The Russian Psyche | Konstantin Kisin

John is joined by Konstantin Kisin, himself Russian by descent, for a conversation about the Russian mindset, popular support for President Putin, the Western response to and coverage of the conflict in Ukraine, Western resilience, the role of satire in public discourse, and much more.

Konstantin Kisin is a Russian-British comedian, podcaster, writer and social commentator. He made international headlines in 2018 by refusing to sign a university “behavioural agreement form” which banned jokes about religion, atheism and insisted that all humour must be “respectful and kind”.

Konstantin is a regular contributor to BBC, ITV and TalkRadio. Frequently described as an "objective voice from the centre of the political spectrum", he regularly writes for a wide range of publications, including the Telegraph, Spectator and Quillette. He is also the creator and co-host of the TRIGGERnometry YouTube show where 2 comics interview economists, political experts, journalists and social commentators about interesting, controversial and challenging subjects.

Konstantin's first book, 'An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West', will be released on July 14th 2022, and can be pre-ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Immigrants-L...

John first interviewed Konstantin in 2019. Their pre-covid interview can be found here:    • Free Speech, Comedy, and Woke Culture...  
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00:00 Intro
00:53 Introducing Konstantin Kisin
1:59 How should we understand your homeland, Russia?
3:13 What is a 'gulag'?
6:20 The Russian sense of humour & culture
8:08 Why does Putin enjoy such support in Russia?
14:07 Why hasn't democracy worked in Russia?
20:30 Mainstream coverage of the Ukraine conflict
27:02 The Achilles heel of autocracies
31:16 The depths of Western foundations
36:50 The Western reaction to Russian aggression
40:40 On slavery & ethnic tensions
45:56 On the response to Covid-19
52:08 The power of comedy and satire
55:48 John Anderson as a target of satire
57:19 The 'age of religion'
1:01:27 Replacing conflict with conversation
1:05:11 Concluding remarks
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Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues.

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Konstantin Kisin:
  / konstantinkisin  
http://konstantinkisin.com/
Triggernometry:    / @triggerpod