In Moscow's Shadows 242: Igor Sechin, Sharpening Putin's Pencils for 30 Years
Putin reportedly gathered top oligarchs behind closed doors and asked them to chip in to help fill the budget, with the war in Ukraine sitting unmistakably in the background. The idea seems to have be...
29 Mar 50min
In Moscow's Shadows 241: When Attack Dogs Turn
A handful of memes and an online storm can look like nothing, right up until they start steering the news cycle. Efforts to talk up a secessionist Russian-speaking Estonian “Narva People’s Republic” l...
22 Mar 42min
In Moscow's Shadows 240: Frankenstein's Putinism
Or, 'Team Russia and the Undead Ideology Project' Can you create an ideology that is custom-engineered, poll-driven, focus grouped, workshopped and marketed? The Presidential Administration's Alexand...
15 Mar 50min
In Moscow's Shadows 239: Wars Foreign and Domestic
How does the Iran war look to Russia, at once a potential morass for the USA (and Europe) and a case study, many in policy circles feel, on why not to trust Washington. It's also a laboratory for what...
8 Mar 49min
In Moscow's Shadows 238: Bangers and Mish
First, as the USA, Israel and Iran trade drone and missile strikes, how the war may play out for Russia: my sense is that on balance it will give Moscow more opportunities than headaches. Then, from...
1 Mar 52min
In Moscow's Shadows 237: How A 1552 Siege Explains A 2022 Invasion
A frozen river swallows cannons in 1550; a traffic jam of armour stalls outside Kyiv in 2022. Different centuries, same lesson: wars are won by planning, logistics, and the courage to listen to people...
22 Feb 1h 1min
In Moscow's Shadows 236: What Is Russia?
In the first half, I look at the latest news about Navalny's death, what a change in the composition of the Russian negotiation team in Geneva may mean, and why looking for a dubious Russian connectio...
15 Feb 52min
In Moscow's Shadows Bonus Minipod: Rebel Russia
A mini-episode that paying Patrons heard as part of their Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas bonuses. Forget the cliché that Russians accept power without protest, I sit down with author and analyst Ann...
10 Feb 27min
