Masha Gessen on Putin’s 'Profoundly Anti-Modern’ Worldview

<p>For Western audiences, the past few weeks have been a torrent of information about what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine. Daily updates of Russian military advances. Horrifying videos of buildings exploding and innocent civilians being killed. Announcements of increasingly severe economic sanctions and major corporate pullouts. Charts showing the collapse of the ruble. Story after story about the hardships facing the Russian economy.</p><p>Most Russians, however, are living in an alternate reality. This week, the Russian government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/world/europe/russia-censorship-media-crackdown.html" target="_blank">made it a crime</a> for journalists to spread what it considers false information about the “special military operation” in Ukraine — information that would include calling the war a war. As a result, many Western news organizations, including The Times, have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/business/media/new-york-times-russia-press-freedom.html" target="_blank">pulled their employees out of Russia</a>. The Kremlin has made it nearly impossible for people in Russia to access independent or international news sources. Russian state media coverage of the conflict has been, in the words of my guest today, “bland and bloodless.”</p><p>That raises some important questions: What do ordinary Russians know about the war being waged by their government? How are they interpreting the collapse of their currency and impending financial crisis? What are they being told to believe? And is the propaganda machine working?</p><p>Masha Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of many books on Russian history, politics and culture, including “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306492/the-man-without-a-face-by-masha-gessen/" target="_blank">The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin</a>” and the National Book Award-winning “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318687/the-future-is-history-by-masha-gessen/" target="_bl