In 2015 Putin’s number one public enemy, Boris Nemtsov, was shot and killed in front of the Kremlin. He was a relentless critic of Putin, corruption, and war in Ukraine. Then, he was assassinated. His daughter, journalist Zhanna Nemtsova, and co-host Ben Rhodes tell his story to find out what happened to an entire country – and what happens next. Is another Russia possible?
Boris Nemtsov was at the center of every major turning point in Russia’s modern history. He was an activist for democracy as the Soviet Union collapsed. He went from being heir apparent to President Yeltsin in the 90s, to leading the opposition movement when Putin took power in the 2000’s. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, he was the first to ring alarm bells about endless war. Then, he was assassinated.
This is the story of what happened to an entire country, which has now unleashed war on an unspeakable scale in Ukraine. But, more than that, it’s the story of one man and one family, who was, and still are, fighting for another Russia.
Ben Rhodes is a writer, political commentator, and national security analyst. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made,” and “The World As It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House.” He is currently co-host of Pod Save the World; a contributor for MSNBC; a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama; and chair of National Security Action, which he co-founded with Jake Sullivan in 2018. From 2009-2017, Ben served as a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. In that capacity, he participated in all of President Obama’s key decisions, oversaw the President’s national security communications and public diplomacy, and led the secret negotiations with the Cuban government that resulted in the effort to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. His work has also been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. A native New Yorker, Ben has a B.A. from Rice University and an M.F.A from New York University.
