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The surprising science of how fatherhood changes the brain
Recent studies suggest that, like mothers, fathers may undergo a profound shift in their biology and brains in preparation for and response to the responsibilities of parenthood.
Cities and Schools Are Testing Wastewater for Illicit Drugs
The White House recently endorsed monitoring sewage for evidence of drug use. Critics fear such efforts could violate privacy and stigmatize neighborhoods.
Suspect fleeing officers crashes into Pittsburgh business & gets away on foot, police say
The man was wanted on felony charges of robbery and domestic violence.
Dodgers on Deck: Sunday, June 21 vs. Orioles
The Dodgers on Sunday close out their homestand and play their final home game of the month of June in hosting the Baltimore Orioles at Dodger Stadium. Emmet Sheehan starts for Los Angeles, with right-hander Brandon Young starting for Baltimore. Sheehan at age 26 is actually the young one in this pitching matchup, 15 months […]
Baltimore Orioles Make Adley Rutschman Decision Before Dodgers Game
Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game.
Dem who sued to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center now says venue becoming 'lifeless husk' in fresh fight
The plaintiff in the case, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, said that by refusing to take steps to resume shows, the Kennedy Center is in violation of a previous court order.
Scientists found a cannabis compound that relieves pain without the high
Compounds responsible for the aroma of cannabis and many other plants may offer a surprising new way to relieve chronic pain. Researchers found that several cannabis-derived terpenes significantly reduced pain in mouse models of fibromyalgia and post-surgical pain, with one terpene, geraniol, showing especially strong effects. Unlike THC, these compounds are not associated with psychoactive effects, making them a potentially attractive alternative for pain treatment.
Judges’ races have been injected with more politics. Here’s what to know.
The Placer County judicial race in the primary election included attack text ads. One consultant called this election cycle for judges “vitriolic.”
The Belfast riots: an anti-migrant ‘pogrom’
Disorder over migrant knife attack shines a light on new era of political violence fuelled by social media
TST Images: Dodgers defeat Orioles, 6-5, in Los Angeles
Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting TribuneLos Angeles Dodgers infielder Mookie Betts' (50) son warming up for first pitch before an MLB baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 19th, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA.
Unusual creatures are more appealing: What guppies teach us about evolution
Spanish biologist Ignacio Paulin became fascinated by the behavior of these fish, in a project that could now disappear due to budget cuts by the Trump administration
Dodgers on Deck: Saturday, June 20 vs. Orioles
The Dodgers turn to their ace on Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto coming off two gems in a row. Yamamoto retired his final 22 batters faced to beat the Angels on June 6 at Dodger Stadium, then retired his first 23 in a row against the White Sox in Chicago, taking […]
How to live stream Orioles vs Dodgers: MLB, TV channel
The Baltimore Orioles (35-41) are on the road this weekend to face the Los Angeles Dodgers (48-27). The first game of the series will take place on Friday night. How to Watch the Baltimore Orioles vs Los Angeles Dodgers Baltimore…
5 Foods Cardiologists Want Men to Eat More Often for Better Heart Health
Cardiologists share 5 foods men should eat more often for better heart health.
The science of 'Dad Brain' and how fatherhood changes men
While most scientific research has focused on men, when it comes to parenthood, it's all about mothers. But new research shows that men undergo profound changes biologically and psychologically when they become fathers. Horizons moderator William Brangham explores the surprising science of "Dad Brain" with Darby Saxbe.
Bell County sheriff’s deputies shoot man while responding to mental health crisis call
The Bell County Sheriff’s Office says deputies shot and injured a suspect Friday afternoon while responding to a reported violent domestic disturbance east of Holland.
Advances in leadless conduction and Bachmann’s bundle pacing next frontier in physiologic pacing
Leadless pacing in the Bachmann's bundle may be the next phase in the evolution of cardiac pacing technology.
After Local Drag Queen and Business Owner Banned From Instagram, More Questions Than Answers
Club ERA owner Naomi Dix says that her accounts were shut down this week for purportedly violating community standards.
Colombia’s Right-Wing Offensive and the Politics of Order
Far-right millionaire Abelardo de la Espriella has a narrow lead ahead of Colombia’s election runoff. Left-wing rival Iván Cepeda speaks of the outgoing government’s achievements, but rising violence has made the campaign especially volatile.
AI lab Midjourney investing over $74M to launch whole-body ultrasound screening business
Radiologists, meanwhile, took to social media to criticize the endeavor, noting that the generative AI company lacks clinical evidence to back its marketing claims.
Interventional work increasingly concentrated among smaller subset of radiologists
The proportion of radiologists performing some (>0%) IR-related work declined from 70% in 2008 down to 50% by 2023, according to new research published in JVIR.
Paraguayan volunteers gain firsthand health care experience supporting AMISTAD audiologists
During AMISTAD 2026, two Paraguayan volunteers stood at the intersection of education and international partnership, working alongside U.S. Air Force audiologists to deliver specialty hearing care at Unidad de Salud Familiar Niño de Jesús.
Political watchdog fines Newsom for failing to report $5.5M in solicited donations on time
The California Fair Political Practices Commission said most of the violations were for failing to report that Gov. Gavin Newsom and his his staff directed inquiries from companies and foundations to offer help after the Los Angeles wildfires to the California Fire Foundation.
Adley Rutschman Injury: Craig Albernaz Shares Update After Mariners Game
Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was removed from Thursday's game against the Seattle Mariners.
Scientists reprogram brain immune cells to fight Alzheimer’s
A newly identified molecule called OLE helped restore the brain’s immune cells to a more protective state in Alzheimer’s models. The treatment reduced toxic plaque buildup and improved memory, raising hopes for a new therapeutic approach.
NJ Senate approves penalties for political violence
After a series of high-profile political killings rocked the nation, New Jersey lawmakers seek to heighten penalties for political violence.
Regulatory investigations reveal systemic failures among Commercial California Health Plans in delivering timely behavioral health care
Commercial California health plans are failing enrollees who need access to behavioral health services for mental health and substance use disorder care, recent investigations have shown. Across three rounds of investigations, the California Department of Managed Health Care found 70 Knox-Keene Act violations and 35 barriers to care across 14 health plans, spanning national, regional, and county-based plans.
MSU Texas grad pursues health care mission through biology
For Joshua De Waal, a childhood experience with his dad’s accident made one thing clear: quality health care can change lives—and he wants to be part of that change.
MSU Texas grad pursues health care mission through biology
For Joshua De Waal, a childhood experience with his dad’s accident made one thing clear: quality health care can change lives—and he wants to be part of that change.
4 Morning Habits A Cardiologist Avoids To Protect His Heart Health
In TODAY.com’s Expert Tip of the Day, a cardiologist reveals how morning habits can impact heart health and the best way to start the day.
The surprising science of how fatherhood changes the brain
Studies suggest that, like mothers, fathers may undergo a shift in their biology in preparation for and in response to the responsibilities of parenthood.
Two sides of a political chasm share one fear in Colombia’s presidential race: A return to the past
More than 10 million people are victims of the harshest acts of violence in Colombia’s six decades of armed conflict
Orioles' Jackson Holliday: Pops solo shot in win
Orioles' Jackson Holliday: Pops solo shot in win
Waves of lawsuits and internet tracking: CIPA in the digital age
Small businesses are getting sued at an alarming rate for violating internet privacy laws, with one law firm fielding over 500 lawsuits alone citing the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
Radiologist saw signs of in-house abuse in NICU, but hospital failed to act on his warning
A special report is raising new concerns about a hospital’s lackluster response to a radiologist's concerns of abuse happening in the organization's NICU.
Hugh Jackman almost 'pulled the plug' on ultra-violent 'Robin Hood'
Hugh Jackman has fought mutants, slayed vampires and gone toe-to-toe dancing with Zac Efron.
USF names new dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy
Janice Zgibor has been appointed as the new dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy. A pharmacist and epidemiologist, Zgibor has served at USF for more than a decade and brings over 20 years of academic leadership experience to the role.She will become just the second permanent dean of the college.
Ozempic and Wegovy linked to surprising drop in violent behavior
A Rutgers study suggests GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may weaken the link between impulsive tendencies and violent behavior. The surprising finding hints that these medications could affect how people act on impulses, though researchers stress that cause and effect have not been proven.
Tribes and ANCs Are Not DEI: Key Takeaways from the 2026 NSBGCA Conference | Insights
The 2026 National Small Business Government Contractors Association (NSBGCA) Alaska Regional Conference reiterated that entity-owned firms can participate in federal procurement without violating DEI policies.
Building Scientists in the AI Era
Stevens Institute of Technology’s newly launched AI in Biology and Chemistry Community helps students explore AI’s role in health care, biotech and ed-tech careers.
'Not sustainable': The real impact of RVU cuts in electrophysiology
Despite a substantial increase in demand for electrophysiologists, payments for their services have remained stagnant.
Cell and gene therapy's next challenge is not the science, it's everything else
The field's foundational biology is no longer the limiting factor. What comes next depends on whether the industry can build the manufacturing, commercial, and clinical infrastructure to match what the science already knows how to do.
Orioles Make Ryan Helsley Announcement Before Mariners Game
The Baltimore Orioles will be getting their closer back from the injured list.
MLB warns Giants players who wrote Bible verses on Pride Night caps they could face 'future violations'
1 Central Florida food truck shut down last week after health inspections
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down a food truck in Volusia County for health code violations during the week from June 7-13.
These 36 Scientists Are Leading the Way to Biomedical Discoveries
On June 16, Pew announced the 2026 class of Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences, and Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research. These researchers will receive multiyear grants and join a community of more than 1,000 scientists who are taking creative approaches to cancer biology, neuroscience, immunology, and more.
Jimmy Kimmel breaks down Trump's 'big violent birthday party' UFC event
"It was so exciting he almost stayed awake for the whole thing."
State tries to shut down Evanston psychiatric facility after string of crimes and violations
The state of Illinois is trying to close Albany Care in Evanston, a home for about 170 people with mental health and substance abuse issues. The facility is appealing the order.
Class action lawsuit claims radiology vendor Nano-X Imaging misled investors
The Israel-based manufacturer allegedly made “misleading statements” regarding its business operations and prospects, attorneys charge in the complaint, filed June 12.
Radiology Partners affiliate inks in-network deal with Anthem Blue Cross
The deal is with Golden State Imaging Associates, which serves Southern California, providing 24/7 diagnostic and interventional services to hospitals and other referrers.
Eric Topol
The famed cardiologist discusses how AI has transformed biomedical science
MLB issues warning to Giants pitchers for writing Bible verses on Pride caps
Major League Baseball issued a warning to three Giants pitchers who wrote Bible verses on the team's "Pride Night" caps, citing policy violations.
OPCW and UNODA partner to bridge gap between scientists and policymakers
Scientists learn how to apply policy and diplomacy at OPCW-UNODA workshop on chemical and biological disarmament
Scientists found a way to explain bird flocks that “defy” Newton’s third law
Physicists have solved a long-standing problem involving systems that appear to violate Newton’s third law, such as bird flocks and bacterial swarms. By adding carefully designed “imaginary partners” to their models, they can now simulate these complex systems with unprecedented accuracy.
A sickness to our politics
Daniel R. Suhr | How did we get to the point where violence by the left is just part of the news cycle?
Readers Write: Nuclear power, history, political violence, undocumented workers, wealth
First: the nuclear waste problem.
Social media platforms spread hate music in India despite policy violations, new report says
The report, “Profiting From Hate Music,” documents what researchers describe as the first comprehensive mapping of hate music across India's digital landscape.
Medline recalls nearly 50K procedure kits, including many used by cardiologists
This recall was put in place due to a risk of the included adhesive not working. Nothing needs to be returned, but clinicians should not use the adhesive that comes inside the procedure kits.
Bronzeville Businesses Still Cleaning Up After Violent Storms, Water Main Break
BRONZEVILLE— Multiple Bronzeville businesses are still cleaning up from a series of severe storms last week, with fallout including a busted water main
FIFA make punishment decision after Fox violate rules of $485m World Cup TV deal
As most experts in the sports business industry will attest, Fox have got a bargain in buying the rights to air the FIFA World Cup in the United States for $485m. Aside from the natural interest from a population curious about the tournament taking place on their doorstep, FIFA – world soccer’s governing body – has created the conditions for the 2026 World Cup to be the most commercially-geared in history.
Our New Study Shows That The Science Of Cannabis And Sleep Extends Beyond THC (Op-Ed)
“We found that the strongest evidence for improving sleep was associated with cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN) and combinations of the two—but not primarily THC.” By Andrea Efre, University of South Florida College of Nursing The cannabis sleep market represents a shift away from traditional pharmaceuticals toward a natural alternative. Historically, cannabis products marketed for sleep […]
Division of Biological Sciences announces five new faculty hires
The Division of Biological Sciences announced today that it has recruited five new faculty members. The incoming cohort represents the best and brightest from across the country, growing all three
James Uthmeier files lawsuit against TikTok for violating state law protecting kids
It's the latest move by Uthmeier in a string of legal challenges against large-scale technology firms.
Janelia’s Two Big Bets: Decoding the Brain and Reinventing How Science is Done
HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus is launching a decade-long scientific effort to pursue two coequal goals: understanding how the brain generates complex behavior, and developing a new mode of scientific discovery in which biologists and AI work together as partners in discovery.
NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,204 12 June 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)
NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List
Fitzgerald tells ‘UpFront’ Packers will be fine as he explores issues with NFL, Sports Broadcasting Act
Fresh off his hearing on Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald said the NFL may be violating the Sports Broadcasting Act and quickly dismissed concerns from the Green Bay Packers about any changes to the league's shared revenue model.
Honoree focuses on heart health, urges resilience
Cardiologist Dr. Tara Narula will receive the American Heart Association&rsquo.
Penn launches $18 million facility to advance RNA technology’s role in health, agriculture
The RNA manufacturing hub opened this spring in University City. The National Science Foundation has invested in five such facilities nationally, each focused on a specific biological material.
'Risk of electrical shock' prompts recall of imaging systems
A handful of fluoroscopy units manufactured by GE HealthCare are the subject of a new recall by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Factors making healthcare AI devices more likely to face recall
Deviations from a device’s intended use most often trigger FDA recalls, “highlighting unique safety challenges” in AI, experts write June 11 in JAMA.
Oprah Winfrey blesses new CT scanner she helped fund in Hawaii
Maui Memorial Medical Center, a 214-bed acute care hospital in Wailuku, celebrated the new computed tomography machine with its imaging team on June 8.
Buehler, newcomers propel Padres over Orioles for series win
BALTIMORE -- What seemed like a downward spiral just over a week ago now appears to be a "next man up" culture shift that has San Diego looking up — at least for now.
Padres hammer Orioles pitching, hit 5 home runs in win
News to know about your San Diego Padres and MLB for June 14, 2026.
These Portland trail guides build community through science, education and whimsy
“Drag Me Outside,” where field biology meets fabulousness.
Santa Monica Floral Studio Hosts Sound + Flower Wellness Event
Viola Floral in Santa Monica hosted a wellness event combining live flower arranging with crystal sound bowl healing for Mental Health Awareness Month on May 20.
ADHD is linked to chronic pain and other conditions. Here’s what we know.
Though it’s not yet clear whether the links are biological, research is beginning to uncover promising connections.
‘United front’: Akron businesses take stand following recent violence
Businesses in Akron’s Highland Square are taking a stance this weekend in response to the recent violence in the neighborhood.
A career of taking biological species for a spin
Nature Reviews Chemistry - Ahead of his 70th birthday, Adriaan (Ad) Bax, Distinguished Investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), spoke about his career in science.
Carlsbad tightens rules for massage businesses after prostitution arrests
Background checks, application fees, 5-year ban for violators added in updated massage ordinance.
Trump Bets on UFC Violence and the South Lawn Colosseum to Revive His Political Power
As setbacks mount, the president is staging a White House spectacle aimed at energizing supporters and reclaiming momentum
Why your cardiologist might tell you to skip AirPods
The magnetic fields emitted by your headphones will need to be used a safe distance away from your CIDs.
Months After the FBI Raided His Garage Chemistry Lab, Teen Science Prodigy Graduates from College (Exclusive)
"It was all an unfortunate misunderstanding," says 18-year-old Amalvin Fritz, who is applying to medical school and launching a biological science startup
Learning a musical instrument in your 70s could help protect memory
Learning a musical instrument later in life may help keep the brain younger for longer. In a four-year study, older adults who continued practicing maintained their memory performance and showed less age-related brain shrinkage than those who quit. The benefits were especially noticeable in brain regions tied to memory and learning.
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
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