Episode Details

Vladimir Putin turned 74 on October 7, and his birthday got weird. Really weird.

Putin says his birthday isn't a national holiday and that making too much of it would be immodest. Yet across Russia, schoolchildren were singing his praises, kindergarteners were being taught that he cares for everyone, and children were thanking him for bringing them peace.

Meanwhile, a former lawyer for Alexei Navalny was fined 50,000 rubles after criticizing Putin's war in a birthday message. President Trump announced that he had a call scheduled with Putin, but the Kremlin subsequently reported receiving no birthday message from him.

And then there was the Russian grandmother who became outraged over a doll resembling Putin.

You cannot make this stuff up.

In this video, I examine the increasingly bizarre events surrounding Putin's birthday and what they reveal about the cult of personality, political loyalty, and the contradictions of life in modern Russia.

Chapters

00:00 – Putin's Birthday Gets Really Weird

00:58 – Trump Says He's Calling Putin

03:07 – The Birthday Call That Apparently Never Happened

03:26 – Kim Jong Un Calls Russia's War Sacred

04:49 – A Birthday Message Gets a Russian Lawyer Fined

05:53 – Putin Says His Birthday Isn't a Holiday

06:26 – Russian Schoolchildren Sing Putin's Praises

07:41 – Kindergarteners Are Taught Putin Brings Peace

08:42 – A Russian Grandmother Defends Putin Against Dobby

09:25 – What Putin's Strange Birthday Reveals About Russia

10:02 – Help Ukraine: See the Need, Track the Progress

10:15 – The Anniversary of Ukraine's Crimean Bridge Attack

Question: What does it say about Russia when Putin insists his birthday isn't a national holiday, but children are taught to celebrate him as the man who brings them peace?

Help Ukraine. See the need. Track the progress.

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