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Kristi Raik
Deputy director of the International Centre for Defence and Security, Tallinn
Fiction
Inspired by a great book (in Finnish only) by Laura Halminen on Martti J. Kari, a former Finnish intelligence officer, I’ve been rereading The Master and Margarita by Mihail Bulgakov. The motto of Kari, borrowed from Bulgakov, was “manuscripts don’t burn.” As Moscow is flooding the world with lies once again, the message is as important as ever: truth cannot be burnt.
Politics
Sylvie Kauffmann’s book Les aveuglés has just been published in Estonian and made her a star in Tallinn. Most clear-eyed French critique of French and German policies toward Russia.
Podcast, film, or music
The podcast Ukraine: The Latest by The Telegraph has become one of my main sources of daily updates on events in and around Russia’s war in Ukraine. Impressive journalism does not allow Western audiences to forget about Ukraine.
Guilty pleasure
Pet Shop Boys issued a new album in April 2024. A teenage favorite that I had almost forgotten about (It’s a sin!). Still makes the same capturing pop, with a new level of sophistication. Perhaps getting older is not a bad thing at all.
Steven Erlanger
Chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for the New York Times
Fiction
Two novels of the Muddled East. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, and Apeirogon, by Colum McCann, two thoughtful, moving, and very different efforts to explain how Israelis and Palestinians have gotten where they are, and who they have become.
Politics
My two worlds lately: Nathan Thrall’s A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, a dissection of the Israeli occupation and its complications through one tragedy, and Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022 by Frank Trentmann, a detailed social history of how the Germans gradually and grumpily emerged from defeat to build a new, united state.
Podcast, film, or music
Anatomy of a Fall, the film by Justine Triet. Visually and intellectually engaging courtroom drama about the trial of a wife following the unexplained death of her husband.
Guilty pleasure
Honestly, Yellowstone. Laconic, sometimes silly and sappy, but lots of horses and mountains and banter. First two seasons are the best, as usual, then it fades.
Liana Fix
Fellow for Europe in the David Rockefeller studies program at the Council on Foreign Relations
Fiction
David McCloskey’s Moscow X. This book will bring you as close to being inside the CIA as possible without being in Langley yourself. Apart from the gripping story, you also learn useful techniques—how to serve a dead letter box, for example.
Politics
Anna Reid’s A Nasty Little War. The West has sent military troops into Russia for an allied intervention, and soldiers from Michigan landed in Arkhangelsk. Sound like science fiction? No, it’s history: The allied intervention into the Russian Civil War is understudied and politically forgotten. Time to change that with this great book.
Podcast, film, or music
The podcast Next Year in Moscow by Arkady Ostrovsky from the Economist has new episodes! A must-listen.
Guilty pleasure
The video game Peaky Blinders. Birmingham 1928, and you’ve been fleeing the firing squad for over a decade, turning to infamous crime boss Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) for help. What could be better.
Stefan Lehne
Senior fellow at Carnegie Europe
Fiction
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. During the Communist regime, a Russian aristocrat spends decades under house arrest in a Moscow luxury hotel, eventually rising to the position of head waiter. A bit of a fairy tale but beautifully written and morally uplifting, which we need in times like these.
Politics
Revolutionary Spring by Christopher Clark: Fascinating account of the 1848 revolutions. How they spread across Europe like wildfire and self-destructed when the liberal bourgeoisie panicked about the “social question.”
Podcast, film, or music
Past, Present, Future by David Runciman: A British academic exploring various aspects of the history of ideas. Always intelligent and thoughtful, particularly when he has brilliant guests.
Guilty pleasure
Slow Horses series by Mike Herron: I am addicted to these tales about a bunch of dysfunctional but ultimately effective British spies. Fantastically clever and witty dialogue and exciting plots. Such a pleasure, I long stopped feeling guilty.
Martin Ehl
Chief analyst at Hospodářské Noviny
Fiction
Jaroslav Rudiš’s Winterbergova poslední cesta (Winterberg’s Last Journey). Czech writer but written originally in German as Winterbergs letzte Reise. Central Europe in nutshell.
Politics
Dmitri Alperovitch and Garrett Graff’s World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century. A not-so-usual geopolitical reading with very American and some Russian flavor at the same time.
Podcast, film, or music
Czech rock band Ragdoll, album Drunken Monologues. When your friends’ daughter makes music, you can listen to it.
Guilty pleasure
I have recently discovered Canadian wines. And, yes, there are also Polish ones.
Hanna Ojanen
Research director at Tampere University
Fiction
Andrés Neuman, El viajero del siglo (Traveler of the Century), 2009. This is Europe—so well seen by Hans from Wandernburg. Two-pagers are not the solution to all problems, sometimes we indeed need five or six hundred pages to find both the solution and ourselves.
Politics
No politics for the summer pause.
Podcast, film, or music
Celine Song’s film Past Lives. Will South Korea be the new United States in terms of soft power?
Guilty pleasure
Ice cream no doubt—have you tasted the pine flavor already?
Ben Tonra
Professor of international relations at University College Dublin
Fiction
Tragically I don’t do fiction, so in lieu I offer John Barton’s 2020 History of the Bible—a real page turner of an investigation into the roots, relevance and reality of this religiously and culturally foundational text.
Politics
Peter Apps’s Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO. In this seventy-fifth anniversary year, a terrific history of the world’s most successful and enduring military alliance.
Podcast, film, or music
SLATE’s podcast Culture Gabfest—erudite, funny, and insightful reviews of the major cultural products, events, and conversations of the week.
Guilty pleasure
Rewatching—again and again—the TV series VEEP. A never dated, always relevant and stunningly, achingly, funny take on U.S. politics.
Paul Taylor
Senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre
Politics
La Crucifixion de l’Ukraine: Mille ans de guerres de religions en Europe by Jean-François Colosimo. Intriguing mix of geopolitics and religion delves into the civilizational roots of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A stimulating read even if you don’t agree with everything.
Podcast, film, or music
Franklin. An American roué splits his time between working for the liberation of his country and making the most of decadent ancien-regime France.
La Fièvre. A prescient French series on how an incident between a soccer star and his team coach could lead France to the brink of civil war. Essential backdrop to the current French political and culture wars.
Guilty pleasure
Dark chocolate. The darker the better. More than I should.
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