SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Russ " 1,278 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
ServiceTitan (TTAN) Wins TrussPoint Business, Is The Stock Still Below Fair Value?
ServiceTitan (TTAN) is back in focus after TrussPoint Roofing & Exterior Renovations chose its cloud platform as the operational backbone for an expanding portfolio of roofing brands, highlighting the software’s role in multi-brand growth. See our latest analysis for ServiceTitan. ServiceTitan’s recent customer wins, including TrussPoint and the June rollout data for its Max software, come against a mixed backdrop where the share price closed at US$77.69 and is up 35.47% over 90 days, but the...
Bipartisan senators announce agreement with Trump administration on Russia sanctions
Bipartisan senators announced an agreement with the Trump administration on Friday to move ahead with an updated Russia sanctions package, but it remains unclear if President Donald Trump will directly back the bill’s passage.
From marijuana to Maine, 3 lessons from a wild week in politics
We got a chance this week to see some things about politics that are usually hidden from public view.
Russia in sports court to overturn track and field ban
Russia's track and field federation says it has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a World Athletics ruling suspending its athletes from international events due to the war in Ukraine.
Russia heads to sports court to overturn its ban from international track and field
Russia's track and field federation says it has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a World Athletics ruling suspending its athletes from international events due to the war in Ukraine. World Athletics excluded all athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from its international events in March 2022, days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Since then, the International Olympic Committee has eased its restrictions on Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — something the Kremlin hailed as an “important step” — and recommended other sports bodies do the same.
Why Putin’s nuclear threats aren’t working anymore
Ukraine is striking deep into Russia and pressuring Crimea. Does Putin have any “red lines” anymore?
Russian Rail Giant Wants Business to Bear More War Economy Pain
Russia’s largest employer is trying to address mounting financial pressures with new measures that some businesses worry will come at their expense, underscoring the growing strains on the economy as President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine drags on.
Democrats Face a Maine-Size Mess After Platner Withdraws
The party is getting a redo, but will they blow it?
Trump envoy warns China's power move at sea is threat 'we cannot afford to ignore'
US Ambassador to UK Warren Stephens warned that China is weaponizing port infrastructure and supply chains as tools of political coercion against nations.
Kremlin hails 'important step' as IOC eases Russia restrictions
The Kremlin has welcomed as an "important step" the International Olympic Committee's decision to remove many of its restrictions on Russia, a big step closer to letting it field a full team when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Games.
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) Leaves An Index, Is The Stock Still Undervalued?
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) was recently removed from the Russell 2000 Dynamic Index, a change that can affect how some index-linked funds treat the stock, as well as how investors think about liquidity and visibility. See our latest analysis for Accel Entertainment. The recent index removal comes as Accel Entertainment’s share price sits at $12.42, with a 90-day share price return of 6.61% and a 3-year total shareholder return of 16.07%. This suggests momentum has been building over the...
Justice Department reaches another settlement with Trump adviser Michael Flynn
Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn has reached another settlement with the Justice Department — this time for over $38,000 in retirement funds the Army had withheld from the former general after officials found he earned money from speaking at an event tied to the Russian government in 2015.
See Trump’s shifting blame game on the Russia-Ukraine war
President Donald Trump’s inability to find peace in Ukraine — a war he once claimed would be over the day he took office — has caused him enormous frustration. But the focus of his ire has zig-zagged throughout his second term in office.
IOC provisionally lifts ban on Russian Olympic Committee, athletes to return to international competitions
The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted its ban on the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, paving the way for a return to international competitions including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
IOC moves to end Russian neutrality for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
The IOC advised Olympic sports bodies to end a three-year program vetting Russians for neutral status ahead of qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Ukrainian drones flew all the way to Siberia to hit key oil refinery
The strike on Omsk, about 1,700 miles away, is Ukraine's longest-range attack on Russia since the war began.
Appendix B: Classifying European political parties
Classifying parties as populist Although experts generally agree that populist political leaders or parties display high levels of anti-elitism, definitions of populism vary. We use three measures to classify parties as populist: anti-elite ratings from the 2024 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), the 2023 Populism and Political Parties Expert Survey (POPPA) and the 2023 PopuList. […]
Trump to Meet With Zelensky as Russia-Ukraine Battlefield Remains ‘Frozen’ | WSJ Politics Newsletter for July 6
Also, Trump faces obstacles to put the new Air Force One in his museum, and an inside look at Europe’s rupture with the U.S.
Ukraine recovery: International Coalition for Science, Research and Innovation signs Gdansk Declaration
On 26 June, the first-ever High-level Steering Committee of the International Coalition for Science, Research and Innovation in Ukraine signed the Gdansk Declaration during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Poland. The Declaration outlines a shared ambition to support Ukraine in increasing its research and development investment to 3% of the GDP following the end of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression. This is in line with the European Research Area target. It also outlines various activities that Coalition members can implement to achieve this objective. The Declaration further provides a strategic framework for the Coalition’s work to support Ukraine’s modern and
PENN Entertainment (PENN) Opens New Aurora Casino As Valuation Debate Heats Up
Index moves and a new Illinois casino put PENN in focus PENN Entertainment (PENN) has just opened its US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also moving from the Russell 1000 family into several Russell 2000 indices. See our latest analysis for PENN Entertainment. The recent opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora and PENN Entertainment’s move into several Russell 2000 indices comes alongside a 50.17% 3 month share price return and a 19.13% 1 year total...
Opinion: Science Under Attack, But Undefeated
The latest Russian attack damaged the historic Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, but Ukrainian science will remain strong
INSIGHT: Getting direct about the politics behind the August amendment
Dr. Russell Arben Fox, File photo By RUSSEL FOXProfessor of Political
NATO's eastern flank prepares to fend off Russia
Reporters traveled to three exposed stretches of Europe's eastern frontier and found varied strategies and uneven progress to deter Russia.
Ukrainian drones target more Russian oil infrastructure as fuel crisis adds political pressure on Putin, who shrugs off attacks as ‘not critical’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia.
How Flutter’s Removal from Key Russell Growth Indices Will Impact Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Investors
In late June 2026, Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE: FLUT) was removed from multiple Russell growth benchmarks, including the Russell 1000 Growth, Russell 3000 Growth, Russell Midcap Growth, Russell 3000E Growth, and Russell Small Cap Comp Growth indices. This broad index exclusion matters because it can prompt passive and index-tracking investors to sell shares, potentially amplifying trading volumes and sentiment shifts around Flutter’s stock. Next, we’ll examine how Flutter’s removal from...
George Russell Cannot Explain His Silverstone Sprint Pace
George Russell finished fifth in British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone, just under four tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and behind…
Ireland, as 'honest broker', reckons with the price of dirty business
Ireland is facing the music over its continued sales of alumina to Russia. The scandal put a damper on the start of the country's EU presidency and raised uncomfortable questions that Dublin has yet to answer.
‘Moral and political blindness’: EU lawmaker savages FIFA over Russia - Live Updates
Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius explained why FIFA’s decision to allow Russia to play in the upcoming U-15 World Cup is bad news.
Russia's services downturn deepens as new business falls at fastest pace since December 2022, PMI shows
Russia's services sector contracted further in June as weaker client demand drove steeper falls in output and new orders, a business survey showed on Friday.
LeBron James’ Lakers rift stemmed from failed Russell Westbrook saga
LeBron James’ tenure with the Lakers is over after he informed the NBA franchise he’d spent the past eight seasons with that he’ll sign elsewhere in free agency. While both...
Women & Business Profile: Justine Russo
"Don't let the fear of failure stop you from trying." For Justine Russo, sustainability is about more than environmental stewardship. It's about helping a
What Makes Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) a Good Investment Bet?
TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Mid Cap Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Strategy fell 7.72% (net) in the quarter compared to -6.35% for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. In the first quarter, markets navigated geopolitical tensions and economic resilience alongside […]
Accel Entertainment (ACEL) After Russell 2000 Exit Has Undervaluation Back In Focus
Index removal puts Accel Entertainment back in focus Accel Entertainment (ACEL) was recently removed from the Russell 2000 Dynamic Index, an event that can influence institutional ownership patterns, index tracking fund flows, and short term trading activity around the stock. See our latest analysis for Accel Entertainment. Against that backdrop, Accel Entertainment’s recent share price moves have been mixed, with a 1-day share price return of 1.27% but a 7-day share price return that...
German Prosecutors Charge Ukrainian Suspect Over Nord Stream Explosions
The Nord Stream explosions remain among the most politically sensitive investigations in Europe, given their impact on EU energy security.
How Investors May Respond To PENN Entertainment (PENN) Aurora Casino Opening And Russell 2000 Shift
PENN Entertainment recently celebrated the grand opening of its new US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also being moved from the Russell 1000 family of indices into the Russell 2000, Russell 2000 Value, and Russell 2000 Dynamic indices as part of the latest rebalancing. This combination of a large-scale brick-and-mortar investment and a shift toward small-cap and value-oriented index inclusion reshapes how both fundamental and index-tracking investors may...
Not a rerun: This big name in American news is returning to television
Luke Russert, Tim Russert's son, is returning to TV. The format made his "Meet the Press" father famous. What
Dianna Russini Invades Vikings Social Media
We should have known — eventually, some way or another, Dianna Russini, formerly of The Athletic and ESPN, would find […]
Police chief issues statement after Dianna Russini mentioned NFL coach, avoided ticket
NFL reporter Dianna Russini mentioned texting with an NFL coach after getting pulled over for being on her phone.
Russian 6th to 11th graders get 17 hours of basic military training
Russia is doubling the amount of military training time in high schools, with new lessons on drones and field exercises.
Who slept best last night: George Russell
First win since Melbourne for the man who began the year as Formula 1's pre-season favourite. Is he back in the fight?
Flutter Entertainment plc(NYSE: FLUT) dropped from Russell 3000 Growth Benchmark
Flutter Entertainment plc dropped from Russell 3000 Growth Benchmark...
Austrian GP: George Russell holds off Max Verstappen to end winless streak and reinvigorate title bid
Bruins draft Russian forward with 104th overall pick
The Bruins have selected multiple Russians in a draft for the first time in almost 25 years following their fourth-round selection Saturday.
Austrian GP: George Russell takes controversial pole as Max Verstappen crashes in dramatic qualifying
Which coach helped Dianna Russini get out of a ticket?
The recent New York Times article regarding former New York Times reporter Dianna Russini answered some lingering questions.
Austrian GP: George Russell tops Practice Three from Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton to set up thrilling qualifying
Burkina Faso cuts diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France
The military government, in power since 2022 coup, accused France of having 'neo-colonial ambitions'.
Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli completes Friday practice double as Mercedes team-mate George Russell struggles
How should European scientists respond to the US AI kill switch?
Earlier in June, Europe’s worst fears of technological dependence were confirmed when the White House ordered the AI firm Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using its leading models. This kill-switch moment crystalised anxieties in Brussels that the continent, lagging the US on the creation of leading-edge AI models, is now a technological of vassal of Washington. The shock has specific implications for European scientists and universities. Some governments are now worried that with AI being integrated into labs, Donald Trump now has his finger hovering over an off switch for European science. “Having restrictions on this tool, it can have an impact on our own research,” said France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 18.Baptiste, himself a former academic, said that colleagues in mathematics had recently warned him they were now cut off from leading-edge US models, risking their work. “This model is not available anymore now because of the US restriction, and for the first time this had an impact on mathematics,” a field where large language models (LLMs) are making a significant contribution, said Baptiste. So, should European scientists avoid relying on US models in the future? Or would this be a self-harming overreaction? And how is AI being used in science, anyway? What happened?On June 12, it emerged that Washington, citing cybersecurity concerns, had ordered Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using two models: Claude Mythos 5, and Claude Fable 5, a version of Mythos but with guardrails to prevent abuse. Anthropic said Washington’s concerns were overblown. But forced to follow the order, yet with no way to check who was using the models, the company suddenly shut down access for everyone, US citizens included. There’s still no agreement on how to restore broad access. But last week, Bloomberg reported that select US companies, and the US government, still had access to Mythos despite the ban, but the EU’s cybersecurity agency Enisa had been shut out. Class division of researchersIn the longer term, access outside the US should be restored, said Marcel Salathé, co-director of the AI centre at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), because a permanent restriction would be financially ruinous to US AI firms. “Even Trump will eventually budge to economic pressure,” he said.However, US AI firms might end up operating rather like banks, doing due diligence on users of their leading-edge AI models, he went on.European scientists are unlikely to fall foul of such checks, he said. But having a Chinese postgraduate in their lab, or doing a type of research the US disapproved of, could potentially result in access being denied. “It will create a sort of class division of researchers,” he said. More than frontier modelsHowever, successfully deploying AI in science is about far more than just having access to leading LLMs such as Mythos.Instead, many science-specific tools, most famously Alphafold, which predicts protein folding structures, require “far less” computing power to train than frontier models, well within the capabilities of European supercomputers, according to a recent analysis by the Arq Foundation, a Brussel-based AI think tank. Instead, tools such as Alphafold are possible because certain fields, like protein folding, weather prediction or astronomy, have large, clean, standardised datasets that can be used to train predictive models. Rather than compute, “data is the central constraint for AI for science,” the report says. For example, a less powerful physics model trained on CERN’s data “will be more valuable than the best model without certain data,” said Bengüsu Özcan, author of the report. European advantage?Europe could therefore steal a march by using its scientific data and infrastructure to create models US digital giants cannot. “They might actually match or go even beyond what these big [US] companies are doing,” said Özcan.Indeed, some European start-ups hope to create automated testing labs to create the kind of standardised data that could speed up the discovery of new materials. Materials scientists say there’s currently too little data to train models. AI scientistsHowever, even if the bottleneck for AI in science is often data, rather than compute, being at the mercy of the US for LLM access could still become a problem for European scientists. A new class of “AI scientists” based on leading LLMs is also emerging, Özcan’s report says.Unlike domain-specific tools like Alphafold, these try to automate day-to-day scientific work, by providing an overarching tool that coordinates specific models to synthesise existing literature, generate hypotheses or run analysis of data. The problem for Europe, however, is that these tools are sometimes based on US leading models. Google Deepmind’s AI Co-Scientist, for example, is built on Google’s Gemini LLM. Systematic failureThese scientific automation tools are still in their early stages, and still exhibit “systematic failures on scientific tasks,” Özcan’s report says. One of the problems is that the messy, day-to-day process of scientific discovery is largely not documented, meaning LLMs don’t have a good source of data to learn how scientists actually work. Meanwhile, some tasks, such as literature synthesis, don’t typically require access to leading edge models.However, the performance of AI scientific assistants could improve as companies such as Google pour resources into developing them. Rely on US“Unfortunately, for scientific assistants, there is not much we can do right now except rely on US frontier AI,” said Antoine Bosselut, a natural language processing expert based at EPFL. Chinese-built open models, which can run on local computers, lessening the risk of a shutdown, are touted as one alternative to US dependence. There’s also Mistral, once seen as Europe’s main AI hope, but the Paris-based company has seen its recent models fall behind in performance. But the Chinese alternatives are generally not as capable as US frontier AI models, said Bosselut, unless paired with fiddly, custom tools that allows them to act as independent agents. “Most scientists do not have the time,” he said. Don’t jump ship yetAlthough the kill switch moment is seen a warning shot for European scientists, it doesn’t mean labs should abandon US AI tools immediately. “I do not think the right response is simply to abandon US-based models and systems under the banner of sovereignty or independence,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university association. “That would be an overreaction.”Related articlesEuropean sovereignty in AI requires ‘ugly trade-offs,’ say experts Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facilityAI in science: is it useful? Instead, European researchers need to ask themselves whether they’re becoming dependent on technology that could be turned off in Washington, said Özcan. “They might not see this today, but they should really start asking this question,” she said. European researchers need a plan B, said Salathé. “I would recommend to every researcher, very proactively explore alternatives.”Own toolsIn addition, Björnmalm and others want European research institutions to develop their own scientific AI tools.Instead of signing AI deals with US digital giants, European universities should be using this money to create their own models, which may end up being superior for research, said Sabine Leonelli, an expert on the use of AI in science at the Technical University of Munich. “Universities in Europe seem to be happy to sign commercial contracts with US companies on the assumption [their AI tools] are better,” she said. But US frontier LLMs are typically opaque, and have been developed without independent scientific input, she said. “This is not good enough for science.”Last year, Swiss researchers released Apertus, an LLM designed to be completely transparent, from its development methods to its training data. The idea is that this makes scientific tools built on top of the model far more reproducible than with closed, commercial alternatives.“Europe needs more of this: serious capacity-building that gives researchers, universities and companies credible options,” said Björnmalm.
EU Proposes Tax Simplification Measures in Bid to Boost Business
The European Union unveiled a new package to overhaul the bloc’s tax rules on Wednesday, the latest effort by Brussels to cut red tape and reduce the regulatory burden on business.
ANALYSIS: Fear not Britain, the EU doesn't agree on you rejoining either
Brussels heavyweights are clashing over whether Brexit can be reversed and on what terms
Nico Schlotterbeck’s World Cup is over through injury
Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup through injury, Sky Germany confirms. The Borussia Dortmund defender sustained an ankle injury during the first hal...
Ukraine squeezes Russian stronghold with new drones, forcing fuel cuts
Kyiv's new mid-range drones are pounding the roads, fuel depots, and bridges connecting Crimea to Russia and the southern front lines.
Jana Kramer almost quit “DWTS” because of 'Russian' teaching techniques: 'Do not speak to me that way'
The "One Tree Hill" star bonded with Hannah Brown, who won "DWTS" season 28, over the intense training experience that viewers don't get to see.
Ukraine spy and attack drones now bringing supplies to soldiers
Ukraine's front lines with Russia has become so dangerous that it wants to use as many unmanned systems as it can, including drones to carry gear.
Broccoli vs. Brussels Sprouts: Which Is Healthier?
Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are cruciferous vegetables with high levels of antioxidants. Both can be part of a healthy, balanced diet.
Grizzlies' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wizards' Russell pick up player options for next season
Why some Russians are breaking with Putin as Ukraine war drags on
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s iron grip on power is being challenged by the war in Ukraine and his government’s authoritarian crackdowns. He finds himself in unfamiliar political territory, questioned by some of the country’s elite and embarrassed by Ukraine’s strikes into Russian cities. Compass Points moderator Nick Schifrin discusses the state of Russian politics with Arkady Ostrovsky.
A center with ‘fantastic' hockey sense could give Flyers option to trade down
Egor Shilov is a Russian center who’s highly skilled with the puck on his stick. Could the Flyers grab him in the first round of the 2026 NHL draft?
Ukraine turning robots into mobile weapons to hunt Russian targets
Ukraine's Frontline Robotics makes a remote weapons station that used to be stationary but can now be put on a robot to make a "small tank."
Mercedes release statement on withdrawing Monaco podium appeal
Mercedes confirmed that it has withdrawn its Right of Review request concerning the penalties George Russell received and served during the Monaco Grand Prix, explaining the reasons behind its decision to drop the appeal. The team disclosed that it had initially explored every available avenue to mitigate the impact of Russell's pit lane speeding penalty on his final result, particularly after Pierre Gasly's time penalty was overturned.
Russian big Ilia Frolov has committed to Arkansas basketball
Russian big man Ilia Frolov, who wrapped up his official visit to Arkansas early Thursday morning, has committed to the Razorbacks.
Wildlife inside Chernobyl exclusion zone acted differently during Russia's invasion, camera traps reveal
Camera footage in Ukraine's Chernobyl exclusion zone revealed that mammals became less active — especially at night — during the Russian occupation, highlighting the war's immediate impact on wildlife.
Headkrack has the latest in entertainment headlines
He talks Streamer Univeristy, Lebron James, and Russel Wilson & Ciara
How sports betting became Colorado’s ticket to funding $140 million in water conservation projects
Supporters say the gambling money is a godsend. Critics say legalized sports betting has come at a cost — fueling an addiction crisis that Colorado is unprepared for.
Ukraine 'e-Points' system steers units toward more strategic targets
Ukraine's soldiers are being incentivized to hit Russian targets that are harder to get, instead of just what's in front of them.
Wadephul: Germany has an 'enduring responsibility' to Poland
In an interview with DW, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul discussed Germany's cooperation with Poland and the importance of supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Earliest outbreak of the plague killed hunter-gatherer kids 5,500 years ago
Scientists have solved a mystery that puzzled them for decades: Why were so many dead children buried by hunter-gatherers in Russia 5,500 years ago? It turns out they were killed by the earliest known outbreak of the plague, revealing new insights about the disease.
Putin hosts leaders of Southeast Asian nations, seeking to boost their business ties
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties with the nations of the regional …
Plantwatch: Russian dandelion offers solution to global rubber shortage
Scientists are returning to a wartime solution that may be more sustainable than the traditional rubber tree
Brenda Alexander has the latest in entertainment headlines
Brenda shares news about Abbott Elementary cast members and Kandi Burruss talks Real Housewives of Atlanta
NWA Women in Business: Anna Russell
Residence: Bentonville Education: Russell did not complete high school or attend college. Much of Russell’s learning has come through real-world experience, entrepreneurship and the lessons passed down through her family’s...
Supreme Court dumps Trump aide Carter Page’s wiretapping suit against James Comey
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up an appeal from former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page who sued former FBI officials over flawed government surveillance he faced during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ukraine starting new phrase of Russia war with tech, tactics, progress
Ukraine has new tech and momentum that's letting it make the kind of progress it hasn't seen in years.
Who slept the worst last night: George Russell
18 points made up and still the big loser - Why George Russell is slowly running out of explanations and what additional problem he now has
Trump Claims Strait Will be ‘Permanently Toll Free’ Under Agreement With Iran
In a call to The New York Times, President Trump praised Russia and China’s leaders and described Israel’s prime minister as “a very difficult guy.”
UK forces board sanctioned Russian oil tanker in English Channel for the first time, says Keir Starmer
Prime minister says British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the early hours of Sunday morning
Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying: George Russell pips Lewis Hamilton to pole position as Charles Lederc crashes out
Europe's top sports official talks Panini stickers and World Cup picks - Live Updates
POLITICO caught up with European Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef in Brussels last week to get his top tips for the World Cup.
Barcelona-Catalunya GP: George Russell fastest from Oscar Piastri as Kimi Antonelli left frustrated with traffic in final practice
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
Ukraine's latest drone class is crippling Russia's supply bridges
Drone footage appears to show several bridges burning and suffering visible structural damage.
Talking Central Florida: DeSantis vs. Disney
On a recent episode of Talking Central Florida, Gabrielle Russon from Florida Politics discusses her recent piece, “The Untold Story of Ron DeSantis vs. Disney.”
U.S. Open Qualifying Sends High School Stars to Shinnecock
Miles Russell and Giuseppe Puebla, both 17, earned spots Monday.
Nigel Farage to headline Liz Truss’s UK CPAC conference after apparent snub
Reform had previously suggested Farage would be ‘steering clear’ of event, modelled on US conservative gathering
EU Says Decision Not to Launch Siri AI in Europe Is Apple's Alone
The European Commission has responded to Apple's announcement that Siri AI will not launch in the EU, saying the decision is entirely Apple's and that the company sought an exemption from its legal obligations rather than a compliant solution. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels (via Reuters) that Apple had failed to develop interoperability solutions meeting EU privacy and security standards, and instead asked to be let off the hook entirely.
China delivers first samples collected from far side of the moon to Russia
The rocks were collected during the Chang’e-6 mission and the handover is the first time foreign scientists will have a chance to study them.
Abdul Carter Suffers Gruesome Injury At Practice (Breaking News)
New York Giants star pass rusher Abdul Carter suffered an injury at practice today that had fans and reporters taking notice. News of the injury was first reported early this afternoon and immediately went viral. This is what we know. Also Read: Dianna Russini Investigation Sparks Outrage, Details Released (Report) Giants’ Abdul Carter Suffers Brutal […] The post Abdul Carter Suffers Gruesome Injury At Practice (Breaking News) appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
Kurt Russell recalls ‘difficulties’ between Michelle Pfeiffer and 'Tequila Sunrise' director
Kurt Russell says there were 'difficulties' between Michelle Pfeiffer and director Robert Towne on the set of the 1988 crime thriller 'Tequila Sunrise.'
Look at Truss Club, other Brewers stadium improvements coming soon
Renderings of the Truss Club, a new experience for high-end ticket holders at American Family Field, as well as a new beer garden for all fans.
What are your all time favorite Russell Wilson plays?
Reminisce about the good Russell Wilson days!
Borussia Dortmund president expects Erling Haaland to join Real Madrid
As part of his Real Madrid presidency push, Enrique Riquelme claimed that he will bring Jurgen Klopp and Erling Haaland to the Bernabeu. However, the representatives of both have already dismissed the...
House passes Ukraine aid, Russia sanctions as GOP bucks Trump on foreign policy
Eighteen Republicans sided with Democrats to authorize billions in aid to Ukraine.
House passes bill to provide more Ukraine aid and impose new sanctions on Russia
The 226-195 vote is a sign of impatience with President Donald Trump's approach to the war and represents the House's second major foreign policy break with Trump this week.
House approves Ukraine aid and Russian sanctions, defying Trump and GOP leaders
More than a dozen GOP lawmakers defied their own leadership — and President Donald Trump — by voting with Democrats to approve a major bill to deliver billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine while imposing steep sanctions on Russia.
Are German businesses returning to Russia's SPIEF meeting?
Russian officials and media claim German businesses are comming back to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum despite the war in Ukrainer. But who is actually attending Russia's flagship event this year?
Greatest QB in Wisconsin Badgers history officially retires from NFL
Arguably the greatest quarterback in Wisconsin Badgers history, Russell Wilson, has announced his NFL retirement.