1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,440 Speaker 1: Guess what, mango, what's that? Well, so you, of course 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: remember the weird publicity stunt Vladimir Putin, you know, riding 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: the horseback while shirtless and Siberia, Right, Yeah, I mean 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to forget. Well, you know, we've 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: been talking about doing this episode on Putin for a 6 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: while now, and I was wondering, like, has this guy 7 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: always been one to put on a show? And it 8 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: turns out, just a few decades ago, he was actually 9 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: known as somebody who worked quietly behind the scenes. If 10 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: you go back to the early nineties, Putin was working 11 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: for the first Democratic mayor of St. Petersburg and a 12 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: totally soap check, and when former colleagues were interviewed about 13 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: working with Putin, they reportedly described him as the man 14 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: to see if things needed to get done, but otherwise 15 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: it's somebody who kept a pretty low profile. That's kind 16 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: of interesting. Yeah, And when soap Check failed to get reelected, 17 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: the new mayor reportedly tried to keep Putin on board, 18 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: but Putin declined the job, saying it's better to be 19 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: hanged for loyalty than rewarded for betrayal. I mean, I 20 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: can definitely imagine that being a line that he'd use, 21 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: I mean, especially these days as someone in our definitely, 22 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: But this is what really got us wondering. I mean, 23 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: how did Putin go from being this strong but low 24 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: profile force to being this man we've seen in power 25 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: for a couple of decades now in Russia. So that's 26 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: what we're talking about today. Let's dive in heither podcast listeners, 27 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 28 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: always I'm joined by my good friend man guest Ticketer 29 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: and on the other side of the soundproof glass wearing 30 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: one of his ridiculous T shirts. I don't know how 31 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: he gets these things, because he have them made, but 32 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: I feel like I need to walk the audience through 33 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: this one. This this it's just okay, here's what it is. 34 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: It's got a drawing of Vladimir Putin shirtless on horseback 35 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: of horse standing on the roof of the Ritz, Carlton 36 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: and Moscow and the caption what is it? The caption 37 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: just says, Putin on the Ritz. It's such a long 38 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: way to go for such a dumb joke, but that's 39 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: why we love it. I mean, that dedication from Tristan 40 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: to make these things. It's a pretty great and and 41 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,399 Speaker 1: and honestly, I'll take all the levity we can get 42 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: because today's show deals entirely with Vladimir Putin and Chance Sorr. 43 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: You've heard his name a lot lately, perhaps a bit 44 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: more than you'd care to. And the Russian president has 45 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: been incredibly active on the world stage during the past 46 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: few years, and much of that activity has been met 47 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: with a combination of suspicion and outrage by the international community, 48 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: you know, from alleged murders carried out in his command 49 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: to you know, the illegal annexation of Crimea, to the 50 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: interference in our country's own election. There's no question that 51 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: Putin has been a very busy guy in the past 52 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: few years. But beneath his icy demeanor and over the 53 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: top displaze of machismo, who is Putin really? How did 54 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: he rise to power in the first place, and what 55 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 1: does he actually want? And so those are the kinds 56 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: of questions we're gonna be tackling today, right And to me, 57 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: like one of the most crazy aspects of this whole 58 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: Putent story is just how long he's been in power. 59 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: I Mean, I don't know if you realize this, but 60 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: he's been in powerful almost twenty years now. He first 61 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: became the Prime Minister of Russia in nineteen ninety nine, 62 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: and in the nineteen years since he's alternated between that 63 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: role and the presidency multiple times. It is crazy, I 64 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: mean nineteen nine nine. If you think about that, Bill 65 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: Clinton was our president in nineteen so can you imagine 66 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: if he had stayed in office all those years exactly? 67 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: And you know, two decades of continuous rule is pretty 68 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: unheard of in democracies, though. Russia's claim at a democracy 69 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: has always been if you had best, especially with all 70 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: the stories of corruption. Yeah, and that's true. But before 71 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: we get to ahead of ourselves, when why don't we 72 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: go back to the beginning, to a time when Russia 73 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: made no pretense about being a democracy. So we're going 74 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: back to nineteen fifty two when Putin was born. Now, 75 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: the country at that point was obviously still known as 76 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union, and there was no waffling about what 77 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: it was, which was a one party socialist state. And 78 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: Putin grew up under harsh realities of this system. And 79 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: you know, his family shared a communal style apartment in 80 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: Lennon Grad with I think two other families, and he 81 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: was the only child of working class parents. His mother 82 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: was an auto worker and his father was a decorated 83 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: veteran and also a factory worker, I believe. I mean, 84 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: it's so weird to think about baby Putin and even 85 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: like niche Putin just being like so sullen, but so 86 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: weird to say baby Putin. But what was he even 87 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: like as a child. You know, well, from everything I've read, 88 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: he was just a typical kid from a pretty modest background. 89 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: Like he was an average student in terms of grades 90 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: and and maybe even somewhat of a troublemaker in class. 91 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: Their stories you read about him always throwing a racers 92 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: at his classmates and blowing off his math homework. And 93 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: then as a teenager, just a typical teenager you know 94 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: that was throwing a racers at classmates, I guess, but 95 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: the teenagers were doing at that point. But you know, 96 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: Putin noticed while he was a teenager that some of 97 00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: the other boys his age were bigger than he was, 98 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 1: and so he started learning judo and sambo, which is 99 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: a Soviet combat technique. And this was all in order 100 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: to be able to defend himself. Yeah, I think we've 101 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: all heard about his love of judo, but it's really 102 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: funny that he co authored a couple of books on 103 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: the sport and even released like a silly instructional video. 104 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: It was called Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin. It 105 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: came out and that eight I thought about ordering a 106 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: copy of it just for for this episode, but then 107 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: I thought, no, that's that's probably for the best that 108 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: we not, But that anyway, I'm sure it was every 109 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: kid's dream to be able to learn judo from Vladimir Putin. 110 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: So obviously his childhood behavior and his manly exploits hinted 111 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: at the things to come. But what about his political aspirations? 112 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: Was Putin like interested in government as a kid? Well 113 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: kind of, yeah. I mean he developed a passion for 114 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: Spye novels and TV shows when he was still pretty young, 115 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: and so much so that he even visited the KGB 116 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: headquarters while he was still in school. And he did 117 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: this just to find out how he could join the agency. 118 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: And so because of their advice, Puttin a ended Leningrad 119 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: State University, started studying law there, and then once he graduated, 120 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: he immediately started working in foreign intelligence for the KGB. Yeah, 121 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: and as most of our audience knows, the KGB was 122 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: a national security and intelligence agency. You know, most people 123 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: think of it like the Soviet equivalent to the FBI 124 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: or CIA, but really it's more like a combination that 125 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: two plus it's got like a military and police component 126 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: as well for good measure exactly. Well, as a young recruit, 127 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: Putin had very little influence on policy and mostly was 128 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: working as a spy recruiter instead at that point. Still, 129 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: he gradually worked his way up to be a mid 130 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: level agent during his sixteen years or so with the KGB, 131 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: and he was close to the end of his time 132 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: there that Putin experienced what many now considered to be 133 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: a really defining moment in his life. So what happened then, Well, 134 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: it was nine and Putin was stationed at a KGB 135 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: office in Dresden, East Germany, and the Cold War was 136 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: coming to a close, and anti Communist protesters had started 137 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: gathering in mass to call for the dismantling of Berlin Wall. Well, 138 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: one mob in particular had formed outside the KGB offices 139 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: and they were threatening to storm the building and boot 140 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: out the Communists who were holed up inside, and so 141 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: Putin wanted to take action and fight back the mob, 142 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: but actually he was told that the KGB could do 143 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: nothing until they had received orders from Moscow. So in 144 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: the meantime, Putin and the others started burning these piles 145 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: after piles of sensitive documents, just in case the protesters 146 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: managed to get inside the building. But you know, as 147 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: they waited for word from Moscow, that word actually never came. 148 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: That's crazy. So I'm sure Putin didn't appreciate Moscow just 149 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: hang him out to dry like that. Definitely, I mean 150 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: not at all. And he later reflected on this, saying, 151 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: the business of Moscow is silent. I got the feeling 152 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: that the country no longer existed, that it had disappeared. 153 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: It was clear that the union was ailing, and that 154 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: it had a terminal disease without a cure, a paralysis 155 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: of power, which you know, it must have been a 156 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: hard pill for Puttin to swallow. I know that he 157 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: grew up on the steady diet of Soviet propaganda and 158 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: believing how strong and resilient the state was, and and 159 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: now he gets this firsthand glimpse behind iron curtain and 160 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: sees what a farce at all is. Well, that's exactly right. 161 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: And it wasn't long after the panic in Dressden that 162 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union collapsed completely, and so the country Putin 163 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: had so proudly grown up in and and had served 164 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: for all this time it became a worldwide symbol of 165 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: what not to do. A journalist named Ben Judah has 166 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: this great book on Russia and Putin and it's called 167 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: Fragile Empire, and then he describes the impact of this 168 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: Moscow silence incidents this way. He says, for Putin and 169 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,119 Speaker 1: his generation, those who did not come from intellectual families, 170 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: who believed what they were told about the USS are 171 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: superpower success and didn't question propaganda or what they did 172 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: not have, that moment was a defining scar. Yeah, and 173 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: it certainly explains why Putin has been so hell bent 174 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: to restore Russia's superpower status and you know, to make 175 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: himself seem like such a strong man on the world stage. 176 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: It's almost like he wants to take this rose in 177 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: interview of the country that he has a child and 178 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: turn it into reality again. But here's the thing I 179 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: don't get is how does like a middle aged KGB 180 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: agent turn into i don't know, like a three year 181 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: potentially four term president. Well, like with most great gigs 182 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: like this, it's all about who you know, and in 183 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: Putin's case, he had made, you know, quite a few 184 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: political connections during his time as an intelligence agent, and 185 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: one in particular was anatotally soap chack that we mentioned earlier, 186 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: and he'd been one of Putin's law professors at university 187 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: and had gone on to become the mayor of Leningrad, 188 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: which of course is what we call St. Petersburg today. 189 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: So when Putin resigned from the KGB in nine, so 190 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: Check took him under his wing and he helped him 191 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: navigate the political world. And this was during the collapse 192 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union. He even gave Putin a job 193 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: as his international affairs advisor. With a city mayor has 194 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: his own international affairs advisor. Well, it sounds a little 195 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: strange to us, but but major these in Russia, like 196 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: you know St. Petersburg or Moscow, they really operate more 197 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: like we would think of U. S. States operating here, 198 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: and so they've got a great deal of independence and 199 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: power within their own right. Really. Okay, So, so Putin's 200 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:15,839 Speaker 1: working for the mayor while his country is being restructured 201 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: all around him. That still seems like a long way 202 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: offering the presidency. Well, and it was. But you know, 203 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: Putin worked his way from one civic office to the 204 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,959 Speaker 1: next until nine and this is when his Pala soap Check, 205 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: had been voted out as mayor. And at that point 206 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: Putin was already on good terms with one of soap 207 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: Check's close friends and government and that was Boris Yeltson, 208 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: who we all remember as the first President of Russia. 209 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: So Putin moved to Moscow in n he started working 210 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: for a government agency called the Presidential Property Management Department. 211 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: Now this was an agency task with moving all the 212 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: assets of the former Soviet Union to this newly formed 213 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: Russian Federation. You know, since there was no private ownership 214 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: whatsoever in the previous communist state, that meant that there 215 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: was a ton of property and all these natural resources 216 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: to be able to divvy up at that point. So 217 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: it was a huge task. But I mean it also 218 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: seems like this short fire recipe for corruption, right, Oh, definitely. 219 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: I mean, the agency's officials could award oil, drilling rights, 220 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: military equipment, all these other valuable assets to whoever offered 221 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: them the most in return, and in fact, most people 222 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: speculate that this is where Putin started building his vast 223 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: personal fortune, which I was blown away just in doing 224 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: our research this week about this, because it's thought to 225 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: be in the tens of billions of dollars. I mean, 226 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: I knew the guy was super rich, but tens of 227 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: billions of dollars is what they estimate. That's ridiculous. Now, 228 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: it seems we're only three years out from Putin's first 229 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: crack of the presidency. So tell us where he goes 230 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: from here? All right? So Putin reconnects with his roots 231 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: in the late nineties and joins the FSB and and 232 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: this is the replacement agency for the KGB, and so 233 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,319 Speaker 1: he quickly works his way up the ladder and its 234 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: and President Yeltsin himself makes Putin the head of the FSB. 235 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: Then't less. In the year after that, Yeltson promotes Putin 236 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: again by appointing him as the Prime Minister of Russia. 237 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: Now that's second only in command to the president in 238 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: terms of rank there, but actually that's not even it. 239 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: On the very same day, in August of nineteen ninety nine, 240 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: Yeltson also announced his hopes that Putin would be his 241 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: presidential successor. But rather than waiting to see if the 242 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: people of Russia would actually make that happen, Yeltson made 243 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: an unprecedented move. With just a few months left to 244 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: go in his second term, Yeltson stepped down as president. 245 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: This was on New Year's Eve of nineteen nine nine, 246 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: and he named Putin as the acting president in his stead, 247 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: and then Putin won his first official term in the 248 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: March two thousand election, which actually, by the way, this 249 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: was the first time in his political career that Putin 250 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: actually ran for office. That's crazy, and obviously it's this 251 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: rapid rise that doesn't feel that democratic. But do we 252 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: know why Yelson would take such extreme measures, Like did 253 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: you just have that much faith in Putin's leadership or 254 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: his abilities or something. Well, Yeltson was definitely impressed with 255 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: Putin's performance, but the general consensus is that pushing him 256 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: into this presidential position it was really more of a 257 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: way for Yeltson to protect himself. So at the time, 258 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: Russia was at war with these separatist forces in Chechnian 259 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: and they wanted their region to be independent rather than 260 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: just another part of Russia, and the war wasn't going 261 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: well for Russia by and yelts of the approval ratings 262 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: were suffering as a result of this, and so the 263 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,680 Speaker 1: theory actually seems pretty credible, and especially when you consider 264 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: that one of Putin's first acts as president was to 265 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: grant yelts In immunity from all criminal or administrative investigation. 266 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: That's ridiculous. And I mean it's funny because like people 267 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: always talk about Putin being an enemy of government transparency, 268 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: and this all seems pretty transparent to me. It seems 269 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: like a pretty obvious move. And you know, there are 270 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: plenty of other telling actions that Putin took during the 271 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: early years of his rule, but before we get into those, 272 00:13:54,840 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time 273 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: Genius and we're talking about Vladimir Putin and his rise 274 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: to power, all right, Mango. So, so during Putin's first 275 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: term as president, there was one incident that really kicked 276 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: off this whole myth of Putin as it's kind of 277 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: this kind of like an unflappable man of action. And 278 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: it happened back in two thousand two, and this was 279 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: back when Russia was knee deep in a second war 280 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: with Czech new and a group of forty Zech and 281 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: militants rated this Moscow theater. Of course we all remember 282 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: this story, and and they managed to take more than 283 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: nine hundred civilians hostage. The militants demanded that Russian forces 284 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: be withdrawn from Czechnia in return for the hostages release, 285 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: but Putin actually refused to negotiate, and so the ensuing 286 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: standoff drag un for three days, at which point the 287 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: Russian special forces stormed the theater, and so by the 288 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: end of the ordeal, all forty of the militants were dead, 289 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: along with a hundred and twenty nine of those hostages 290 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: under twenty nine hostages. That's really horrible at but you're 291 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: saying this actually helped build Putin's reputation. Yes, surprisingly it did. 292 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: I mean people abroad thought Putin's handling of this situation 293 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: would actually cripple his domestic approval rating, but it actually 294 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: had the opposite effect. And just looking at the changes 295 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: in approval rating over a period of time here is 296 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: is pretty staggering. So you know, he had been looking 297 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: at an approval rating of like two percent during his 298 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: brief stint as Prime minister, but his presidential ratings actually 299 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: averaged in the low sixties before this Moscow hostage situation, 300 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: and then after his approval rating sword to something like 301 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: eighty three percent. I mean, it was crazy high. And 302 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: the vast majority of Russians had responded positively to Putin's 303 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: ruthless approach. So from then on he started, you know, 304 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: kind of like crafting this this public image as a strongman. 305 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: And you know, once I started looking into all these 306 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: supermanly photo ops, I was just struck by how ridiculous 307 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: an image it all adds up to, like when you 308 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: piece them together. I mean, you know, they're those famous 309 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: photos of him like flexing his muscles while arm wrestling 310 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: or posing shirtless on horseback, but they are all these 311 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: other excessively butch activities that he supposedly excels at too. 312 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: So in two thousand and ten, he went on an 313 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: expedition with a group of marine biologists and shot a 314 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: whale with a crossbow. You know, I mean, I guess 315 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: there was a scientific purpose for this. The scientists could 316 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: collect its skin samples for research, And in two thousand thirteen, 317 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: Putin dove two ft underwater to the bottom of the 318 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: Gulf of Finland just to check out a hundred forty 319 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: year old shipwreck. I mean when you piece all of 320 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: this together, it really is more like a caricature. Like 321 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: you know, Putin starts to sound like the old dos 322 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: sekis dude, the most interesting man in the world kind 323 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: of thing. I mean, you think about what you just said, 324 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: like he shoots whales with crossbows and goes on these 325 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: sunken shipwrecks and is a black belt judo master. I mean, 326 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: the list just goes on and on, I know, but 327 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: it is funny how often you can see the strings 328 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: on a lot of these pr stots and how manufactured 329 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: they clearly are. What do you mean by that? Like 330 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: a good example is this archaeological discovery that Putin supposedly 331 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: made while on a scuba diving trip in the Black Sea. 332 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: So this was in two thousand eleven, and there was 333 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: footage from the dive where Putin's holding these two pieces 334 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: of a Greek urn that's said to be from the 335 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: sixth century BC. And Putin looks at the camera and says, 336 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: the boys and I found them, and it's in like 337 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 1: two ms of clear water, Like it's just like floating there, 338 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: you know, the way that price like relics tended to. Yeah, 339 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: that's the way it works. I mean, and not only 340 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: is this guy super macho, but he's apparently also insanely 341 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: lucky too, I guess. Yeah. And so the idea of 342 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: stumbling across these ancient artifacts in a few of you 343 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: to water, you know, there's obviously no way. So after 344 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: three months of Russian blogs and independent media is saying 345 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: the same thing, Putin's chief spokesman finally admitted that the 346 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,679 Speaker 1: whole thing was staged for the cameras, except you know, 347 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: he was still trying to play it off as intentional. 348 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: Like just listen to the super defensive statement he made 349 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,959 Speaker 1: in an interview. So this is his quote. Look, Putin 350 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: didn't find the jug that had lay in there for 351 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: many thousands of years. It's obvious. Of course they were 352 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: found in the course of an expedition several weeks or 353 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: days earlier. Of course they were left there or placed there. 354 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: It's completely normal. There's no reason to gloat about this 355 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: and everything else, like he says, Look, and of course 356 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: so many times in that statement. Yeah, I mean, don't 357 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: you just love it when government officials say it's your 358 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: fault for taking them at face value. I mean, suddenly, 359 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: like you're the idiot for thinking they actually meant what 360 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: they said. Yeah, I mean, and that isn't the only 361 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: time Putin has been caught in a lie. There's evidence 362 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: of him being photoshopped and like looking more cut as 363 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: a result of it. And uh, there's also during a 364 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: visit to Siberia in two thousand thirteen, he claimed to 365 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: have caught a forty six pound pike while fishing, which 366 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: would actually make it one of the world's largest. But 367 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: you know, the way to the fish was never substantiated, 368 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: and like all these eagle eyed Russian anglers who saw 369 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: the photos, they argued that Putin's cash probably the only 370 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: way about twenty pounds or so, so petty, Well, you know, 371 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: Putin's provado was definitely keeping with his authoritarian leanings. But 372 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: one interesting idea I found in my research is that 373 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: his obsession with his public image is he's actually partly 374 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 1: a way to associate himself with other leaders in Russian history. Huh, 375 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: I mean, that's an interesting idea, like, you know, putting 376 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: him in line of this legacy. But but what do 377 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,120 Speaker 1: you mean exactly, like, did Russian tsars cheat at fishing? Well? 378 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: And then not exactly. But back in two thousand and fourteen, 379 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: there was a big celebration in Russia for Putin's sixty 380 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: second birthday, and as part of the festivities there was 381 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: this art exposition in Moscow called the Twelve Labors of Putin, 382 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: Like like Hercules, Like the Twelve Labors Hercules. Yeah, yeah, 383 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: that's exactly it. And so in Greek mythology, Hercules completes 384 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: these twelve difficult task and becomes Greece's greatest hero in 385 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 1: the process. But in the paintings, it's Putin facing this 386 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: three headed hydra with a sword and a shield in 387 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: his hands. And the painting is titled the Taming of 388 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 1: the Cretan Bowl, and it's just Putin in a toga 389 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: straddling this giant bowl. Yeah. So obviously this kind of 390 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: naked propaganda is right up Putin's alley. But I'm guessing 391 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: there's more to this imagery than just you know, a 392 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: PC Russian guy wrestling a bull. Yeah, there are a 393 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: few details in the painting that speak volumes about the situation. 394 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: For for instance, the bull's forehead features the crest of Crimea, 395 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: which you probably remember was illegally annexed by Russian two 396 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, and ribbons bearing the Russian colors or 397 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,360 Speaker 1: round around the bull's horn and held his reins by Putin. 398 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: You know, now, historically the Crimean peninsula has caught the 399 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: attention of foreign rulers going back thousands and thousands of years, 400 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: and just looking at the list of conquers and includes 401 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: Julius Caesar, Caligula, Justinian, a pair of Russian puns Is 402 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: as well as others, and so you know, with his 403 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: own controversial coup back in two thousand fourteen, Putin's just 404 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: adding his name to this illustrious list as he would 405 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: see it. That's crazy. I had no idea, but I mean, 406 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: I guess I explains the Crimea connection. But why would uh, 407 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: why would he do this thing? Like based on Hercules 408 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: or Greek mythology, like you said, Putin want to be 409 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: associated with Russian rulers, right, yeah, and many Russia and 410 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,199 Speaker 1: Tsars have actually traced their roots back to ancient Greece. 411 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: But maybe more broadly than that, this Russian Greek connection 412 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: is away from Pune to legitimize these territorial claims and 413 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: kind of cast himself as the inheritor of this long, 414 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 1: proud history of of these larger than life figures, I guess. 415 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: And there's actually an article in Pacific Standard that describes 416 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: the effect this way. It says, by looking to ancient Rome, 417 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: Greece and the reign of the Tsars, Putin continually works 418 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: to wipe out the memory of the Soviet system that 419 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: produced him. The elected president of Russia. Uses art, opera 420 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: and holiday pageantry to assert his lineage directly from Csar's families, 421 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: and to justify his foreign policy and crimea modeling on 422 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: the strongest of them. He becomes a legend. That's really funny. 423 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: And I guess it's like connecting him to the little 424 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: stuff too, right, like finding that Grecian urn. It's it's 425 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: almost a subtle way to reinforce the association between him 426 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: and Greek antiquity. Yeah, it was just lucky that he 427 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: stumbled on it like that, right, But you know, you 428 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,640 Speaker 1: think about those desperate grabs that legitimacy. They become more 429 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: frequent the longer Putin's days in power. And so his 430 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: first two terms as president, we're controversial enough, and and 431 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: all these corruption scandals and press crackdowns and even these 432 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: alleged murders that we've read about, and and since then, 433 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: Putin's had a seconds then as Prime Minister, and then 434 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: it returned to the presidency for a third term. At 435 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: this time it's for six years instead of four. So 436 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: it actually kind of makes sense that Putin would come 437 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: to depend more and more on these blatant pr stunts 438 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 1: and I guess borrowed credibility and all that to try 439 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: to help ease these concerns about his seemingly endless rule. Yeah, 440 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: that makes a lot of sense. Actually, when I was 441 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: looking at photos, I found this thing called a teenage 442 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 1: Putin fan club, and it's like these photos from earlier 443 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,959 Speaker 1: in his career. But it's kind of amazing because all 444 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: these teenagers really took up the mantle of Putin and 445 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: they started wearing like T shirts and posters and identified 446 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: themselves as like almost Putent's biggest fans. So, actually, let 447 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: let me find a few quotes for you. Yeah, this 448 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: is from Vika and mat Ana seventeen, and she says 449 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,640 Speaker 1: he is like God to me. In the fan club, 450 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: we don't just sit around and look at his pictures. 451 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: We participated in marches and exchange information about him. I 452 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: wear a T shirt with his portrait to school. I 453 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 1: want everyone to know I'm his fan. And here's another 454 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: one from Julia Pipolova eighteen. I have five different T 455 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 1: shirts with Putin's portrait, several kinds of postcards with vv 456 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: which is Putin's nickname, on them. We designed them ourselves. 457 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: It's a real commitment. But I do want to talk 458 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: a little more about, you know, the state of Putin's 459 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: power today and who he really is underneath all that posturing. 460 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: But before we dig in, let's take a quick break, 461 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: all right, mango, So it's time to dish the dirt. 462 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: Who is the real Vladimir Putin? It's it's it's all 463 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: on you. He's just a supersensitive guy. I think it 464 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: seems like it. Well, I mean, the whole thing is 465 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: it depends on who you ask, right, I mean, plenty 466 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: of Russians would say he's a successful and capable leader. 467 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: I mean, even if they stopped short of believing that 468 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: Putin is the pinnacle of manliness that he plays at being, 469 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: they still might credit him for, you know, growing the 470 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,359 Speaker 1: economy or boosting the country standing in the world. But 471 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: many people outside of Russia, and many others within would 472 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: probably say that Putin's just another bully with a chip 473 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: on his shoulder. I mean, do you remember that time 474 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 1: in two thousand seven when Putin brought his giant black 475 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: labrador to an official meeting with Angela Merkel. He actually, 476 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: he actually knew that Merkel was afraid of dogs because 477 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: she had been bitten by one a few years earlier. 478 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: So bringing his lab was like this power play he 479 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: used to try and scare her. It's pathetic. Yeah, I 480 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,679 Speaker 1: remember this, and actually, if I remember correctly, Merkel had 481 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: a pretty strong reaction of this, right Yeah, So I've 482 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: actually added down here so when reporters questioned or afterwards, 483 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: she broke down the reaction like this quote. I understand 484 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,160 Speaker 1: why he has to do this to prove he's a man. 485 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: He's afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no 486 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: successful politics or economy. All they have is this. Ah. 487 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: That is a sick Merkel burn, I think, especially coming 488 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,360 Speaker 1: from a chancellor as well. Yeah, but I mean it's 489 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: also super insightful, right, like as it's this obvious show 490 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: of aggression to mask his weakness and to make up 491 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: for some perceived slight and that's just got Putin written 492 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 1: all over it. It's classic Putin and classic Merkel two. 493 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: But I mean that that is kind of his m O. 494 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: I mean, for example, this month's cover story in The 495 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: Atlantic lays out the idea that, you know, the two 496 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: thousand sixteen Russian hacking was was actually just an emotional 497 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,959 Speaker 1: retaliation for the release of the Panama Papers a few 498 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: years back. I mean, that's so crazy, because you don't 499 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: think of like Putting being emotional at all. Yeah, that's right. Basically, 500 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: the Panama Papers were yield that an old friend of Putin's. 501 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: His name was Sergey roal Dugan. I believe he had 502 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: about two billion dollars in an account and his name. 503 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: And this is kind of odd because Sergey was a 504 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: professional cellist, and I haven't done the research to find 505 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: out what most cellists make, but I don't think they 506 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 1: typically have billions of dollars lying around. But anyway, long 507 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 1: story short on this. When journalists were able to show 508 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: that Sergey's account was likely this communal piggy bank for 509 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: Putin's inner circle, so of course this situation was super 510 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,120 Speaker 1: embarrassing to Putin and the Russian government, and they perceived 511 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,199 Speaker 1: the report about Sergey as this personal attack, and they 512 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: felt that it was orchestrated by the US government. So 513 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: putin spokesman, the same guy who made the statement about 514 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: the Grecian earn stunt you were talking about earlier, he 515 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: blamed the Panama paper reporting on quote many former State 516 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: Department and CIA employees who sought to destabilize Russia ahead 517 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: of its parliamentary elections that September. Oh wow, So like 518 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,400 Speaker 1: the DNC hacking and all the Russian trolls on Facebook 519 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,200 Speaker 1: that this was all just like Putin's response to this 520 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: attack on his favorite cellist. I guess you put it 521 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: that way. It may sound a little bit weird, but 522 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: I mean pretty much. But according to a Russian journalist 523 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: named Andrea sold the tof, Putin called this urgent meeting 524 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: of his National Security Council. This same week the Panama 525 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: papers came out, and this is likely when Putin gave 526 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 1: the order for them to strike back. That is so crazy. 527 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: But I mean, looking at the timeline, those cyber attacks 528 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: would have had to like come together really quickly, right. 529 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: I mean, it's funny because so many Americans view Putin 530 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: and Russia as being super organized and well informed, and uh, 531 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 1: you know capable of carrying out these intricate, long running 532 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: plots that have been planned out to a t. But 533 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: this almost makes it seem like they were just winging it. Yeah, 534 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: and I think to a certain extent they actually were. 535 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: And that doesn't mean Putin and Russia don't actually pose 536 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: dangers to the US and to democracy in general. But 537 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: you know, whether it was the result of a long 538 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: and careful plot at attempt or or just something they 539 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: managed to pull together on the flaw. I the Russians 540 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,360 Speaker 1: did interfere with our election, and by doing that undermine 541 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: faith in our institutions. And the plan really worked, and 542 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: that's something worth keeping in mind and all of this, 543 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: and it's actually something that Julia Iophie points out in 544 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: her Atlantic article. She writes Putin pulled off a spectacular 545 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: geopolitical heist on a shoe string budget about two hundred 546 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 1: million dollars. According to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, 547 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: the point is lost on many Americans. This a version 548 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: of the election was as much a product of improvisation 549 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: and entropy as it was of a long range vision. 550 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: What makes Putin effective, what makes him dangerous, is not 551 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: strategic brilliance but a tactical flexibility and adaptability, a willingness 552 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: to experiment, disrupt, and to take big risks. I mean 553 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: that that sounds right to me. Even something like running 554 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: for a third presidential term showed that willingness in him. 555 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: And don't get me wrong, the Russian constitution allows for 556 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: a third term so long as it isn't served consecutively. 557 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: But since the document itself only dates back to the 558 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: early nineties, Putin's actually the first to make use of 559 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: that allowance. And of course there were many people in 560 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: Russia who were totally uncomfortable with this and felt that 561 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: a third term actually violated the spirit of the constitution. 562 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: And Russia's two thousand twelve election was controversial in other 563 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: ways too, so rampant reports of electoral fraud pointed to 564 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: everything from like stuffed ballot boxes to supporters being bust 565 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: two different precincts to vote. I mean, it was crazy well, 566 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: and and those reports only seem more credible in light 567 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: of the results, right, I think, didn't Putin get something 568 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: like sixty of the vote that year? Yeah, sixty percent officially, 569 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: but there was a poll that came out that said 570 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: fifty seven percent of Russians believed a person should be 571 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: limited to two presidential terms in total. Wait, so if 572 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: Russia allows two consecutive terms before you have to sit 573 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: one out, does that mean Putin is running for president 574 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: again this year? Yeah, the elections next month actually, But 575 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: since Putin winning is such a short thing, he didn't 576 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: even declare that he was running for election until last December, 577 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: and honestly, he probably won't even bother the campaigning. You know, 578 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: for a second, I almost envy the Russian public for 579 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,959 Speaker 1: not having to sit through these never ending presidential campaigns. 580 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: But I mean, I guess it's not worth it if 581 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: it's at the cost of actual democratic choice. But all right, well, 582 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: it sounds like Putin is pretty much a lock for 583 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: another six year term. So is there any upside to this? 584 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: I mean not from where I'm sitting, unless you count 585 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: the fact that a fourth term essentially rules out a 586 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 1: fifth one, since you know, the constitution prevents him from 587 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: running three times in a row, and he'd be seventy 588 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: seven years old by the time his next chance rolls around. 589 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:39,959 Speaker 1: I don't think I would count Puttin out yet. I mean, 590 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: you've seen him on that horse. I think he'll be 591 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: ready when he's seventy. But it does make you wonder, like, 592 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: what is a post Putin Russia going to look like? 593 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: I mean, he's basically been at the wheel of the 594 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: country in its current form for most of its brief existence. 595 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: So what happens when he's finally gone? Yes, that's the thing, right, No, 596 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: one's actually sure. Style of leadership doesn't actually allow much 597 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: room for a legacy building or you know, any plans 598 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: of succession. And he's so focused on his own survival 599 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: and staying in power and also maintaining this appearance of 600 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: legitimacy that there isn't really much time to think about 601 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: how the country will get along in the future without him. 602 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: As one of Putin's allies and government put it quote, 603 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: we don't have a tradition of Okay, you serve two 604 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: terms and you leave. We have no other tradition but 605 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: to hold out to the end and leave the first. Yeah, 606 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: which is such a dangerous system. And when you think 607 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: about it, because how can you ever make real progress 608 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: when your leader is perpetually bracing for a coup? Right, 609 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: It's it's almost like all of Putin's hardwired nationalism and 610 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: his fondness for those glory days of Soviet rule have 611 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: actually set the country up to repeat the same mistakes 612 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: that made in the twentieth century. Well, I mean, I 613 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: hope not for the sake of the Russian people, but 614 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 1: you're probably right in that situation. And actually Julia came 615 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: to a similar conclusion in her Atlantic article that we 616 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: were talking about earlier, and he kind of sums up 617 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: what we've been talking about pretty nicely, and so so, 618 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: she writes, ironically, Putin has laid the groundwork for exactly 619 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: the kind of chaotic collapse that he spent his political 620 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: life trying to avoid, the kind of collapse that gave 621 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: rise to his own rain. He has made himself a 622 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: hostage to a system he built with his own hands. Well, 623 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: I mean, it actually makes me feel a little better 624 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: after so many months of hearing about how Putin's undermining 625 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: the US. Yeah, I know what you mean, obviously. And 626 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: another thing that helps is this word replace or extension 627 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,440 Speaker 1: that I found from my web browser. So whenever the 628 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 1: word Putin appears in an article, it automatically gets converted 629 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: to Pottie Poot because that was George PUSH's nickname for him. 630 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 1: All right, Well, you should have saved that for the 631 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: fact off Mango actually for for today's fact off. I 632 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: think we agreed to focus on some of the more 633 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: interesting publicity stunts that were pulled off by Puttin over 634 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: the years. Or are you still getting for that? Definitely? 635 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: So we mentioned his horseback riding earlier, but there are 636 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: a few other bizarre animals on stage to show Putin's 637 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: love of animals. So back in two thousand ten, a 638 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: photo surface of Putin trying to help in the tracking 639 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: of polar bears as a threatened species. The photos of 640 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 1: Putin actually putting a tracking device on a polar bears neck, 641 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: but I don't actually think that's my favorite story of 642 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: Pudin helping out animals. There was an effort to save 643 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,120 Speaker 1: a population of Siberian white cranes, and as an article 644 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: in the Week dot Com puts it quote, Putin donned 645 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: a puffy white jumpsuit last year and boarded a motorized 646 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: hand glider to lead a flock of endangering Siberian cranes 647 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: on their winter migratory path. I mean, who does that. 648 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: It's just a takes a real champ birds. It's just 649 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: so crazy. Well, Putin has been quoted as saying that 650 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: one way for Russia to build a greater political dominance 651 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: in the world is for the population to get bigger, 652 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 1: and that families in Russia should have at least three kids, 653 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: you know, for for every single family. And my favorite 654 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: move he used to inspire people to get on with 655 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: their baby making is that he reportedly called on none 656 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: other than the beautiful singing voices of Boys two Men, 657 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,240 Speaker 1: and they had they actually had a concert there in Moscow, 658 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:12,919 Speaker 1: and so I don't know that probably did the trick 659 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:18,000 Speaker 1: when you think they are pretty sexy, but apparently Boys 660 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 1: Too Men wasn't the only ones performing there. Back in 661 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 1: two thousand ten, at a charity event in St. Petersburg, 662 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: Putin himself decided to perform, and for some reason, he's saying, uh, 663 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 1: Bat's Domino's Blueberry Hill in it. I mean, it's amazing 664 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: in the audience with celebrities like Sharon Stone Kevin Costner, 665 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,320 Speaker 1: And while most of his stunts seemed to be faked, 666 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 1: this one was apparently real. Actually looked that one up 667 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: and yeah, it's a pretty accurate, but it's it's just 668 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,800 Speaker 1: so weird to watch. And why he chose a Fats 669 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: Domino song like just such a weird thing. Rude there, 670 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,320 Speaker 1: I guess so well, in a different kind of stunt, 671 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: I did like when Putin proposed that Steven Seagal, like, yes, 672 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: action man, Steven Seagal, that he should become this intermediary 673 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: and the communication between the US and Russia. So apparently 674 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: Putin and Segal are buddies. And so when I love 675 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,279 Speaker 1: this reaction that when Obama got word of this recommendation, 676 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: his only response was just, You've got to be kidding. 677 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,399 Speaker 1: That's so good. So did you ever hear the story 678 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: about Patriots owner Bob Kraft and his interaction with Putin? No? 679 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: I didn't. So this is back in two thousand five 680 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,320 Speaker 1: and a group of American business execs met with Putin 681 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,760 Speaker 1: for some reason, and in the meeting, Craft was showing 682 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: Putin his most recent Super Bowl ring, and reportedly like, 683 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: Putin just tried to ring on and then put it 684 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: in his pocket and walked out of the room. And 685 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,279 Speaker 1: of course the media was all over it, right, and 686 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,879 Speaker 1: people assume Crafted not really intended to give the ring, 687 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: But the next day Craft released a statement saying the 688 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: Russian president was clearly taken with its uniqueness. At that point, 689 00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: I decided to give him. The ring is a symbol 690 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: of the respect and admiration that I have for the 691 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,799 Speaker 1: Russian people and the leadership of President Putin. I can't 692 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: imagine that that would have in his reaction and pretty 693 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 1: much anybody's reaction from that. Wait, so why are you 694 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: letting a candle? And what is that smell? Well, that, sir, 695 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,160 Speaker 1: is the smell of Vladimir Putin apparently, And I found 696 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 1: this on Amazon, and it's a Vladimir Putin scented candles. 697 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: So let me just let me just read the description here. 698 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 1: It says, have you ever wished that there were a 699 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: way to capture the scent of Vladimir Putin so you 700 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,120 Speaker 1: can have the pleasure of smelling him whenever you wanted? Well, 701 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,280 Speaker 1: now there is, and it's this candle. But you probably 702 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 1: already figured that out. The Putin scented candle combines notes 703 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: of pine earth and the smoke billowing from cities of 704 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: your enemies. It's a manly fragrance designed to evoke the 705 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,920 Speaker 1: essence of Vladimir Putin and eliminate the smell of political 706 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,280 Speaker 1: dissidence from your home. Housing a sixteen ounced tent container 707 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: that features a shirtless photo of Vladimir Putin on the lid. 708 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: The Putin scented candle makes the perfect confusing housewarming president 709 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,360 Speaker 1: or inappropriate baby shower gifts. So I'm not sure if 710 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,160 Speaker 1: this is an officially sanctioned Putin smelling candle, but what ever, 711 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,920 Speaker 1: I mean, this is awesome. It is weird, but I 712 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,359 Speaker 1: have to give it to you. I think with that scent, 713 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 1: you've overpowered me and and I have no choice but 714 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 1: to give you this week's trophy. It is a pretty 715 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: overpowering set. I think I'm gonna blow this outfield. Thank 716 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: you very much. It is an honorable listeners. I'm sure 717 00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:20,240 Speaker 1: we forgot some pretty incredible facts about Putin or Russia 718 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,919 Speaker 1: or the former Soviet Union. If you'd love to share 719 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: those with us, we would love to hear them. You 720 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:26,839 Speaker 1: can always email us at part Time Genius at how 721 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. You can also call us on 722 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: our seven fact hotline that's one eight four four pt Genius, 723 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,919 Speaker 1: or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. But thanks 724 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:52,200 Speaker 1: so much for listening. Thanks again for listening. Part Time 725 00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 1: Genius is a production of How Stuff Works and wouldn't 726 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: be possible without several brilliant people who do the important 727 00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: things we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan mc neil 728 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme song 729 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: and does the MIXI MIXI sound thing. Jerry Rowland does 730 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,560 Speaker 1: the exact producer thing. Gave Louesier is our lead researcher, 731 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 1: with support from the research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan 732 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve. Jeff Cook gets the 733 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like 734 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 1: what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you 735 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 1: really really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave 736 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 1: a good review for us. Did we forget Jan Jason 737 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:23,279 Speaker 1: who