It's going to hear with another episode of the History on Plug podcast.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was twice as devastating as a Great Depression for those who live there.

It immediately led to widespread economic chaos and a breakdown of public services,

plunging millions into a difficult period where mere survival was the priority.

As one Russian described, after hyperinflation wiped out his family savings,

he said, my family still had the same 50,000 rubles, but by then all they could afford to buy

with it was a pair of winter boots for my mother.

After the collapse, there was optimism that democracy could emerge, but 30 years later, the victory over

totalitarianism feels alarmingly short-lived, with the unresolved unraveling of the Soviet Empire,

now directly fueling global crises like the war in Ukraine. The people currently empower

Russia belong to what some call the last Soviet generation, meaning that they absorb

Soviet culture but not Soviet faith,

that they carry a deep cynical disbelief in democracy and human rights,

demonstrating how the core structure of empire remain entrenched in the governing forces today.

Today's guest is Mikhail Zyghar, author of the Dark Side of the Earth,

Russia's short-lived victory over totalitarianism.

We explore its decade-long investigation, drawing on hundreds of never-before public interviews

with figures like Mikhail Gorbachev, along with the first leaders of post-Soviet republics and

democracy advocates, to reveal how the USSR's demise was primarily driven by collapse of faith

in communist ideals, and we examine the parallel it creates for liberal democracy today.

Hope you enjoy this discussion on Mikhail Zygar.

And one more thing before we get started with this episode,

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