TIME

Masha Gessen

The Russian-American author of The Future Is History explains the Putin-Trump spectrum of political control and social disillusionment

Your book looks at Russia through the perspectives of seven people, old and young. A phrase that comes up repeatedly is budushchevo net—“there is no future.” Why is that so important? I started out trying to tell a story of Russia’s trauma. And one of the hallmarks of trauma is the loss of the ability to plan

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