Tony Robinson's Cunningcast

BONUS: What drives Vladimir Putin?


Listen Later

Today we bring you a bonus episode on Vladimir Putin, digging deeper into who he really is and what makes him tick.


Tony and his expert guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan unpick the man from the myth. They discuss how Putin is a pragmatic, cautious leader, shaped more by circumstance than by ideology, as Anna says, “he is very much driven by the needs of the moment, and this is why you'll see very different iterations of Putin throughout his rule. He was not always this quasi-imperialist that we see today.”


Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

 

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg

 

With

 

Mark Galiotti | X @MarkGaleotti

 

Honorary professor at UCL and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence, Mark has been studying Russia since 1988 and was banned indefinitely from it in 2022.


‘Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia’ (Ebury/Penguin, June 2024)


'We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong' (Penguin, 2019) 


Anna Arutunyan | X @scrawnya

 

Russian-American writer who spent two decades as a journalist in Moscow, where she wrote for The Moscow News and other publications around the world. She served as senior Russia analyst for the International Crisis Group before leaving Russia in 2022 and is the author of five books about the country, its politics, society and its wars. She is currently associate director of Mayak Intelligence and lives in the UK.

 

‘Rebel Russia: Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny' (Polity Books, May 2025)


‘The Putin Mystique: Inside Russia’s Power Cult’ (Interlink Books, 2014)


Follow us:

 

Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast

 

-------


If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.

 

Thank you, Love Tony x

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Tony Robinson's CunningcastBy Tony Robinson

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

44 ratings


More shows like Tony Robinson's Cunningcast

View all
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,110 Listeners

Frank Off The Radio: The Frank Skinner Podcast by Avalon

Frank Off The Radio: The Frank Skinner Podcast

307 Listeners

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast by Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

330 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,771 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

347 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,152 Listeners

My Time Capsule by Cast Off Productions

My Time Capsule

64 Listeners

Sideways by BBC Radio 4

Sideways

87 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,823 Listeners

Time Team by Time Team

Time Team

80 Listeners

What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel by WTF Productions

What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel

92 Listeners

Kermode & Mayo’s Take by Sony Music Entertainment

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

317 Listeners

Brydon & by Rob Brydon | Wondery

Brydon &

80 Listeners

The Rest Is Entertainment by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Entertainment

850 Listeners

Instant Classics by Vespucci

Instant Classics

103 Listeners