I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Monday, April 11th.

You know, we don't usually begin this show by saying what kind of mug our guest drinks their coffee in, but in this case we will.

Apparently, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Ivanovich, drinks out of a mug that says,

F.U. Putin, except all the words are spelled out. That was reported first by business insider.

Maybe you've heard that she also has had bracelets made that say that and gave one

to Stephen Colbert on his show. And maybe this is not the kind of diplomacy, if it is diplomacy,

we would expect from a distinguished former ambassador who was the picture of dignity when she was

a witness at Donald Trump's Ukraine-related impeachment hearings or after Trump fired her

in an apparent act of workplace retaliation, but maybe it's private citizen diplomacy that

meets the moment. In any case, Marie Ivanovich, whose family fled both the Soviets and the

Nazis in Europe, has written a memoir called Lessons from the Edge.

And she certainly has the background to understand what's happening in the Kremlin right now,

as well as in Ukraine. She grew up with both Russian and English spoken at home.

In college at Princeton, she majored in history and Russian studies.

She served on the Russi desk at the State Department under President Clinton. She was senior advisor to the

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under President George W. Bush. All that before

being posted to Ukraine and not being a fan of President Trump's attempt to shake down

Volodymy Zelensky to announce a fake

investigation of Joe Biden. Remember that? So maybe she's got just the right kind of experience to

design the most geopolitically relevant mugs and bracelets of 2022. Ambassador Yovanovitch, thank you

very much for joining us. Welcome to WNYC.

It's a pleasure being on. And we'll get to the mugs and bracelets and the

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