Lex Fridman PodcastStephen Kotkin: Stalin, Putin, and the Nature of Power | Lex Fridman Podcast #63
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- January 3, 2020
- Duration
- 1h 37m
- Channel
- Lex Fridman Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Stephen Kotkin is a professor of history at Princeton university and one of the great historians of our time, specializing in Russian and Soviet history. He has written many books on Stalin and the Soviet Union including the first 2 of a 3 volume work on Stalin, and he is currently working on volume 3. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep63-sb See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *OUTLINE:* 0:00 - Introduction 3:10 - Do all human beings crave power? 11:29 - Russian people and authoritarian power 15:06 - Putin and the Russian people 23:23 - Corruption in Russia 31:30 - Russia's future 41:07 - Individuals and institutions 44:42 - Stalin's rise to power 1:05:20 - What is the ideal political system? 1:21:10 - Questions for Putin 1:29:41 - Questions for Stalin 1:33:25 - Will there always be evil in the world? *PODCAST LINKS:*
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SPEAKERS
Lex Fridman
hostStephen Kotkin
guest
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Lex Fridman and Stephen Kotkin, Stephen Kotkin: Stalin, Putin, and the Nature of Power | Lex Fridman Podcast #63 explores stalin, Putin, and why unchecked power corrodes leaders and nations Stephen Kotkin and Lex Fridman explore the psychology of power, contrasting constrained institutional authority with unconstrained, personalist rule. Kotkin explains how Stalin built perhaps the most powerful personal dictatorship in history, and how Putin has accumulated and maintained power in modern Russia. They examine why societies sometimes crave a “strong hand,” how communism and capitalism have fared historically, and why institutions matter more than heroic individuals. The conversation closes on whether war and evil are permanent features of human life and how historical understanding can help avoid catastrophic great‑power conflict.
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