Empire of Lies – How Putin rules Russians with conspiracy propaganda

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inside today’s Russia, conspiracy theories like this aren’t just fringe curiosities, they’re mainstream. From TV talk shows to Putin himself, wild stories about stolen lands, shadowy Western plots, and circling enemies aren’t dismissed; they’re used to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine and position the country as a morally just state. Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Dr Ilya Yablokov, Lecturer in Digital Journalism and Disinformation at the University of Sheffield, to explain how the Russian state uses mass media to normalise conspiracy theories to the public. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Are you enjoying our podcasts, but would prefer to listen without adverts getting in the way?
0:05.7	Sign up to back us on Patreon for a smooth, ad-free listening experience.
0:10.8	Follow the link in the show notes to find out how.
0:13.6	This edition of The Bunker is sponsored by Naked Wines.
0:17.4	I'm Seth Teville.
0:18.4	And I'm Zoe Grunewold.
0:20.0	And here at the bunker, we don't believe in guesswork.
0:23.0	We go to the experts for the best insights into news and politics, and why should wine be any
0:27.8	different? That's why we're pleased to recommend naked wines. I enjoy their Bariccas
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0:39.1	New Zealand. Seth, tell me, what's your wine knowledge like? Very specialised, so pretty good
0:45.1	on things Portuguese, but non-existent on most other things. How about you, Zay? I drink most anything,
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	...

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