Stephen Kotkin: Stalin, Putin, and the Nature of Power | Lex Fridman Podcast #63

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 3, 2020

Duration

1h 37m

Channel

Lex Fridman Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Lex Fridman

  host

• Stephen 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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