Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod&quo ... Show More
Yesterday
From the archive: Leave no trace: how a teenage hacker lost himself online
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: Edwin Robbe had a troubled life, but found excitement and purpose by joining an audacious community of hackers. Then the ... Show More
33m 21s
Jul 3
I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began
My friends and I wanted to tell the story of Cuban life, without interference. Before long, I was being isolated, monitored and interrogated By Abraham Jiménez Enoa. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros A version of this essay was previously published in the Dial under the title The ... Show More
42m 20s
Jun 2023
15. Tanks Riding Towards Moscow
Vladimir Putin survived the short lived revolt that saw thousands of mercenaries march towards Moscow, but at what cost?Jonny Dymond is joined by:Polina Ivanova: foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, covering Russia and Ukraine. Owen Matthews: journalist, historian and a ... Show More
28m 54s
Feb 2019
Steven Lee Myers' Putin Primer
<p>Russia has glittering towers and a jet-set elite, but grinding rural poverty. It has one of the world’s great literary traditions, but throws dissenters in jail for a blog post. Who <em>is</em> Vladimir Putin, the man who created this new world power through force of will? New ... Show More
52m 43s
Dec 2023
Kadare, Gospodinov, Kafka and Dickens
The Palace of Dreams is a novel from 1981 that is ostensibly set in the 19th century Ottoman empire, but the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare cleverly smuggles in thinly veiled criticism of the totalitarian state presided over by Enver Hoxha. The book was duly banned shortly after p ... Show More
45m 7s