In the bunker with Darth Putin

Darth and I welcome Michael Weiss, an investigative journalist renowned for his extensive coverage of the wars in Syria and Ukraine, as well as his publications on Russian espionage and disinformation. Amid a fair amount of jokes and sarcasm, we delve into discussions about the GRU and how its spy culture contrasts with that of the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service. We loo

This is our first episode in the monthly series on Belarus. You'll gain insights into Belarusian domestic politics as we discuss how our guy is running the country, relying on his family and the network of "mini-garchs.". According to Wikipedia, he is the "longest-serving European president." That's one way to put it. Tune in and learn more about our lovely dictator's adventures.

In this episode, Ben Wittes agrees to serve as a token for the gender equality balance, as he is the second male guest in our podcast series. On a more serious note, we're discussing Trump’s trials and how they'll impact the 2024 elections. While Darth’s parody plots to bring the bad guy back to the White House, we are discussing the unfavorable consequences for U.S. foreign po

Darth & I are joined in bunker by Natalia Antonova. Natalia is an OSINT researcher, writer, playwright and close watcher of Russia. Based in DC, she's from Ukraine but also lived in Moscow for a number of years. Listen and learn about Russian homo-romanticism, as opposed to homo eroticism, incels who hate women but love Putin, techbros who love Putin and sex offenders who also lvo

In this episode Darth is joined by Maria Snegovaya. Maria is a post doc at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Senior Fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a Fellow at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University. More interesting, the Kremlin declared her a foreign a

In this episode Darth and I joined by Minna Ålander, an expert on both Finland and Germany as well as Arctic security. We talk about German relations with Russia, nuclear blackmail, how China is apparently an arctic nation, and Macron's recent statements about the war. Darth insisted that Minna decide between tea, sushi and perfume. Katie: @kshmatsina Minna: @minna_alander Patreon

In this Episode Darth and I talk about the election results and how it was a real cliffhanger. We talk a little about what this might mean in future and what the prospects are for Russia becoming a democracy (spoiler, not much). We recap some of the events this week aside from the voting theatre and then introduce the Patreon we're gonna be loading these future epsides to.

This episode is just Darth and I. We talk about Parody Putin's adress to the Duma, Medvedev's comrade Mao jacket with the buttons that can barely take the strain, and most of all, Darth's new book. Follow me: @kshmatsina There's also a Patreon: click here for more details.

In this episode Darth & I are joined in the bunker by Jade McGlynn, an author & research fellow from King's College London. Her books "Memory Makers" and "Russia's War" discuss how Russians see the war in Ukraine and how Russians see their own history nd we dig into these in the pod. We also also talk how the Kremlin uses and abuses this and why it's not just Putin's war but Russia

In our first, formal episode, Darth & I are joined by the former president of Estonia, Toomas Hendrick Ilves, who gives us his take on the state of the war, Western Europe's almost willful lack of understanding of Russia, the selection process for head of NATO, what Medvedev is like in person, how Estonia became a success after de-occupation, and how he's that rare thing—a Presid