The Naked Pravda

Meduza’s English-language podcast, The Naked Pravda highlights how our top reporting intersects with the wider research and expertise that exists about Russia. The broader context of Meduza’s in-depth, original journalism isn’t always clear, which is where this show comes in. Here you’ll hear from the world’s community of Russia experts, activists, and reporters about issues that are at the heart of Meduza’s stories and crucial to major events in and around Russia.

The Naked Pravda is a news podcast hosted by Медуза / Meduza, with 189 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Медуза / Meduza hosts The Naked Pravda, a news show with 189 episodes published.

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  The Naked Pravda

  Lucian Kim explains how a generational clash over Soviet nostalgia enabled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

  Feb 24, 202633 minS0

  <p>On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, The Naked Pravda speaks with journalist and author Lucian Kim to ask the questions that still don’t have settled answers: Was this war the product of one man’s radicalization, or something deeper — an imperial culture that generates aggression with or without orders from the top? Why didn’t Putin march on Kyiv in 2014, when Ukraine had no army and most of its citizens didn’t yet see Russia as an enemy? And is Putin really the inscrutable black box that analysts make him out to be, or has he been telling us exa...

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  The Naked Pravda

  Unpacking the economics behind Russia’s military recruitment machine, with researcher Janis Kluge

  Feb 20, 202626 minS0

  <p>It’s no secret that Russia relies on high salaries and sign-on bonuses to recruit soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Despite staggering battlefield losses, an estimated 30,000 men still enlist every month. But after four years of full-scale war, the cost of finding volunteers is only rising steadily, and the burden is falling on Russia’s regions. </p> <p>Why have hundreds of thousands of men joined the Russian army? How much does it cost to sustain recruitment? And is it only a matter of time before Vladimir Putin will be forced to declare another mobilization? In this episode of The Naked Pravda, deputy edi...

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  The Naked Pravda

  Russia has crushed open defiance in occupied Ukraine. Scholar Jade McGlynn explains how the resistance went underground to survive.

  Feb 12, 202635 minS0

  <p>As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, resistance to Russian occupation has undergone a radical transformation. The public displays of defiance that defined the war’s early days — with civilians blocking tanks and holding street protests — have long been crushed by the Kremlin’s ruthless occupation regime. By blending systematic brutality, bureaucracy, and pervasive surveillance, Russia has sought to extinguish dissent and erase Ukrainian identity in occupied regions. But this has only forced the resistance deeper underground.</p> <p>In this episode of The Naked Pravda, deputy editor Eilish Hart sits down with Dr. Jade McGlynn, the head of the Ukra...

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  The Naked Pravda

  What happens when you drunk-text the FBI about Russian spies and prostitutes at 4 a.m.? The curious case of Nomma Zarubina.

  Feb 5, 202629 minS0

  <p>In this week’s episode, host Kevin Rothrock sits down with RFE/RL senior international correspondent Mike Eckel to discuss his January 28 investigation into the bizarre case of Nomma Zarubina: The FSB, Lies, and Drunk Texting the FBI. A 35-year-old Russian woman and mother of a young daughter, Zarubina was jailed in Manhattan this past December — not for traditional espionage or even “espionage-lite,” but after a spiral of erratic behavior that included lying to the FBI about her contacts with Russia’s FSB and harassing a federal agent with drunken, late-night text messages.</p> <p>In a conversation that explores the blurry legal...

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  The Naked Pravda

  Historian William Jay Risch looks back at Euromaidan and Ukraine’s road from ‘revolutionary euphoria to the madness of war’

  Jan 14, 202644 minS0

  <p>As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its four-year anniversary, The Naked Pravda looks back even further to the origins of the conflict that began nearly 12 years ago. This episode features a deep dive into the 2013–14 Euromaidan Revolution and its counter-movement, the Antimaidan. William Jay Risch, a professor of Russian and Eastern European history at Georgia College, joins the podcast to discuss his forthcoming book, Ukraine’s Euromaidan: From Revolutionary Euphoria to the Madness of War. </p> <p>In this interview, Risch challenges prevailing Western narratives by examining the marginalization of leftist voices during the revolution and the missed opportunities for br...

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