Masha Gessen: Putin's War - Against the West

On Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. Cambridge Forum hosted Russian and American journalist, author, and LGBT activist Masha Gessen, discussing “Putin’s War-Against the West.” Her account of Vladimir Putin's rise to power and its devastating impact on the nascent democratic government of Russia (The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin) opened a window onto changing culture of Russia as well as the nature of its powerful and enigmatic leader. Her newest book, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, recounts the arrest, trial, and imprisonment of Pussy Riot. What do Gessen's experiences and insights tell us about Russia today? How might this new understanding change America's response to Putin’s actions?
Masha Gessen is a Russian and American journalist, author, and activist who writes in both Russian and English and has built a career in journalism in Russia and the United States. Gessen identifies as a lesbian and has written extensively on LGBT rights and help founded the Pink Triangle Campaign in Moscow. She has been described as "Russia's leading LGBT rights activist." Gessen voluntarily left Russia in 2013 when tightening anti-gay and lesbian policies threatened her family.
Noted for her opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gessen’s criticism culminated in the 2012 biography The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. This was followed by Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot about the Russian feminist punk rock protest group whose performances protesting Putin led to their imprisonment. Gessen is the author of three previous books and has also written extensively for such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, New Statesman, Granta, Slate, Vanity Fair, and U.S. News & World Report. In 2013 she received the Media for Liberty award.
This talk was filmed on November 12, 2014, at First Parish in Cambridge.

[@Jack7967]

I like this woman.She seems really intelligent and articulates her thoughts very well. Its impressive. I might have to read her books now.

[@Jack7967]

Legbiter Do the orderlies know you got out of your straight jacket?

[@georgelincoln415]

She seems to be pushing an agenda

[@maxcuthbert100]

Yes.Truth.

[@CaliforniaGirl-qk5kq]

Jews led Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and murdered Orthodox Christians. 60 million people were killed in Russia or died in labor camps or from famine. Russians Oligarchs were Jewish. Russian Jewish came to USA as refugees and promptly defrauded Medicare to the tune of $1.3 Billion. Now they tech Americans about Russians.

[@larryleker6366]

I would highly recommend The Man Without a Face. It explains a great deal.

[@neilhasid3407]

A very attractive speaker. I like her speaking manner and the level of her analysis.

[@cameronkrause4712]

I agree, but looking through the comments section it seems that very few of the commentors understand what she is talking about.

[@Devbro88]

No everyone knows NATo messed with Rosiya one too many times.

[@larryleker6366]

This is terrifying. Even more so when you consider that this was 2 years before Trump.

[@jfleming6656]

Listening to this today is ominous and sobering.

[@HermunthrudaWaldheim]

Now we are watching All these videos. She knew everything before.

[@polly6336]

Masha is an amazing source of knowledge. I only discovered their work since the 'military operation' in Ukraine earlier this year (2022), but have gone back to listen to older seminars, podcasts, etc. It's fascinating and horrifying.

[@devilsfavorite999]

Everyone who had a little brain and can speak Russian knew all along. I saw that in 2008 with invasion of Georgia. But we were always attacked by Russia lovers.

[@kitchencounterculture8466]

13 April 2022, , how wide-ranging and prescient this talk has proved!

[@Schizopantheist]

Greetings to Putin's keyboard warriors. Happy clicking! Don't forget to take breaks now and then for sunshine and exercise.

[@shermandozer8086]

I was lokking for Grigory Leps Russian singer and get this beauty !

[@niconestra]

And here we are...

[@cameronkrause4712]

the Russian trolls are all over the comment section.

[@franny5295]

Ah, so that's what's going on. I'll pay closer attention...

[@bobbechtel4187]

To all of Putin's Trolls: You don't fool anyone.

[@dm3199]

Bob Bechtel you are already fooled ;-)))

[@D_isco_D_ancer]

@@dm3199 If westerners were fooled the west would be like Medival Russia... 🤡

[@johnwhite6346]

Putin troll army below

[@yippeeyokai5750]

Re: The Trial of Pussy Riot, it sounds like the Salem which trials

[@stanthology]

+shawn stipe They were CIA tools. Why don't they try that in an American cathedral. George Bush I. Head of the CIA. These assholes must think everyone can't read. George Bush II stole two elections. Started a war based on lies in Iraq. These jerks complain about Putin. Bullshit.

[@stanthology]

Hey that's funny! How about a million Iraqis killed, displaced, their country invaded by terrorists thanks to the bullshit "Gulf Wars" based on lies for the chumps who believe that shit. How about people from Afghanistan thrown into torture center jails for 14 years with no charges ever filed against them? How about Libya, turned from the highest income per capita, into a shit hole where terrorist run free with guns supplied by the west as proxy armies who do the dirty work of the west who want to steal the oil and run pipelines through countries which don't belong to them? How about the attacks on Syria because Syria is not a poodle nation to the west, trying to use lies about gas attacks to justify bombing the shit out of another country. And by the way, Chechnya is part of the Russian Federation. His Excellency President Putin has the responsibility to protect his citizen's nation from mercenaries hired by western motherfuckers who don't give a fuck how many people get killed so long as they can weaken any nation which refuses to put up with their energy gobbling bullshit. But that is just recent history. The British were certainly fucking around in the Balkans in 1900. And hey , why not go back a few years to the nuclear bombing of Japan. The fire bombing of Japan and Germany. The war in Vietnam, The bombing of Cambodia and Laos.

[@nemezidanemezida5110]

всё верно....

[@uchihalovex100pre]

A real good book is "The First Person : An Astonishingly Frank Selfportrait By Russia's President".

[@queerstars1]

Great job.

[@HerrMikael]

It gets interesting towards the end at 55:00

[@dm3199]

HerrMikael yep she's full of s***

[@rosemacaskie]

Masha Gessen describes Putin as supporting a clean living but in many ways less kind society and one thing that is notable about the tendency of religions who are the centre of a movement towards such scared and intellectually as well as sexually repressed societies, is their choice of governors who are not very moral at all. In Italy, Berlusconi was the head of the party of the right. The right in the Mediteranean are the parties of the more religious, which is to say, Catholics parts of the country. Berlusconi was financial and sexually very immoral. Putin also the candidate of the Russian Orthodox church, according to Masha Greshen, is also an an unsavoury character, with a adolescent and frivolous liking to showing off his pectorals and of brutal tendencies, as is seen in the brutal repression of his people. Trump is someone whose living is as unclean as Berlusconi's' almost. Why do religions combine asking for an extreme, sexual at any rate, morality for the poor and care so little about the morality of leaders? Even of church leaders, look up the story of Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, he was an out out baddy and they say he had charism, which in catholic terms means, miraculous characteristics. If he did miracles and every one says he had charism, then miracles must be considered as magic is, not necessarily good at all, maybe white and maybe black

[@dm3199]

Did she miss the documentary made by Olivia Stone Ukraine on fire, certainly she did

[@markcollings5054]

A ACT OF DUPLICITY AND A WAR CRIME.

[@dm3199]

Mark Collings I agree us-sponsored coup d'etat was a crime

[@shaiaheyes2c41]

The jew Oliver Stone has been on FSB's paylist since they were called KGB.

[@shermandozer8086]

Only trolls in the comment section ! ?

[@rosemacaskie]

My experience from talking to people in bars and on the street, is that what is happening in Russia, a return to the values of good clean living without worrying about the more cruel aspecs of such values, is happening everywhere. Here in Europe street recruiters for Catholic sects are making enormous headway as far as I can make out, and the crisis has helped their agenda because food hand outs have made everyone so found of Catholics. I give money in big stores and the catholics hand out the food they claim the recognition for what has been given by all. We know how much Evangelist like the right and family values in North America, so there there are various churches working to get people to vote for such as Putin and Trump. I wonder whether the truth is not that the Orthodox Church has not caught Putin rather than that Putin has uses the Orthodox church. I would bet that it is the church that has got Putin. It seems to me that different religions spy on each other and pick up each others tricks when they think they are useful, much as they pretend not to change, and I think that the new order in the world is part of a reaction to the well fare state and so a propagandistic effort on the part of the religions and is due to their becoming more reactionary. The freedom of the new world and the well fare state, attacked the religions, all of them or that is how they saw it. I think people just like religions if these can keep up with the times. I like religion but I cannot take it that religions ask for the vote for the right when religions pretend to mind poverty so mucthey refuse to see that you cannot change homosexuals tendency to love their own sex. I would be religious if it weren't for the nastiness of the religious. I think that people like religions if these dont get too horrible but the churches saw their own annihilation or just wanted their harsher side to be allowed to thrive, so they have been a main world influence in getting us quite a way down the road to were Putin has gone, back to pre-French revolution times. Of course they are expansionist ,which means they need money and the well fare state took away many of their main job openings , health education and charity, still I wonder how well they did in the high moment of well fare states? Maybe their fear for their pockets if the well fare state thrives is more imaginary than something real. i The religions could remain respectable morally If they supported ideas that allowed people to follow their conscious, instead of supporting governments that kept a shackled and scared populations but, that is not what they are choosing to do. The other part of the equation that is leading us in the direction Russia is going in, leading us back to pre French revolution times, is the strong reaction of the rich to the situation that existed forty to sixty years ago, at least in England. The fast nationalisation of so many things, high taxes on the rich and their having to pay higher wages which prevented the growth of billionaires and helped the government organise the well fare state and so the employment of so many people in the more efficient than the religions, government institutions of health and education and helping the poor. Governments since then, even those of the left who also came to believe the arguments of the right, have been helping the rich so as to help the economy, by reducing taxes on the very rich, by de-regulising very big business, and such things have lead us to a world in which their are lots of billionaires and very few small to medium businesses. The reaction to the new and better world we had almost got for ourselves in the sixties has been been to push those who did not like the well fare state to get very good at propaganda, they, the religons and rich, manipulate populations into doing what is bad for them such as voting for Trump.

[@ninmachine109]

i'm reading her book now. It actually makes Putin look like a bigger badass imo

[@artyomivanovich7170]

***** Really? Whats in the book?

[@ninmachine109]

during his youth he was considered a troublemaker who alway got into fights. It turns out he was defending himself from bigger (drunk) kids. And he made the mistake of fighting one guy because he witnessed him chasing a much smaller kid. So he was basically standing up for him. It turns out those kids were friends just messing around. The book gets very political after that, and Putin is a full blown KGB agent, so everything about his life at that point is unknown

[@artyomivanovich7170]

Cool, thx. I'll probbably check the book out.

[@ninmachine109]

no problem, I highly recommend it. If you just so happen to remember me, let me know what you thought lol

[@artyomivanovich7170]

***** lol k thx, will do :)

[@Dan.50]

Iies.

[@roselee4445]

I get the feeling this activist would like to be like Putin. Only can't be. The hairdo looks like a science need I knew in high school.

[@franny5295]

It might help if you shut your eyes and simply listened. Especially now. Putin is probably going to bomb countries into oblivion, Russia will not escape unscathed, millions of innocent people will die. If we have any chance of stoppong that we need to understand him. Instead of reacting and trying to irritate him our governments need to try to figure out how to fix this.

[@riokriok2863]

what she says everybody knows that.

[@jeffcd3559]

This sounds very biological

[@mudchair16]

Oy vey, shut it down!

[@afkfromk1]

THE WEST WAR ON RUSSIA is correct

[@jakelamotta81]

pfui

[@cedonullidude]

Is that really a lesbian or is that just George Soros in drag?

[@markcollings5054]

PUTIN is gay

[@dm3199]

She's a well-spoken joke:-))) can't take her seriously.

[@markcollings5054]

seriously WTF your DIM and dumb

[@dm3199]

Mark Collings, seriously, she is just full of resentment Russian Jew.

[@bigfreshdeal]

she is Putin's troll she makes him more popularity than anybody yesss Masha go on

[@markcollings5054]

PUTIN and now RUSSIANS are hated in the WORLD we all will rise up and beat the living crap out of you.

[@bigfreshdeal]

It's so easy to be philosopher among uncultivated students, anybody can fit

[@markcollings5054]

RUSSIA has no philosophy just barely surviving due to CORRUPTION PUTINITES.

[@bigfreshdeal]

just for your information en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_scientists#Physicians_and_psychologists

[@melissamacdonald9543]

ZEN Bell just for your information, Wikipedia is never permitted as a scholarly reference since the articles can be written by anyone without the benefit of peer review. Though, I suppose that an “uncultured student” wouldn’t be aware of that fact 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@D_isco_D_ancer]

I know, How easy?

[@bigfreshdeal]

@@melissamacdonald9543 Mac Donald is not a food

[@sorenz08]

The answer is already in the question - are these people scholars or propagandists? Masha Gessen: Putin's War - Against the West -OMG.

[@bigfreshdeal]

second book about Putin, conferences, universities, congress, youtube all about Putin what would she do without him? He brings her much money she found golden mine in only one person, she is doctor of Putin, if I am Vladimir I would ask royalties ....

[@markcollings5054]

PUTIN was a low level kgb floor sweeper who sucked hard to become BOSS..his JUDO is silly and his platforms a joke..try karate pussies.

[@bigfreshdeal]

and very good chess player

[@MidnightRambler]

LGBT Activist...oh sweet lord this is why we need RT..away from the bbc Guardian crew

[@akompsupport]

This woman has 1. a bias which clouds her views. 2. incorrect views.

[@markcollings5054]

These women are RIGHT and make Putin look like a baby..

[@bigfreshdeal]

is this women?

[@UberTankred]

There wasn't one woman in the video.

[@roymaddocks3184]

incorrect views? ...like, there's a thesaurus of correct views? wow

[@Charismaniac]

The arrogance, the up-speak... the narcissism and dishonesty are quite obvious in her.

[@martinsatyen7833]

Yes she nailed his narcissistic ass, didn't she. Proven out by him going full psycho now

[@Charismaniac]

@@martinsatyen7833 The mainstream media and the comedian authorities that switch from commie to nazi mode and vice versa in Ukraine are the ones going full psycho.

[@riokriok2863]

how people can listen to people like her she knows nothing about Russia just in the business of making money period..

[@CaliforniaGirl-qk5kq]

She has an agenda to destroy Russia. She convinced American elite that she is expert of Russia. Remember that Jews led Bolshevik Revolution and implemented communism in Russia. Communists killed about 60 million of people. Mostly Orthodox Russians. As a Jew she is master propagandist.

[@ZakiAminu1]

This woman talks ENDLESS NONSENSE!

[@bcbconklin]

thumbs down