal poisoners attending the family wedding of a Russian military intelligence commander. (21:31) Aric explains why Bellingcat isn’t like Wikileaks. (23:56) Christo talks about when Bellingcat thinks it’s okay to use leaked databases. (30:29) Liliya and Christo argue that Russia’s data-leak problem can’t be fixed anytime soon. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In life and in news reporting, violence against women is a sadly “evergreen” topic, but the issue has taken on new and growing momentum in Russia, where there’s a rising number of high-profile cases involving rape and self-defense. Meduza has reported extensively on these investigations, and, in this first episode of “The Naked Pravda,” managing editor Kevin Rothrock speaks to a handful of activists and journalists who are working to shed more light on these cases and the social movement that hopes to transform how Russia handles women’s safety. In this episode: (1:20) In mid-October, after weeks of hesitation, a journalist in Veliky Novgorod publicly accused a colleague from another local news outlet of raping her. (Read Meduza’s report here.) Why was she reluctant to speak openly about the assault? (5:22) Marina Pisklakova-Parker, the founder and chair of the board of the women’s rights group “Center ANNA,” recalls how women’s rights advocacy in Russia has evolved since the 1990s, and discusses the impact of being designated as a “foreign agent” by the Justice Ministry. (8:18) Hilah Kohen, Meduza’s English-language news editor, argues that ethical storytelling in cases of sexual violence focuses on survivors and frames allegations in a broader social context.  (14:40) Elena Kalinina, a managing partner at the advertising agency “Room485,” explains how her team created an interactive game designed to raise awareness about domestic violence and abusive partners. (17:45) Anna Romashchenko, region coordinator for the advocacy group “Nasiliu.net” (No to Violence), talks about creating safe spaces for women in Russia and the unexpected demographics of views about women’s rights.  (20:18) Ola Cichowlas, AFP’s Moscow correspondent, recounts her story about a woman in Moscow who was prosecuted for defending herself against an abusive partner. (23:26) Nastya Krasilnikova, who writes on Telegram about representations of women in the Russian media, argues that many news outlets actively “hate women,” but there is more willingness now than before to talk about sexual assault. If you or someone you know is in an unsafe relationship, there are resources available, like the National Domestic Violence Hotline in the U.S. and the National Domestic Violence Helpline in the UK. In Russia, you can contact Nasiliu.net, Center ANNA, and other groups. “The Naked Pravda” comes out on Fridays. Catch every new episode by subscribing at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms. If you have a question or comment about the show, please write to Kevin Rothrock at kevin@meduza.io with the subject line: “The Naked Pravda.”Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

“The Naked Pravda” highlights how Meduza’s top reporting intersects with the wider research and expertise that exists about Russia. Future episodes will look at the following issues: 💾 Leaked databases and how the black market for this information has become a key aspect of Russian law enforcement and investigative journalism in Russia🗑️ Russian tabloid journalism and its reverberations in the Western news media⚔️ Kremlin clan politics and the power of the presidential administration. ✊ The show’s first episode, which debuts on Friday, November 29, will address a sexual-assault case in Veliky Novgorod and the state of women’s rights and safety in Russia today. Americans, queue it up for that Thanksgiving drive home. 🎧 Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно