Julia Ioffe on Women in Russia, US Democracy, Putin | The Mishal Husain Show

How do you tell the history of a whole country through its women? It’s a task taken on by the Russian-American journalist Julia Ioffe in her new book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, From Revolution to Autocracy.

Having reported from, and on, Russia for publications including The New Yorker and Foreign Policy for more than a decade, Ioffe says she has repeatedly been asked to explain the actions and motivations of one man: Vladimir Putin.

Motherland is, she says, partly a response to Putin, through her desire to show that Russia is much more than one person, let alone one man.

In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Ioffe reflects on the history of Russia, right up to the present day. They also discuss the US, where Ioffe observes that in less than a year Donald Trump has been able to achieve what it took Vladimir Putin two decades to do.

(Note: This podcast contains a discussion of sexual violence that some listeners may find distressing.)

You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

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