Category: Politics
Whisky, war crimes, and the law: Howard Morrison on justice and power
Had the pleasure of hearing Judge Howard Morrison speak at the University of Greenwich. He’s sharp, direct, and very funny. A man who has stepped between armed factions, drafted laws with a stroke of the pen (literally), and taught Radovan Karadžić how to cross-examine witnesses. He describes himself as a “fully qualified grumpy old man.” Hard to argue.
How Superman captured Hitler and Stalin in 1940
In 1940, Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster crafted a comic strip for Look magazine, portraying the Man of Steel as a World War II hero.
A season of lectures: From petro-aggression to prison reform
Ten years after reading Internal Colonization: Russia’s Imperial Experience, I finally met its author, Alexander Etkind, in person. He gave a brilliant lecture at King’s College London on petro-aggression—when an oil and gas producer attacks a neighbor, often to tighten control over energy transit.
Peter the Great gets a Ukrainian paint job
In Deptford, there’s a monument to Peter the Great crafted by Mihail Chemiakin. Viewing it, much like encountering the artist’s other works, is a challenge that often leaves observers tearful—not from the depth of emotion it might inspire, but rather from its sheer lack of appeal.
Just one more turn: When Boris Yeltsin played Civilization
In 1995, a Russian tabloid ran a story about the video game habits of politicians. The findings were predictable—many professed a fondness for Tetris, one member of parliament was rumoured to play arcades, and most claimed they were far too busy for such frivolities. But the real prize came at the end: an unnamed Kremlin source mentioned that, in his rare spare moments, President Yeltsin liked to play Civilization.
It’s a statement that raises more questions than it answers. Did he play as Russia, or did he prefer to rewrite history as Rome or the Germans? Was he a benevolent builder, ushering in a golden age of culture, or did he discover the joys of the nuclear option? One imagines late-night sessions in the Kremlin, a glass of something strong at hand, as advisors hesitantly knocked on the door: “Mr. President, we have a situation.”
“Yes, yes,” Yeltsin might have muttered. “Just one more turn.”
I couldn’t find the original Komsomolskaya Pravda piece online, but a similar report appeared in Kommersant in 1997, stating—according to confidential sources in the Moscow mayor’s office—that city officials preferred playing Doom over a local network and the more “constructive” Civilization. Most federal officials, on the other hand, claimed they had never touched a computer game, citing two main reasons: a lack of computers and overwhelming workloads that left them with splitting headaches by evening.
Elia Kabanov is a science writer covering the past, present and future of technology (@metkere).
Illustration by Elia Kabanov feat. Midjourney.
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How Vladimir Putin stole cookies from a Scottish bakery
In April 1991, the future war criminal Vladimir Putin visited the UK as part of a Leningrad delegation led by then-mayor Anatoly Sobchak. They engaged with officials and entrepreneurs in London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
A look back: When Russia’s time zones were front-page news
Throughout my career, I’ve shared my insights with numerous media outlets on topics from science to politics. Thus, it was no surprise when The New York Times sought my perspective on Russia’s time zones.