In his brilliant 2014 book
Nothing is True and Everything is
Possible, Soviet-born TV
producer turned journalist Peter Pomerantsev described 21st-century Russia as
a political anomaly. He wrote about “a new type of authoritarianism” that
waged war on reality by peddling conspiracy theories, disregarding the notion
of truth, and framing all political opposition as the enemy of the people.
Sound familiar?
Upon leaving Russia, Pomerantsev found that the world around him had been
infected with the same post-truth disease he had diagnosed in Moscow. The war
against reality had spread across the globe, from London and Washington, DC,
to Mexico City and Manilla, Philippines. All over the place, the same values
that had once defined liberal democracy — free speech, pluralism, the open
exchange of ideas — were now being used to undermine it. This development
became the centerpiece of his dizzying new book
This is Not
Propaganda, and it is the
focal point of our conversation. We discuss:
\- How information went from being the tool of dissidents to the tool of
authoritarians
\- Why Russia developed modern, post-truth politics first
\- The tactics that spin doctors and troll farms use to warp our sense of
reality
\- How the end of the Cold War triggered a global descent into relativist
chaos
\- How liberal democratic values like free speech and pluralism are being used
to undermine liberal democracy
\- Why “all politics is now about creating identity”
\- Whether it is possible to organize the internet democratically
\- Why the informational chaos of digital politics is much worse outside the
US
\- The worst butchering of a guest’s name in the show’s history
And much more. Taking a step back from our current moment, American politics
is now dominated by the internal machinations of the post-Soviet political
systems Pomerantsev specializes in understanding. To see our politics clearly
requires seeing their politics clearly.
References:
For a Left Populism by
Chantal Mouffe
On Populist Reason by Ernest
Laclau
Book recommendations:
The Asthenic
Syndrome
by Kira Muratova (film)
History becomes Form by
Boris Groys
If you enjoyed this conversation, you may also like:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jia-tolentino-on-what-happens-when-
life-is-endless/id1081584611?i=1000447807714" target="new">Jia Tolentino on what happens when life is an endless performance
Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it.
Subscribe to
Today, Explained
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
Read more
In his brilliant 2014 book
Nothing is True and Everything is
Possible, Soviet-born TV
producer turned journalist Peter Pomerantsev described 21st-century Russia as
a political anomaly. He wrote about “a new type of authoritarianism” that
waged war on reality by peddling conspiracy theories, disregarding the notion
of truth, and framing all political opposition as the enemy of the people.
Sound familiar?
Upon leaving Russia, Pomerantsev found that the world around him had been
infected with the same post-truth disease he had diagnosed in Moscow. The war
against reality had spread across the globe, from London and Washington, DC,
to Mexico City and Manilla, Philippines. All over the place, the same values
that had once defined liberal democracy — free speech, pluralism, the open
exchange of ideas — were now being used to undermine it. This development
became the centerpiece of his dizzying new book
This is Not
Propaganda, and it is the
focal point of our conversation. We discuss:
\- How information went from being the tool of dissidents to the tool of
authoritarians
\- Why Russia developed modern, post-truth politics first
\- The tactics that spin doctors and troll farms use to warp our sense of
reality
\- How the end of the Cold War triggered a global descent into relativist
chaos
\- How liberal democratic values like free speech and pluralism are being used
to undermine liberal democracy
\- Why “all politics is now about creating identity”
\- Whether it is possible to organize the internet democratically
\- Why the informational chaos of digital politics is much worse outside the
US
\- The worst butchering of a guest’s name in the show’s history
And much more. Taking a step back from our current moment, American politics
is now dominated by the internal machinations of the post-Soviet political
systems Pomerantsev specializes in understanding. To see our politics clearly
requires seeing their politics clearly.
References:
For a Left Populism by
Chantal Mouffe
On Populist Reason by Ernest
Laclau
Book recommendations:
The Asthenic
Syndrome
by Kira Muratova (film)
History becomes Form by
Boris Groys
If you enjoyed this conversation, you may also like:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jia-tolentino-on-what-happens-when-
life-is-endless/id1081584611?i=1000447807714" target="new">Jia Tolentino on what happens when life is an endless performance
Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it.
Subscribe to
Today, Explained
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
Read less