E42: Natalia Antonova

Kevin’s guest today is Natalia Antonova, who as many listeners already know is a prolific writer, and a journalist who’s worked in Moscow, Kiev, and soon Washington, D.C., where she’s accepted a position at the Voice of America. Natalia was deputy editor at The Moscow News before it was liquidated in the collapse of RIA Novosti, and she’s been published all over the place, including The Washington Post, Politico, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, and many other fine outlets. Natalia is also a playwright and a poet, and she’s working on a fiction book right now.So what are you going to learn about on today’s episode of the podcast? Natalia and Kevin discussed her recent move back to the United States, and her new job at Voice of America. They also talked a lot about her experience in the Moscow art world, and she helped Kevin get some perspective on the “Seventh Studio” criminal investigation that has targeted acclaimed stage director Kirill Serebrennikov. She described what it was like editorially under pressure from the state when The Moscow News went under and while working at Russia Beyond the Headlines. And she and Kevin talked about her upbringing in Kiev and North Carolina, and how life brought her the Middle East, then back to the former Soviet Union, and finally again to the United States. You can follow Natalia on Twitter at @NataliaAntonovahttps://twitter.com/NataliaAntonova Natalia is also the co-founder of the Anti-Nihilist Institute nonprofit, which you can find @NoToNihilism on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/NoToNihilismIf you enjoy this podcast, consider pledging a little dough to help with sound recording, editing, and hosting costs:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)