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Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator.

Every week we take a look at some of the most important and intriguing stories from the issue with the writers behind them.

I'm Lara Prendergars, the Spectator's executive editor.

And I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor.

This week, what does Putin really want for Russia?

Plus, should there be women-only spaces on trains?

And finally, why do old men like stripping off?

First up, the recording you're about to hear was made on Wednesday afternoon.

Since then, Vladimir Putin has launched missiles at various targets throughout Ukraine. We hope that this recording is still

of interest to listeners as a record of the different positions prior to Putin's invasion.

For this week's cover story, Neil Ferguson writes about how Putin seems to be trying to recreate

the Russia of the past. While in his diary, Timothy Garton Ash says the West has misunderstood Putin's intentions.

Neil joins us now, along with Timothy and Mary Dijewski, a columnist for the Independent.

Neil, you write our cover story this week, and you say in your piece that a common assertion

is that Putin is hell-bent on resurrecting

the Soviet Union.

But you also point out that it is, in fact, the Tsarist Russian Empire that Putin seems more

keen on resurrecting.

How exactly does Ukraine fit into this plan?

Well, back in July, Putin published a quite lengthy pseudo-scholar scholarly article on the historic unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples.

...