1 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,319 Speaker 1: In a Moscow TV studio. A thirty something guy with thick, 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: wavy hair leans forward in his chair. His name is 3 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: Artemy Troitzky, the barricade building journalist from the last episode. 4 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: He's about to invite you to something revolutionary from my 5 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: TV offices. I've made the last announcement alive, saying the 6 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: Gagart Party is starting very soon. You are welcome to 7 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: the first ever Rave in Moscow, the first ever Rave 8 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: in Moscow, a rager to end all ragers and named 9 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: after your Gagarin, the first human to journey into space. 10 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: And it will be techno music played all night, Russian, 11 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: Latvian and German and French DJs, and the location also 12 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: cosmonaut themed. The Space Pavilion a museum dedicated to the 13 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: glories of the space program. It was like Snayland. You 14 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: walk in, There's a curved ceiling made of glass. It's dark, 15 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: the music so loud you feel it in your chest. 16 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: All around you are models and relics from the Soviets 17 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: glorious space program, satellites, the capsule that sent Gagaren into space, 18 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: gagaren space suit from his flight. And the place is 19 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: packed bodies, sweating, bodies, dancing, throwing their heads up to 20 00:01:46,440 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: the sky, young people free at last to party. I 21 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: think that the whole of cool Moscow was there, artists, actors, models, 22 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: the new generation creating something beautiful from the ashes of 23 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: the old world. We felt like a brand new country 24 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: which is aiming at the bright future, which will be 25 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: totally different from what we've had before. But what would 26 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: that mean for the cosmonauts, the Soviet citizens who once 27 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: represented the future? What would happen to them in the 28 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: new Russia. I'm Lance bass And from Kaleidoscope Exile and 29 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts. This is the last Soviet mingling with the 30 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: rush hour traffic, army armored personnel carriers on the streets 31 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: of Moscow. The August nineteen ninety one, a faction of 32 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: hardline communists just tried to take control of the Soviet 33 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: government tanks in Red Square. The official tanks rattled through 34 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: the streets of Moscow and hundreds of thousands of people 35 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: stood up to them. Three civilians had died last night 36 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: when light tanks tried to slam through a barricade. In 37 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: just three days, the coup felled, the hardliners were pushed out, 38 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: and the people won. Tonight n Caligorbatrophia is again president 39 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union, the man who tried to bring 40 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: him down or either under arrest or being hunted. But 41 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: as the dust settled and all of the old values 42 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: and structures of the Soviet world fell away, a brand 43 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: new system was beginning to take shape. As if to 44 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: harold this new dawn, something very unusual was about to happen. 45 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: On the Soviet space station, where our man Sarage is 46 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: still hard at work. The cosmonauts on Mirror were about 47 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: to become the face of one of the most famous 48 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: brands in the world, Coca Cola. If you taste it, 49 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: there's the burn and bite at the back of your 50 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: throat for a moment that then gives you the In 51 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen ninety, Craig Kohan was twenty seven 52 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: years old, newly single, and ready to take Moscow by storm, 53 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: one can of Coca Cola at a time. I was 54 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: sent to figure out how to build the cocola system 55 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: in the Sovietinia. That was the brief. Craig was the 56 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: new face of capitalism, the alternative to the old Soviet 57 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: way of doing things. Remember, in the USSR, private enterprise 58 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: had been banned completely for decades. So Craig was a 59 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: representative of a totally new mindset, a totally new way 60 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: of life. And you could say Craig was born to 61 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: do this job. He grew up in Toronto and what 62 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: he called a McDonald's family, all the panti, sat sauces, 63 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: cheez pickles, McDonald's big Man. When he was a kid, 64 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: his dad, George Cohan, brought the first ever McDonald's to Canada. 65 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: Canadians went crazy for it. Break today at McDonald's where 66 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: your dollar gets a break every day. George Cohan even 67 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: had a bus called the Big Mac Bus, used to 68 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: raise money for charity. And then in nineteen seventy six, 69 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: during the Montreal Olympics, the Canadian government came to Craig's 70 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: dad with a strange favor. Would he please let the 71 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: Soviet delegation use his bus to get around the city 72 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: And so we met all the Soviets in nineteen seventy six. 73 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: They rode the big backbus and in the evening they 74 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: went out to dinner and what did they eat, Yeah, 75 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: you guessed it, Big Max. And that's when Craig's dad 76 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: had an idea. Watching these big Russian guys tucking into 77 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: burghers and fries. He thought, I know what I'm gonna 78 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: make my life's mission to bring McDonald's to the Soviet Union. 79 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: It became from my father a fourteen year, amazing epic 80 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: odyssey to get the first McDonald's built in Pushkin Square. 81 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: Pushkin Square is a square in central Moscow, a stone's 82 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: throw from the Kremlin. And so that was fourteen years 83 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: of conversations at home, conversations in the car, conversations at 84 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: dinner about the Soviets. Year in and year out, they 85 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: would host a rotating cast of Soviets at the Kohen Residence, 86 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: anyone and everyone who could get a word back to 87 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: the Kremlin about the wonders of McDonald's, whether they're ambassadors 88 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: or ballet dancers, or artists or politicians. And then in 89 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: January nineteen ninety, well, it's been fourteen years in the making, 90 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: and today finally McDonald's threw open the doors to its 91 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: first restaurant in Moscow. Thirty thousand people stood in line 92 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: that day. They started lining up this morning at four o'clock. 93 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: This woman doesn't know what she just date, but she 94 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: says it was unusual and delicious. Clearly George Kohen had 95 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: been on to something ahead of McDonald's. Canada waxed the 96 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: lyric in this day and age, it's nice when the 97 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: people can come out and get meat, reputations and milk 98 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: of the highest quality. Craig watched in amazement at what 99 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: his dad had just done. Happiness today in Moscow lay 100 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: in the communal pursuit of a big mac, but he 101 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: wanted to do something even bigger. For Craig, it was 102 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: about more than just business. He was an idealist, and 103 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: he had this vision that capitalism could actually bring Russians 104 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: together with the rest of the world, that East and 105 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: West could unite under the banner of a big brand. 106 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: In December nineteen ninety, he flew to Moscow to attend 107 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: the opening of his dad's McDonald's, and while he was 108 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: there he bumped into the CEO of Coca Cola. He 109 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: was drunk one night at the Kremlin after the opening 110 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: of McDonald's. The CEO of Coca Cola looked at Craig 111 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: and had an idea, and he said, Craig, I'm thinking 112 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: of three things. You the Soviet Union and you and 113 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. Big companies like Coca Cola saw an 114 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: incredible opportunity in the Soviet Union. It was an open market. 115 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: Western products basically didn't exist, so the potential for profit 116 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: was mouthwatering. And now the CEO has the perfect man 117 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: for the job, Craig Cohan, the son of the guy 118 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: who got McDonald's into Moscow. But this was a very 119 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: different challenge. Craig's dad had opened a single McDonald's. The 120 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 1: CEO of Coke wanted cans in every corner shop in Russia, 121 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: total domination. Craig accepted the challenge stage one reconnaissance. For 122 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: the first six months June of nineteen ninety December of 123 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,439 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, I spent every day going to every single 124 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: metro stop in the city understanding how people drink beverages. 125 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: You know, they used to have these amazing vending machines, 126 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: or there was a single glass. Incidentally, just when you 127 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,199 Speaker 1: expect hard frost, Moscow has a thirsty heat wave. So 128 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: buy yourself a cups. I'd think when you wash the 129 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 1: glass and you would get a cool beverage a cavass 130 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: out of that. Cavas not my favorite drink, but if 131 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: sour bread and liquid form floats your boat, you might 132 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: like it. And it's probably the second most popular drink 133 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: in Russia after vodka, which was definitely more my thing, 134 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: especially the infused ones. The pineapple very good. You would 135 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: wash the glass and put it back in the next 136 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: person and use the same glass, wash it and put 137 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: it back and put five copecks in. So that's how 138 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: people were experiencing beverages, very different to American vending machines, 139 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: and so Craig had a ton of questions he needed 140 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: to ask people lining up for their glass of cavas, 141 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: although he was careful not to tell them he worked 142 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: for Coca. No one really knew that I was working there. 143 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: I was this interested guy doing a study on beverages 144 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: in the Soviet Union. It was like he was an 145 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: undercover agent. People just opened their arms to me for 146 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: all the information, and that's how I got data. And 147 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: then I worked at a chokovskis a vote for two 148 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: and a half weeks. It was a champagne factory, and 149 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 1: so I saw exactly how they mixed the product. I 150 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: saw how they mixed the concentrate. I saw the rats 151 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: in the sugar. I saw the whole system, the whole 152 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: Soviet system. After a few months Craig felt like the 153 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: reconnaissance stage of his mission was complete. But for Craig 154 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: and Coca Cola to actually launch themselves in the Soviet Union, 155 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: they needed a way to get into the hearts, minds, 156 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: and eventually the mouths of Soviets. So they were going 157 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:57,160 Speaker 1: to have to get creative. Cocola never been on the 158 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: North Pole, and so we got colas a North Pole. 159 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: The company sponsored a famous Russian Arctic explorer. He put 160 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: a Cocacola in his bag, and he took his husky, 161 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: bringing huskies, and he went up to the North Pole 162 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: and took a pictures the North Pole crank, and then 163 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: it was time to head to the Kremlin. I made 164 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: sure that when Bush met Gorbachov there was a Coca 165 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: Cola on that table. So Craig starts thinking, what's the 166 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: next frontier. If you could go to the North Pole 167 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: and you can get it on the table at the Kremlin, 168 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: you could certainly get it in space infiltrating the Soviet 169 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: space station. This was going to be the most spectacular 170 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: triumph for Coca Cola and good old fashioned American capitalism. 171 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: And so Coca Cola's engineers started working away in a 172 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: lab in Atlanta trying to create a coke can that 173 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: could survive on mirror, and after months of work, it 174 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: was ready, a little red can that looks a lot 175 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,959 Speaker 1: like the ones we have here on Earth, except it 176 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: was fitted with a strange white nozzle and a metal 177 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: button on top. This was meant to stop it from 178 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: exploding in zero grabbing. On August twentieth, nineteen ninety one, 179 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: the Soviet Space Agency launched their M nine cargo spacecraft 180 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: from Bikanore in kazakh Stop. On board is a crate 181 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: of spaceproof Coca Cola cans, making their groundbreaking journey to 182 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: the space station. The next day, Sarage presses a button 183 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: on top of the can and it squirts the coke 184 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: into his mouth. Burn and bite at the back of 185 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: your throat. Even in space. It's a huge moment. Although 186 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: Serge wasn't really sure about the taste. His Ham radio 187 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: friend Maggie asked him, do you like Coca cola? What's 188 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: it taste like in space? And Sitgay said, It's all 189 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: right in space, he said, but insduce his better. No matter, 190 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: Coca Cola and capitalism had won the day. It was 191 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: like integration Finally, of these two opposing Cold War cultures 192 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: that have come together, and Coca Cola being a little 193 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: moment that brought people together. For idealists like Craig, it 194 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: seemed like the beginning of a new future for Russia, 195 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: Sergey and the space program. But there was a problem 196 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,439 Speaker 1: lurking just around the corner. Not everyone in the New 197 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,839 Speaker 1: Russia had such noble intentions as Craig. I think there's 198 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: two ways to approach this country, that's Gregg in an 199 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: NBC interview from the time. One is to be a 200 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: pioneer and the others to be a pirate and coming 201 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: here and try to courage the land. And it turns 202 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: out in the New Russia the line between pioneer and 203 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: pirate was extremely thin. Why did you put a rock 204 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: and propelled hand grenade through my office this morning? And 205 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: he said, I've been wanting to meet you, and I 206 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: really didn't know how else to get your attention. That's 207 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: after the break. Just a few months after Surge drank 208 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: the can of coke on the space station, the Soviet 209 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: flag came down for the very last time over the 210 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: Kremlin in Moscow. The hammer and sickle is lord for 211 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: the last time, the Soviet Union was over. The tricolor 212 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: banner of the Russian Republic now flies over the Kremlin. 213 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: Communism was dead, and while men like Craig Cohan saw 214 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: this as a moment of hope for the future, the 215 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: lives of ordinary Russians were plunged into uncertainty. I mean, 216 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: when you lose the system that you've grown up in 217 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: and you have no idea wor else to go. A 218 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: lot of people went out and planting potatoes at their dotches. 219 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: That's Serge Schmimon, the former New York Times correspondent in Moscow. 220 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: We've been hearing from throughout this series. Our office car 221 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: was a Volvo station wagon. So some of these people 222 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: would ask us to go with them to their dotch 223 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: and bring back their potatoes because you know, big bags 224 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: to bring them back to Moscow. They were planting potatoes 225 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: because at that point in time, potatoes were the safest 226 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: way to make sure you had food. The ruble was collapsing, 227 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: the shops filled up, but the number of people who 228 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: could afford anything plummeted. People's life savings were suddenly worthless. 229 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: So he went into a period of kind of an 230 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: elemental primitive economy where factories traded with each other. You know, 231 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: I'll give you a window if you give me a banana. 232 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: Remember hearing about the Russian black market. It always sounded 233 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: so spylike, so covert, so underground. Well here it is 234 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: at its lowest level, and strange things gained value. This 235 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: man stripped down a TV set, hoping to make enough 236 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: money just to buy milk or bread a peck of Marlboroughs. 237 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: Marlborough's cigarettes was roughly the equivalent of a dollar. You' Barnert, 238 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: who was a barter economy and never went anywhere without 239 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: four or five cartons of Marlborough's. A cigarette was better 240 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: value than cash. Because when communism collapsed, the new government 241 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: made a drastic decision. With the help of economic advisors 242 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: from America, they decided the best way to transition the 243 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: economy from a communist to a capitalist system was to 244 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: do it all at once. In the old Soviet Union, 245 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: the government controlled prices. Overnight, those price controls were removed, 246 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: which meant that the candy that used to cost one 247 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: rouble now cost two thousand. Shoppers stead in disbelief at 248 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: what they now have to pay for the most basic goods. 249 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: Ham for example, pull at more than a thousand roubles 250 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: a kilo. That's two months worth of wages for most people. 251 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: The economists called it shock therapy. You had to let 252 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: the system go, and it had to find its own bottom, 253 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: and it had to start rebuilding. Overnight the cash economy collapsed. 254 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: The problem for shoppers here these days isn't the long 255 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: lines Russians are used to waiting in line. Their concern 256 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:26,879 Speaker 1: is what happens when they reached the end of that line. 257 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: There they'll find either bread or milk three or four 258 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 1: times higher than they were just weeks ago, or worse, 259 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: no food at all. This also led to a wave 260 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: of crime sweeping through Moscow. You had a lot of theft. 261 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 1: The streets became dangerous. They say that some people belong 262 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,159 Speaker 1: to the mafia here. Do you know anything about that? No? No, no, 263 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: for us, you know, I mean we were a dressed 264 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: in Western closing in Western cars. Our car was stolen twice. 265 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: This man's parting shot my favorite. The mafia is forever. 266 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: Organized crime was emerging from the ruins of the Soviet Empire. 267 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: A period of straight up banitry set in. In order 268 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: to get by in the new Russia, you had to 269 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: do things that you would never have dreamt of just 270 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: a few months earlier. By early nineteen ninety two, Craig 271 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: Khan is setting up his Coca Cola factory in Moscow, 272 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: but he's beginning to realize this is not the friendly, 273 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: hopeful Russia he arrived in back in nineteen ninety. Things 274 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: have changed so quickly, and if he's going to succeed, 275 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: it's becoming clear he's going to have to change too. 276 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: I'm on the way to the office at five thirty 277 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 1: in the morning to try to start up all the equipment, 278 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: et cetera, etc. And I get a note from our 279 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,719 Speaker 1: security that a Rocca propelled hand grenate just went through 280 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: my office. No one's hurt, but Craig is shaken. This 281 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: is a far cry from the quiet streets of Toronto, 282 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: and I said, oh, that's good. I'm glad it wasn't there. 283 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: So I asked the security where was it? Shot? From 284 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,199 Speaker 1: otoshop from the big apartment block across the street. I 285 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: have this very clearly in my head, so I said, okay, 286 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: let's go find out who it is. So hard thumping 287 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,439 Speaker 1: Craig climbs into one of those old Soviet elevators, about 288 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: the size of a porta potty and smelling like one too. 289 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: He's got no clue what he'll find at the top. 290 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: I go to the twelfth floor and I meet with 291 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: the head of the San Suski Simia, the san Subski family. 292 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: It's like a local racketeering group that started rough enough people. 293 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: I sat down with him, just one on one, and 294 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: I said, why did you put a rock and propelled 295 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: hand grenade through my office this morning? And he said, 296 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: I've been wanting to meet you, And I really didn't 297 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 1: know how else to get your attention, because I'd like 298 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: my guys just to be your drivers. And I said, perfect, 299 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: you didn't have to do that, and so I hired 300 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: a bunch of the guys. So now these grenade throwing 301 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: mobster are working for Craig and Coca Cola. The man 302 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: who'd come to the Soviet Union as a pioneer started 303 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: looking more and more like a pirate. A new breed 304 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: of person began to take control in Russia. While most 305 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: people lost their life savings after the Soviet Union collapsed, 306 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: a handful saw an opportunity, an opportunity to buy entire industries, oil, gas, 307 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: raw materials for peanuts. These people, you might know them 308 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: as oligarchs, became the rulers of the new capitalist Russia. 309 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 1: And that meant that people who used to be valued 310 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: in Soviet society, teachers, doctors, cosmonauts, no longer were. That's 311 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: when I remember long lines of really well dressed people selling, 312 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:58,879 Speaker 1: you know, sweaters and whatever they could choose. It was 313 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:06,239 Speaker 1: terribly said. Everything had turned topsy turvy. Those who had 314 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: been up were now down. University professors selling socks in 315 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: the subway, criminals working for Coca Cola, and cosmonauts now 316 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: making less money than taxi drivers. In early nineteen ninety two, 317 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: Serge was making five hundred rubles a month, just two 318 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: dollars and fifty cents at the new exchange rate. He 319 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: was a highly trained engineer, a national hero, still up 320 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: in space, risking his life for his country, and now 321 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: struggling to support his wife and baby daughter. And that's 322 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,400 Speaker 1: when rumors started going around that things had gotten so 323 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: bad the cosmonauts were actually going on strike. There was 324 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: a silence from Citigay at that point. He's quite a voluble, 325 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: garrylous type of man. He always has something interesting to say. 326 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: But there was silence at that point. That's after the break. 327 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: It's a sunny morning on the other side of the 328 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: world from Moscow. Ham radio operator Maggie I Quinto is 329 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: out running errands in Colak, her little town in western Australia. 330 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: She parks her car on the wide, flat highway that 331 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: cuts through the middle of the town and gets her 332 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: shopping bags out of the trunk. She's heading towards the 333 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 1: bakery when a battered farm truck pulls up next to her. 334 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: I would be stopped in the street and people who 335 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: my heart they knew, would say, how are our cosmonauts? 336 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: Our cosmonauts. It turns out, in the months that Maggie 337 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: had been talking to Mirror, the whole town of Colak 338 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 1: had fallen in love with these Soviet spacemen too. These 339 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: guys would pass me. I've never seen these farmers before, 340 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: and they look at me and point to the sky 341 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: and go are they okay? But today the farmer driving 342 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: the truck looks worried. He's heard things about the cosmonauts. 343 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: The cosmonauts salaries are worthless. Their families can barely afford groceries, 344 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:27,679 Speaker 1: so they're gonna stop working. They're going on strike. Maggie 345 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: tries to dismiss the stories as rumors, but soon newspapers 346 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,959 Speaker 1: or publishing stuff that's even more wild. Not only are 347 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:40,400 Speaker 1: the cosmonauts on strike, they're actually stuck in space. These 348 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: newspaper stories have terrifying headlines like junked in space and 349 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: stuck in endless orbit. They're being stranded there, They're being punished. 350 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: That's what the rumors said, that they were left there deliberately, 351 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: no one was going to bring them down. They even 352 00:23:56,119 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: say Serage is ill. The journalists rang up Sigh his 353 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: wife and asked her about his illness, which is must 354 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: have been rather devastating for her to listen to. All 355 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: this time, Maggie's thinking, what's going on here? She's been 356 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,160 Speaker 1: talking to Sergee nearly every day and he seems fine, 357 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: chatting to her about their kids, his spacewalks, Newham radio technology, 358 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: but she can't shake this doubt. Are they okay? Is 359 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: there something they aren't telling me? And then one day 360 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: Maggie gets a call. A radio station in Melbourne rang 361 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: me and said, please, can you find out is it 362 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: true about all of these things? Now? In the past, 363 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: Maggie has stayed clear of asking Sarage about politics, not 364 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: wanting to put him on edge. But today, with the 365 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: world's press writing these strange stories and people stopping her 366 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: in the street, Maggie decides she's going to be direct 367 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 1: with Sarage. She's going to ask for the truth. What 368 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: is really happening to her friends, her cosmonauts? So is 369 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: it okay? I'll send them a message again electronically, and 370 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: I'll ask them these questions. But there's no guarantee. They're very, 371 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,880 Speaker 1: very busy up there. They have much work to do, 372 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: and I don't know if they'll answer. Her fingers shaking 373 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: a little, Maggie started typing. So the questions. I asked them, 374 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 1: where are you hungry? Is it true that you're on strike? 375 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: Has your supply ship docked? Do you like being on strike? 376 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: And they say, Segay, that you have fallen ill? Is 377 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: that true? And those were the questions. Maggie hits send 378 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: and she waits on mirror. Sarah Gay sees the question 379 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: flood in. He's taken aback for months. Speaking to Maggie 380 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: had just been a bit of light relief, a bit 381 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: of fun, But between the lines of her anxious questions, 382 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: he can see her concern for him. He knows he 383 00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: has to respond straight away. Minutes Maggie's old Tshiba is 384 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: flashing with a new message, Greetings Rita, which is my name, 385 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: he said. Australia is located at the other side of 386 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: the Earth from Moscow. It's very far so news is 387 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: greatly changed when it reaches you. People in Australia and 388 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: Moscow wok upside down from each other. Maybe this is 389 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: the reason your news arrives reversed. But what about the 390 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: strike everyone's talking about. We're Sergey and his colleagues refusing 391 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: to work, and he said that there was a threatened 392 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: strike at flight Control. But it's impossible, he said, for 393 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 1: him to go on strike. And as you can imagine, 394 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: they have to keep things running on the space station 395 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,680 Speaker 1: and if they were to go on strike, they would die. 396 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: Maggie is relieved, but then she gets another call from 397 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 1: a journalist. Listen, I've got this tip off. You're not 398 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: going to believe this, but apparently the Russians are thinking 399 00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: of selling the space station. Maggie thinks fake news. She 400 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 1: knows things are changing over there, but the Russians would 401 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,439 Speaker 1: never put their space station up for sale. This is 402 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 1: the crowning glory of Soviet space technology. But the journalist 403 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: says to her, look, the next time you're talking to 404 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: these fellows, asked them about the selling of Mirror the 405 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: space station, and so I did. There was a silence 406 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: from Sergey at that point. He's quite a voluble, garrulous 407 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: type of man. He always has something interesting to say. 408 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: But there was silence at that point, and he said, look, 409 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: I'll talk with mission control. And at that point I'm 410 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: going to guess, and I don't really know, but I'm 411 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: going to guess at that news had not reached them. 412 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: After everything Sarage has been through archologically, it must have 413 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: been devastating. Look, I reckon it would have been to 414 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: hear from someone in Australia that the country he'd sacrificed 415 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: everything for might sell his home from under his feet. 416 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: That's next time on The Last Soviet. The Last Soviet 417 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: is a Kaleidoscope production in partnership with iHeart Podcast and 418 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: Exile Media, produced by Sama's Dad Audio and hosted by 419 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: me Lance Bass Executive produced by Kate Osbourne and Mangesh 420 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: had a Kador with Oz Wallashan and Kostas Linos from 421 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: iHeart executive produced by Katrina Norvelle and Nikki Ettore from 422 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: Sama's Dad Audio are Executive producers are Joe Sikes and 423 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: Dasha Lissina. Produced by Asia Fuchs, Dasha Litzitzina and Joe Sikes. 424 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: Writing by Lydia Marchant, Research by Mika Golobovski and Molly Schwartz, 425 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: music by Will Epstein, Themed by Martin Orstrin, Mixing and 426 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: sound design by Richard Ward and special thanks to Nando 427 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: Via Welissa Pollock, Will Pearson, Connel Byrne, Bob Pittman, and 428 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: Isaac Lee. If you want to hear more shows like this, 429 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: nothing is more important to the creators here at Kaleidoscope 430 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: than subscribers, ratings, and reviews, so please spread the love 431 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: wherever you listen.