The thing that instantly caught my eye as soon as the podcast opened up was the idea from Peter Pomerantsev stated was that while yes Russia is having their fair share with Ukraine right now, in reality it is a battle between NATO and Russia. Another constant theme that seems to be mentioned are these ideas of authoritarianism, white supremacy, liberal and democratic movements across many parts of the country and its an interesting concept to think about because as a fellow American i have no idea how people outside of the United States think of us. I know there is this joke that always goes around that states Americans don’t know any country outside of their own, and while i do know some other countries, this is mostly true. Growing up in American societies and American rules like creating the “American dream” it is really hard to focus on the struggles we are going through as a country because I have grown accustomed to it. I’m used to believing we have always been the best country because of the industrial craftsmanship we possess and that we are far too “advanced” for other countries when in reality, while we maybe be an industrial powerhouse, our mental health systems, crime rates, physical well being of individuals, etc.. are all the huge concerns, yet get little to no attention because we believe America is doing well and will continue to thrive in the future.

In this podcast, Peter made a great comparison of democrats being like Ukranians because they based their decisions and reactions off of empathy. Ukrainians are nice people who do not wish harm upon anyone, and he made it seem like Republicans can be deemed as Russians as they are more aggressive and can take over at any moment if given the chance. Now i do not know if this the best simile but it was an interesting idea that i could not just pass over. Another political idea that was being mentioned was the idea of polarization. Polarization is just when people have opposite opinions on a subject which leads to an increase in tension over time. Polarization dives into the idea of power and submissiveness. Peter then proceeds to talk about how Ukraine has for a long time felt silenced and repressed as a result of the higher kingdom that is Russia. Also talks about the corruptness that surrounds Russia that has allowed it to gain its strong entitlement and basically have full control over smaller locations like Ukraine.