We learn to think of history as something that has already happened, to other people. Our own moment, filled as it is… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I realized - I've been an opposition journalist in Russia for a long time. And I've often considered how real risks are… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I was a political journalist for a long time. I wrote a book about Putin. I made all kinds of trouble. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“Half of the population is behind bars and the other half is guarding them,' Russians have said of their country since the… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Every time I talk to somebody about Putin, it's like, 'But isn't he vastly popular?' Is that really the most important question?… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
There was this very strange moment when the world discovered what was going on for LGBT people in Russia. It was very… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“Where do you get your information?” Masha asked what seemed at the moment a logical question. “There,” said the lieutenant, and he… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“It all fit. The love of power, the focus on Russia to the exclusion of the rest of the world—with an exception… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Putin was very careful to gradually sort of rotate people in and out of power, to make sure that he had competent… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Any country is either becoming more democratic or less democratic. I think the United States hasn't tended to its journey toward democracy… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I mean, hunger strike is almost a ritual in a Russian prison colony. It actually has been going back to Soviet times.… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“But the funniest one they showed us was about the need for leisure time. I was sitting next to women who work… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“At the time of the October Revolution, the Russian intellectual elite had been both a part and a partner to the European… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
For Russians in the '90s, there was that sense of not knowing what the future held at all. And coming off a… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Americans voted for Trump. A lot of people in this country feel the system of representative democracy hasn't worked for them for… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
What has happened to protesters in the past was that, basically, the government in 2012 put an end to a series of… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Trump, like Putin, has a demonstrably thin skin and short temper when it comes to being criticized by journalists. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
