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Local construction firm bets on Mid City in buying former Brew-Bacher's site
Grand Construction is giving one of Government Street's long-vacant restaurant buildings a second life. The Baton Rouge-based commercial contractor purchased the former Brew-Bacher's property last … Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
Small Business Spotlight: Business blooms beyond bouquets
BUSINESS: The Busy Bloom OWNERS: Amanda and Walter Adkins ADDRESS: 708 S. 17th St., Wilmington EMAIL: thebusybloomco@gmail.com WEBSITE: thebusybloomco.com PHONE NUMBER: (910) 742-0790 YEAR FOUNDED: 2024 NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 4 WHAT IS THE BUSY BLOOM? AMANDA ADKINS: “The Busy Bloom is a flower shop with a spin – a creative experience shop located in Wilmington’s Cargo District. Founded in 2024 by husband-and-wife team Amanda and Walter Adkins, we offer fresh flowers, botanical teas, a build-your-own bouquet bar, candle-making experiences, gifts, workshops, wedding florals and event services. Our mission is simple: to make flowers accessible, approachable and enjoyable for everyone – not just for special occasions.” WHY DID YOU START THE BUSINESS? AMANDA ADKINS: “The Busy Bloom was born from a lifelong connection to flowers and a desire to create meaningful experiences for people. After doing my own wedding florals and after years of working in healthcare management, I found myself returning to gardening and floral design as a creative outlet and source of healing. The loss of my mother-in-law, who always shared flowers from her garden, inspired me to pursue floristry full-time. My husband encouraged me and built a small flower cart for us to grow, and fast forward to now, two years later, it has grown into a community-centered business focused on bringing joy, connection and creativity through flowers.” WHAT KIND OF GROWTH ARE YOU HOPING FOR? AMANDA ADKINS: “We’re focused on sustainable growth that allows us to continue serving our community while expanding creative experiences. We hope to grow our wedding and event services, expand our educational workshops and creative programming and become a destination where people can gather, create and connect. We’re also passionate about creating opportunities that showcase floral design as an art form, such as our Fleur Couture fashion show and other community collaborations.” WHAT PAST EXPERIENCE HAVE YOU HAD WITH STARTING/WORKING IN BUSINESS? AMANDA ADKINS: “Before opening The Busy Bloom, I worked as a clinical manager in healthcare and spent years building leadership, operations and customer service skills. I’ve also worked in education and nonprofit programming, teaching people about nature and local ecosystems. Along the way, I designed flowers for weddings and events on the side, gradually turning a passion into a business. Walter has years of welding and construction experience, combined with entrepreneurship and a drive to own his own company. …The Busy Bloom has been a journey of combining creativity with entrepreneurship alongside my husband ... learning every step of the way.”
Dr. Landon Johnson named Assistant Vice President for Business Affairs
DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State University has named Dr. Landon Johnson assistant vice president for business affairs. Johnson joins Southeastern after serving as senior accounting manager for construction accounting and fixed assets with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where he als
Grand Avenue redevelopment project leaves Escondido small businesses reeling
Kettle on Grand Owner Givino Rossini says the city's Grand Avenue project cost him thousands of dollars after receiving only one week's notice before construction began.
City Heights business sues after delays with University Avenue construction
The construction is finally complete, but the nightmare is not over for some businesses along University Avenue in City Heights.
Trump says he's building a White House helipad for a more powerful Marine One
Trump's confirmation of the project Monday came as construction crews had already begun work on the South Lawn
Construction to Begin on I-94 Business Loop Near Valley City
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NDDOT) – The North Dakota Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin a structure replacement project along the Interstate 94 Business Loop, east of Valley City, on Monday, July 6. Improvements include replacing the
$28.5M modernization project planned at San Juan High School
Demolition and construction are taking place this summer at San Juan High School as part of a science wing and campus-wide modernization project, San Juan Unified School District officials say...
U. of C. scientists call for halt to Quantum Shore construction, citing contamination and energy concerns
A group of graduate students, research staff and scientists, many affiliated with the University of Chicago, is joining the opposition to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, arguing that their
Business 51 reconstruction to begin July 6; full closure starts July 8 in Stage 1
The first stage of Stevens Point’s Business 51 reconstruction project is set to begin Monday.
What’s going up on Airline Highway, near Coursey Boulevard?
The first phase of construction started in May, according to a Facebook post by Centurion Construction Management, the general contractor.
One Nation, Under Construction
To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, President Trump transformed Washington into a mess.
Millennials Are Buying Blue Collar Small Businesses To AI-Proof Their Future
Young entrepreneurs are snapping up baby boomer-owned plumbing, construction, manufacturing and HVAC companies. Plus: Tips for would-be buyers and sellers.
Illinois State undertaking major upgrades to science research and teaching capacity through new project
Illinois State is undertaking a major upgrade of its science research and teaching capacity through the construction of three new facilities.
Academy Sports + Outdoors coming to Siloam Springs
Marc Hayot/Herald-Leader Construction workers prepare the ground to build the new Academy Sports + Outdoors in between the Walmart Supercenter and Lowe's Home Improvement on June 24. An opening date has not been set, said Kelley Jones, senior external communications specialist for Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Downtown Clearwater site cleared for $50M EVO entertainment complex
Developers cleared the site for a $50M EVO entertainment complex in downtown Clearwater, advancing the project toward construction.
Visit Baton Rouge’s new headquarters project hits a snag
Visit Baton Rouge's plans to relocate its headquarters into a historic downtown building on Lafayette Street have been delayed after construction bids exceeded the organization's previous estimates by… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
Building Business: New hotel taking shape on Portland's Monument Square
Zachau Construction is transforming the former Fidelity Trust building into a 101-room luxury hotel, for Jim Brady’s Fathom Cos.
First ever dinosaur found in Antarctica described for science
Dinosaur backbone is the first found on the icy continent, and belongs to a titanosaur around 6–7 meters in length.
Cedar Crossing Casino to open in 6 months, BBQ restaurant prepares for business boom
CR Midnight Smoker BBQ sits next to the casino construction site. Owner Greg Stoll said business has not slowed during the build.
A Giant Scorpion the Size of a Coffee Table Is Forcing Scientists To Rethink Evolution
Praearcturus gigas was a meter-long Devonian scorpion whose size may reflect a world with few large competitors rather than high oxygen alone.
Citing construction, downtown Noblesville business will close
The Velvet Plum Vintage & Consignment, a home decor and furniture consignment shop at 894 Logan St. in Noblesville, has announced it will close July 15, citing Embrace Downtown construction as the driving factor. The Embrace Downtown project began earlier this year to provide infrastructure a
Citing construction, downtown Noblesville business will close
The Velvet Plum Vintage & Consignment, a home decor and furniture consignment shop at 894 Logan St. in Noblesville, has announced it will close July 15, citing Embrace Downtown construction as the driving factor. The Embrace Downtown project began earlier this year to provide infrastructure a
Brad Paisley: Data center project near Nashville Zoo is 'a monstrosity'
14-time Country Music Award winner Brad Paisley is calling on Nashville to prevent the construction of a data center near the city's zoo.
What scientists discovered about coffee grounds will transform construction industry - Futura-Sciences
At the start of 2024, a study published several months ago is once again drawing attention. Scientists at RMIT University in Australia have identified an unexpected use for spent coffee grounds, opening the door to a promising solution for both the construction sector and organic waste management. From coffee waste...
One of the French Quarter's largest hotels has a new owner. Here's what they have planned.
The 200-room hotel, previously owned by the late Joe Jaeger, was the last free-standing hotel built in the French Quarter before the city banned new hotel construction in the historic district.
‘Pineapple Days’ sidewalk sale draws business to Lincoln stores amid downtown construction
Cinnamon Dokken, owner of A Novel Idea Bookstore, said it was named for the Lemon Days sidewalk sales that many businesses around Lincoln used to do, instead using pineapples.
But-For Causation and the Essential Business Hurdle: Analyzing the Summary Judgment in RAAM Construction
RAAM Construction Inc v. United States of America, Case No. 2:25-cv-04681-SPG-AJR, 2026 WL 18391 (C.D. Cal. June 23, 2026). The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) codified under Internal Revenue Code Section 3134 remains a significant source of controversy, audits, and high-stakes federal litigation.
Las Vegas group, school launch scholarship to expand access to skilled trades
The National Association of Women in Construction Las Vegas recently launched a new scholarship in partnership with trade school Quality Training Centers. The scholarship is intended to expose more...
Sweden and WHO launch new long-term initiative to transform Ukraine’s health system
WHO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) have launched a new multi-year cooperation project to support the long-term recovery and transformation of Ukraine’s health system. The new project, “Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative: Strengthening Health Governance, Health Financing and Service Delivery for Long-Term Recovery”, was launched at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdansk, Poland on 26 June, and will run from June 2026 to 2029. Sweden will contribute approximately US$ 26 million (240 million Swedish krona) to support this project. This contribution forms part of Sweden’s broader support to Ukraine through the Team Europe approach, which brings together the European Union, its Member States, and key partners such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood and Enabel, and WHO as lead health agency, to support Ukraine’s recovery, reform agenda and European integration.“Ukraine’s health recovery cannot be measured only by what is rebuilt, but by whether people can count on the health system when they need it most. The scale of the task is immense, with health reconstruction and modernization needs estimated at US$ 19.4 billion over the next decade. Sweden’s US$ 26 million contribution to Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative is a timely investment in the institutions, financing and services that will support Ukraine’s long-term recovery and European integration. WHO remains a trusted partner of the Government of Ukraine in advancing this process. I am deeply grateful to Sweden for its consistent support and partnership,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. More than 4 years of war have placed unprecedented pressure on Ukraine’s health system, creating 3 interconnected challenges. The first is responding to the immediate consequences of the war and the urgent health needs of the population. The second is recovering and modernizing health services today. The third is continuing reforms and aligning the health system with European standards in the context of Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union. The war has led to large-scale population displacement, an increasing need for trauma care and rehabilitation, and shortages of health workers. High out-of-pocket payments in Ukraine make access to health services more difficult. Around 46% of total health expenditure is paid directly by individuals, placing a significant financial burden on many households and underscoring the need for reforms in health financing. Older people, persons with disabilities, women, children and veterans continue to face the greatest difficulties in accessing health services. “Ukraine is demonstrating that health system transformation can continue even during war. Ukraine is also continuing to align its health system with European norms and standards. WHO is committed to supporting Ukraine on this journey. We provide technical support, help coordinate partners’ efforts and support the institutional changes needed to strengthen the system. We are grateful to Sweden for its support. Through this partnership, we can help Ukraine build a more resilient, accessible and people-centred health system,” said Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine. About the Health System Transformation InitiativeThe new initiative will support Ukraine through 3 interconnected areas: strengthening governance and coordination of health sector reforms through more inclusive coordination platforms and structured policy dialogue; transforming service delivery by reinforcing a primary health care-centred model that integrates family medicine, nursing and midwifery; and improving financial sustainability by supporting reforms that ensure the long-term viability of the national health system and reduce out-of-pocket payments for households. Overall, these reforms are expected to make the health system more coherent and easier to navigate, improve the quality and continuity of care, and ensure more equitable access to services, particularly for those who need them most. They will also support Ukraine’s progress towards a more modern health system aligned with European standards. “We are convinced that long-term recovery is not possible without strong, high-quality, person-centred health services that are accessible to everyone. Our partnership with WHO is designed to support deep and lasting systemic changes. Investments in human capital especially autonomous midwives, whose role for maternal, newborn and adolescent sexual and reproductive health cannot be understated, stronger governance, digital transformation and the financial sustainability of the health system are investments in Ukraine’s future. We are proud to support this process,” said Malin Perhult, the Head of the Ukraine Unit at Sida. Focus throughout implementation will be given to the most vulnerable population groups, including older people, women and children, and persons with disabilities, who have been affected by the war and face greater health-care needs. The initiative will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, the Public Health Centre of Ukraine, regional authorities and international partners. This project will help Ukraine move towards a system where everyone can access the health care they need. It will strengthen primary care, make the health finance system more stable and predictable, and reduce the out-of-pocket costs that Ukrainians face when using health services. As a result, the Ukrainian health system will become more aligned with European standards and more sustainable in the long run.
Robot startup FieldAI achieves $100M milestone in revenue, contracts
FieldAI says it has crossed $100 million in revenue and contracts by building software for robots to work in mines, construction sites, and factories.
Gay Street businesses cope with Capital Line construction
The Capital Line is meant to be transformative for Downtown. But right now it's presenting challenges for businesses.
Officials offer lifeline to struggling French Quarter businesses
At least three businesses have closed due to ongoing construction.
Strip casino project proposing new 2,000-seat live entertainment venue
Hard Rock is doubling down on its commitment to live entertainment at its $4 billion Strip resort project.
Politicians love 'affordability' rhetoric. But it hasn't offered path to urban prosperity in Kansas.
Wichita remains one of the most “affordable” regions to inhabit in the U.S. today, but that affordability has not served as as economic boon.
Noblesville store attributes closure to declining business caused by road construction
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — A consignment store in downtown Noblesville has indicated that its doors are closing due to the impacts of road construction. At the corner of Ninth and Logan Streets, Velvet Pl…
Syracuse business owners speak out over I-81 construction disruptions
Several store owners are concerned about money they say they've lost as a result of I-81 construction.
Kenya’s health minister orders suspension of construction on a US-backed Ebola facility
Locals have held a series of protests in which three people have died.
Kenya’s health minister orders suspension of construction on a US-backed Ebola facility
Kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale has ordered the suspension of the construction of an Ebola quarantine center for Americans after he was held in contempt by a court that had halted the project.
Kenya's health minister orders suspension of construction on a US-backed Ebola facility
Kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale has ordered the suspension of the construction of an Ebola quarantine center for Americans after he was held in contempt by a court that had halted the project.
Mill Avenue businesses brace for recovery as construction nears the end
After months of construction being just one factor keeping customers away from Mill Avenue businesses, places that have made it through hope a rebound is coming as construction nears its end.
Kenya's health minister found in contempt of court over U.S.-backed Ebola facility
Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale was found in contempt of court on Monday for failing to halt the construction of an Ebola quarantine facility intended for Americans, despite existing court orders.
Siouxland Sports Academy’s new multi-sport facility taking shape in Sioux City
Walls are starting to come up at The Siouxland Sports Academy’s new site as construction continues.
Construction set to begin on new dining, entertainment at South End arts hub
The more than 20 existing artist studios will remain in place during construction, and signature community events will continue.
Kenya Court to Sentence Health Secretary for Defying Ebola Order
A Kenyan high court will sentence the nation’s health secretary for contempt after ruling that he ignored an order halting construction of an Ebola quarantine facility for US nationals in the East African nation.
$24M Springfield sports, wellness center to begin construction this year
A downtown Springfield indoor sports and wellness facility will begin construction this year thanks in part to state capital funds.
Construction starts on 7th Highlands Oncology Center
Springdale-based cancer-care provider Highlands Oncology recently broke ground on a five-story, 125,000-square-foot cancer-care center along Interstate 49 in the Pinnacle Hills area of Rogers. The Rogers Cancer Center at 4872...
Hillsborough County to move forward with indoor sports facility at MOSI
MOSI staff said construction will take about 18 months to complete with the goal of opening in 2028.
Arkansas Food Science & Innovation Center gets State Grant
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has announced a $5 million grant for the construction of the University of Arkansas Department of Food Science’s Center of Excellence for Food Science and Innovation.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces $5 million in funding for UA Food Sciences Center of Excellence
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has allocated $5 million from the Restricted Reserve fund to the University of Arkansas Department of Food Science for the construction of a Center of Excel…
Cambodian Supreme Court upholds incitement conviction of opposition politician
Rong Chhun, a senior adviser to the Nation Power Party, was convicted last year of inciting social unrest after meeting villagers displaced by government construction projects.
Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis after cars enter freeway work zones
Waymo has paused freeway robotaxi operations and recalled nearly 4,000 vehicles after more than a dozen incidents involving autonomous cars entering closed construction zones.
MoU’s $300bn Iran reconstruction fund becomes US political flashpoint
Trump says US will not pay for planned fund as part of Iran MoU, as lawmakers connect price tag to affordability issues.
Small Business Owners Face an ‘Incredible Challenge’ to Stay Open: 'It's Been a Nightmare'
Bruce Jovaag, owner of home remodeling company Norse Construction, says he is ready to retire.
The Constitutional Politics of Chile’s National Reconstruction
--Benjamín Alemparte, Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Chile Constitutions do not change only through formal amendment. Bruce
Essentia Health-Virginia expands emergency department
VIRGINIA, Minn. — Essentia Health-Virginia has begun construction on an expansion that is set to nearly double the capacity of its emergency department. The expansion includes a dedicated behavioral health suite and five additional exam r…
Troy businesses frustrated with road closures due to construction: "This is going to affect us"
Austin Transit Partnership reviews light rail design as business stresses about relocation
Austin’s long-debated light rail project moved into another phase as the Austin Transit Partnership met to discuss design and preconstruction work, while some b
French Quarter business owners press S&WB to wrap up Decatur, St. Peter construction
Gathered at the Original French Market Restaurant and Bar, they complained of inconsistent contractor hours, confusing communications with the S&WB and seemingly unnecessary street closures. They also echoed Mayor Helena Moreno’s criticism of the S&WB’s decision to tear up several blocks at once, as opposed to moving block by block.
Construction equipment on site for coming Sports Illustrated Hotel in Tuscaloosa
Construction is underway on the new Sports Illustrated Hotel and Resort in Tuscaloosa.
Rochester Regional Health building new orthopedic and neurosciences center in Canandaigua
Canandaigua, N.Y. — Construction is underway on a new Rochester Regional Health facility in Ontario County.
Royal Oak shop owners say road construction is driving away business
This family-owned Fort Worth business plans to shut down after three decades
The family said it has lost too much revenue to nearby construction and is heartbroken to have to close in a couple of months.
Neyland Stadium Entertainment District construction likely to begin this summer
Construction around Neyland Stadium is expected to start this summer.
UK in Effort to Improve Construction Workers’ Mental Health Amid Out-of-Work Crisis
The UK’s business department is spearheading a new effort to improve mental health in the construction industry, as the government tries to tackle a labor market crisis that’s been worsened by Britain’s high numbers of people out of work due to mental illness.
Saint-Gobain sells Dahl business to Kesko for $1.7 billion
France-based construction group Saint-Gobain agreed to sell its specialist distribution business in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, primarily under the Dahl brand, to Finnish retailer Kesko for €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), the company said on Monday.
The Compass Report: Relative declines seen in Arkansas metro economies
Although job numbers were up broadly, rising jobless rates, declines in manufacturing and construction jobs, and moderation in building activity resulted in lower grades among the four Arkansas metro economies...
‘A lot of work going on’: Boston firm working on big Las Vegas construction projects
A Boston construction firm is working on some big Las Vegas projects
The data center boom is colliding with the midterms
The majority of competitive House districts have data centers either planned or under construction, a POLITICO analysis shows.
SBA moves to revise 8(a) rules while preserving tribal, ANC eligibility
Details By Brian Edwards Native Contracting June 13, 2026 The U.S. Small Business Administration has proposed changes to its 8(a) Business Development Program that would eliminate race-based presumptions of social disadvantage for individually owned businesses while leaving eligibility standards unchanged for tribally owned enterprises, Alaska Native corporations and other Native entity-owned participants. In both the title and summary of the proposed rule published in the Federal Register, SBA emphasized that the changes only apply to individually owned firms and “do not impact entity-owned firms,” including tribes, Alaska Native corporation, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations. The proposed rule, announced June 11, would require all individual applicants seeking admission to the 8(a) program to submit evidence demonstrating social disadvantage. Membership in a racial or ethnic group alone would no longer establish eligibility, according to the SBA. For Indian Country, the agency said eligibility standards for businesses owned by federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations would remain unchanged. The proposal comes after the Department of Defense reaffirmed that participation by tribes and Alaska Native corporations in the 8(a) program is based on their political status under federal law rather than diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In a May 28 letter to Alaska's Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael P. Duffey wrote that participation by federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native corporations in federal programs is “grounded in their political status as Native Americans, not DEI initiatives.” The SBA proposal follows a 2023 federal court ruling that found unconstitutional the program's rebuttable presumption that members of certain racial and ethnic groups were socially disadvantaged. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the proposed rule would establish a single standard for individually owned applicants by requiring evidence of social disadvantage. The 8(a) Business Development Program provides participating firms with business development assistance and access to federal set-aside and sole-source contracting opportunities. The program remains a major source of federal contracting revenue for tribal enterprises and Alaska Native corporations. Native-owned firms received $16.1 billion of the program's approximately $26 billion in federal contract awards during fiscal 2024, according to data previously reported by Tribal Business News. The proposal also arrives amid ongoing concerns from Native contractors about SBA administration of the program. In May, the Native American Contractors Association and 53 Native-owned businesses urged SBA to address delays in processing 8(a) applications, saying some reviews had stretched beyond regulatory deadlines and appeared to have stalled since August 2025. The proposed rule is open for public comment through July 13. The Federal Register notice does not reference tribal consultation or indicate whether SBA determined consultation was unnecessary because tribal eligibility standards are unchanged. The SBA has not announced when the proposed rule would take effect. The agency is expected to accept public comments before issuing a final rule.About The AuthorAuthor: Brian EdwardsBrian Edwards is associate publisher and associate editor of Tribal Business News and Native News Online. He is a longtime publisher, editor, business reporter and serial entrepreneur. Subscribe Today!Other Articles by this authorDefense Department reaffirms tribal, ANC eligibility in SBA 8(a) programTribal heritage projects eligible for up to $100K in federal funding through NPS programIHS launches tribal long-term care construction initiative with three projectsIḷisaġvik College acquires site for long-planned Utqiaġvik campus This article is available to paid digital subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
'Best, worst and only Deadhead store' in French Quarter holds closing sale as construction drags on
Dead on Decatur, the Grateful Dead-themed handicrafts and gift shop in New Orleans' French Quarter, will close its Decatur Street storefront at the end of June, with owners citing the impact of a months-long Sewerage & Water Board infrastructure project. The closure follows the recent departures of Cafe Sbisa and Michelin-recognized LUFU NOLA from the corridor.
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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