#289 – Stephen Kotkin: Putin, Zelenskyy, and War in Ukraine

Stephen Kotkin is a historian specializing in Stalin and Soviet history. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Lambda: https://lambdalabs.com/lex
– Scale: https://scale.com/lex
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
– ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free
– ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order

EPISODE LINKS:
Stephen’s Website: https://history.princeton.edu/people/stephen-kotkin
Stalin: 1878-1928 (Vol 1): https://amzn.to/3NvokpC
Stalin: 1929-1941 (Vol 2): https://amzn.to/3wIYqsT

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(10:17) – Putin and Stalin
(21:07) – Putin vs the West
(43:59) – Response to Oliver Stone
(55:05) – Russian invasion of Ukraine
(1:34:33) – Putin’s plan for the war
(1:42:32) – Henry Kissinger
(1:48:26) – Nuclear war
(1:59:00) – Parallels to World War II
(2:21:45) – China
(2:29:54) – World War III
(2:37:23) – Navalny
(2:41:40) – Meaning of life