Generation Putin

September 23, 2020

Banishing enemies, fraudulent polls and politically motivated poisonings are all too familiar for Vladimir Kara-Murza, vice president of the Free Russia Foundation, who spoke to The World's host Marco Werman.

Top of The World

Lukashenko meets with Putin; Indian parliament convenes for first time in 6 months; Afghan peace talks kick off

The World

September 14, 2020

The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, arrived at the Russian resort city of Sochi on the Black Sea coast to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. India’s parliament convened for the first time in six months, as new cases of the coronavirus increased by over 90,000 in just a day. Also, the Afghan government and the Taliban began peace talks in Doha, Qatar.

Foreign policy

'Between Two Fires' looks at the complexities of life in Putin's Russia

The World

February 04, 2020

Joshua Yaffa lives in Russia and is the Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker magazine. In his new book, “Between Two Fires,” he writes about how complicated life is in President Vladimir Putin's Russia, and how — to some degree — he found the same in Ukraine.

Internet

The Russian government has even more control of the internet now

The World

November 01, 2019

A law known as the "sovereign internet" bill came into force in Russia. It aims to tighten state control over the the internet, which free speech activists say will strengthen government oversight of the country's cyberspace.

In 'The Humorist,' Soviet comedy is no joke

The World

September 19, 2019

Michael Idov's new film, “The Humorist,” captures the oxymoronic nature of state-sanctioned Soviet comedy and the downfall of the system through the eyes of character, Boris Arkadiev.

Protest

Eco-protesters fight Moscow’s attempt to ‘trash’ Russia’s north

The World

September 12, 2019

The fight over Shiyes — a remote railway outpost in Russia’s Arkhangelsk Province that is to play host to a giant landfill — first erupted a little over a year ago after local hunters came across a secret construction site deep in the region’s forests.

Elections

‘Smart vote’ protests in Russia deal Putin’s party a blow in elections

The World

September 09, 2019

At the suggestion of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many anti-Putin voters decided to vote for anyone other than a candidate from Vladimir Putin's party — even candidates that voters might otherwise find distasteful — in Russia's municipal elections.

Generation Putin

Russia’s rap scene: No place for politics

The World

June 28, 2019

Rap is now mainstream in Russia. The sound is everywhere: in clubs, on the radio and in stores. But despite a culture of speaking out on issues in the West, why do many rappers in Russia avoid talking about the country’s big problems?

Generation Putin

Marco Werman: A Cold War baby visits Putin's Russia

The World

June 28, 2019

Marco Werman visited Russia for the first time earlier this year. In Moscow, he saw the careful editing of Soviet history and the rise of Western commercialism.