With all the attention on what's happening along the border between Ukraine and Russia

right now, we've been thinking a lot about this man.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who's been in charge of the country since the start

of the millennium.

A few years ago, we looked up Putin's rise to power, which is as relevant today as it

was when we first made this episode.

Okay, we're going to take you back to 2009 for a minute.

To a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and a bunch of wealthy Russian factory owners.

Now just imagine the scene.

Putin, whose voice we're hearing, is sitting at the head of a long rectangular conference

table.

He's got on jeans and a windbreaker, and guys in suits are sitting around that table,

hanging on his every word.

And the Russian press is there to capture it all.

Putin is asking the group, why haven't you fixed this labor dispute yet?

You were running around and I quote, like, cockroaches before I came.

And it's no accident that he's dragging them through the mud in front of the Russian press.

This is a publicity stunt.

So after scolding them like children, Putin makes them all sign a contract, ordering

them to reopen their factories.

And he picks out one particular factory owner, who, again, no accident, is a prominent

Russian billionaire.

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