Putin couldn’t destabilise the West through military force, so he launched an invasion of our reality. The methods he pioneered now work far beyond the Kremlin.

Matt and Elliot trace how Putin found the cracks in Western democracies and threw fuel on the fire. Elliot even casually drops in a story about when his Dad stayed at one of Putin's summer palaces.

From Dresden to the Internet Research Agency, Brexit, Trump and AI-driven bots, this is the story of the playbook Putin created and the agitators who followed him through.

He was the icebreaker. He poisoned our information well. Now reality is becoming untethered.

Chapters ➡

00:00 If Russia leaves Ukraine
00:17 Russia, Trump and the diesel deal
05:06 How Putin acquired power
08:14 The invasion of reality
09:42 Late Soviet propaganda comes west
14:38 Brexit and plausible deniability
18:52 Trump, Putin and kompromat
21:01 Elliot's dad's encounter with Putin
24:34 Putin the icebreaker
27:53 Arguing with bots
29:36 Big Tech and democratic failure
31:01 Starlink, Ukraine and a free Europe
33:32 The poisoned information well

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For show notes and a deep dive on each episode, visit the Substack via the link above.