The Gospel According to Queer Russians

Sergey Khazov-Cassia’s newly translated novel reimagines Christ’s story as a parable of queer suffering and resistance in Putin’s Russia

For more than a decade, Russia—and its client states like Chechnya—have carried out the brutal persecution of sexual and gender minorities, particularly gay men, with tacit approval from the Russian Orthodox Church. This violence is framed as a defense of “traditional family values,” part of a nostalgic vision of Russia ...
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The Gospel According to Queer Russians

Intellectual Violence

The militarization of education in Russia

In the age of mature Putinism, violence and control, accompanied by a new morality based on so-called “traditional values,” have become crucial instruments for managing Russian society. The use of the education system and cultural institutions to indoctrinate the population—above all young people—is a form of violence, only intellectual rather ...
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Intellectual Violence

Naked Oligarchy

How billionaires captured power and hollowed out democracy

The choice is stark: rule by the many, or rule by the billionaires who already act as if they own the world. Across the globe, extreme wealth has overpowered democracy. The world’s billionaires no longer merely influence politics; they dominate it. Behind the rhetoric of innovation and market efficiency lies a ...
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Naked Oligarchy

All IU Faculty, Staff, and Students Are “Safe,” but Some Are Safer Than Others

The discursive stylings of an authoritarian campus administration

Instead of grading papers and preparing final exams last April, I was at Dunn Meadow, a public gathering space on Indiana University (IU) Bloomington’s campus. My aim, and that of my colleagues, was to protect student protesters from the violence sanctioned by IU’s top administrators, another possible intrusion by the ...
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All IU Faculty, Staff, and Students Are “Safe,” but Some Are Safer Than Others

The Man Who Was Too Strong

Alexei Navalny will forever remain a symbol of hope for change in Russia

One of the first rallies I covered as a journalist was the "voters' strike" in January 2018 in Saint Petersburg. Navalny declared the strike when he was barred from participating in the presidential elections due to his criminal record. Navalny's work and his courage often inspired me to continue my ...
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The Man Who Was Too Strong

Diaries of War

Voices of witness from Ukraine and Russia

As the events of this war unfolded, I reached out to K., a Russia-born Ukrainian journalist in Kyiv, and D., an artist from St. Petersburg. I asked K. and D. if I could interview them to create a visual, weekly diary that would juxtapose their contrasting voices, and that would ...
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Diaries of War

The Adventures of a Very Amateur Historian

In episode 38, Claire Potter chats with Allison Epstein about her new novel on Imperial Russia, Let the Dead Bury the Dead

Allison Epstein’s new historical novel, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, is a story about Russians fighting for freedom. It’s a ripping tale about an officer coming home from the Napoleonic Wars to the man he loves....

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The Adventures of a Very Amateur Historian