The Naked Pravda
Meduza’s English-language podcast, The Naked Pravda highlights how our top reporting intersects with the wider research and expertise that exists about Russia. The broader context of Meduza’s in-depth, original journalism isn’t always clear, which is where this show comes in. Here you’ll hear from the world’s community of Russia experts, activists, and reporters about issues that are at the heart of Meduza’s stories and crucial to major events in and around Russia.
Is Europe preparing for a wider Russian invasion?
To learn how Europe is preparing for the prospect of Russia invading NATO territory, Meduza turns to Baltic defense expert Lukas Milevski, political scientist Henrik Larsen, and retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army Europe.
Politico’s Alex Ward on Biden’s Russia and Ukraine policy
For the inside scoop on team Biden’s Russia and Ukraine policy, Meduza turns to Politico national security reporter Alex Ward, the author of The Internationalists: The Fight To Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump.
The Russian space nukes scare
To make sense of U.S. reports about new Russian space-based weapons and to respond to the panic that this situation provokes, The Naked Pravda welcomes back nuclear arms expert Pavel Podvig.
Christopher Miller on how war came to Ukraine
To mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s brutal ongoing campaign to seize more territory, Meduza sits down with journalist Christopher Miller to talk about his book, “The War Came To Us: Life and Death in Ukraine.”
The death of Alexey Navalny
Meduza reports on opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death in prison and speaks to experts about his legacy and the political science behind autocrats eliminating dissident threats.
Yandex’s restructuring and the future of Kremlin tech control
The Naked Pravda speaks to Meduza journalist Svetlana Reiter about the ins and outs of Yandex’s historic restructuring and what the deal means for the future of Kremlin control over the Russian Internet.
How Russia targets its critics abroad in wartime
Meduza speaks to activist Dan Storyev and researcher Yana Gorokhovskaia about how Russia’s approach to transnational repression, or the persecution of its citizens in exile, has evolved since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
How doomed presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin rallied antiwar Russians
Meduza speaks to scholar Маrgarita Zavadskaya about Boris Nadezhdin’s political career and sudden popularity among antiwar Russians, and about opposition politics throughout Russia’s Putin era.
Why hasn’t the West seized Russia’s frozen sovereign assets?
To understand what’s keeping the West from grabbing frozen Russian sovereign assets and what it will take for the confiscation to go ahead, Meduza spoke to journalist Alexander Kolyandr and welcomed back political risk advisor Maximilian Hess.
The evolution of Russia’s combat recruitment
Meduza interviews Project “Get Lost” creator and director Grigory Sverdlin and International Security Professor Stefan Wolff about the challenges and consequences of military recruitment and mobilization in Russia and Ukraine.
Memories of Russia
Two of Meduza’s American editors exchange memories from the time they spent living in Russia between 2014 and 2020.
Growing up German in Soviet Kazakhstan, with Lena Wolf
Meduza talks to graphic novelist Lena Wolf about her childhood as a “Kazakh German” and the process of documenting her family’s story of survival in the Soviet Union.
How studying Russia became a paradox
Meduza speaks to researcher Dmitriy Gorskiy about challenges facing academics, journalists, and analysts who study Russia amid heightened global interest and shrinking reliable data.
Russia’s ban on the ‘LGBT movement’
Meduza speaks to historian Dan Healey, sociologist Alexander Kondakov, and political scientist Leandra Bias about the roots of the Kremlin’s anti-LGBTQ+ politics in the wake of the Russian Supreme Court’s decision to ban the “LGBT movement.”
Spotlight on Georgia
In an episode all about Georgia — including crackdown on protests, media freedom and Russia’s occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia — Meduza speaks to Crisis Group South Caucasus Senior Analyst Olesya Vartanyan and OC Media co-founder Mariam Nikuradze.
How Russian comedians find the humor in exile
Two Russian comedians, “Dan the Stranger” and Sasha Dolgopolov, describe emigrating to Europe to continue performing antiwar material and what it’s like to do stand-up in English.
How the USSR tried to run the world
Meduza spoke to Dr. Sergey Radchenko about his forthcoming book, To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power, which explores how narratives of legitimacy offer crucial insights for interpreting Moscow’s motivations and foreign policy.
Why is anti-Semitic violence spreading in Russia’s North Caucasus?
The Naked Pravda asks political and security analyst Harold Chambers and RFE/RL Caucasus Realities senior editor Zakir Magomedov what has fomented anti-Semitism in the North Caucasus.
The Russian military’s ‘torture pits’
Meduza interviews iStories journalist Sonya Savina to learn more about her report on the Russian military’s alleged use of “torture pits.” Plus news from the week about Hamas and Iran in Moscow, Mikhail Fridman’s woes, poisoned cake, and more.
Russian music at war
Meduza speaks to two music journalists and the frontman of the band The Largest Prime Number to learn about Russia’s contemporary music scene and how the invasion of Ukraine influences popular trends.
How Russia pressures Central Asian migrants into military service
Meduza speaks to freelance journalist Sher Khashimov and Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center fellow Temur Umarov about The Beet’s recent reporting on Russia’s covert effort to conscript newly naturalized citizens and migrant workers from Central Asia.
‘Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West’
Meduza interviews political risk analyst Maximilian Hess about his new book tackling how the West uses its clout and privileged position with international markets to deter and penalize the Kremlin for its aggression against Ukraine.
Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh
Meduza speaks to Crisis Group South Caucasus Senior Analyst Olesya Vartanyan about Russian troops’ mandate in Nagorno-Karabakh and Moscow’s peacekeeping track record.
What’s behind Putin’s recent spate of anti-Semitic statements?
In light of Vladimir Putin’s recent string of anti-Semitic comments, Meduza talks to historian Artem Efimov about anti-Jewish sentiment in Russia and how the state-sponsored anti-Semitism Putin witnessed in his youth may have shaped his views today.
The Pegasus spyware attack on Meduza
Meduza speaks to Access Now tech-legal counsel Natalia Krapiva and Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton about the Pegasus spyware attack on Meduza co-founder and CEO Galina Timchenko.