Communism, cold war and caviar. The way Russia is portrayed in the mainstream media relies heavily on these familiar stories and old tropes. With the recent news about a suppressed Parliamentary report into Russian interference conjures up regular narratives of spying and skulduggery. But how well do we understand Russia?

In today’s episode we talk to Professor Monica Attard, head of journalism at University of Technology, Sydney. She served as a correspondent for Russia for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in both the 1990s and 2000s, covering stories such as the collapse of Soviet communism, the coup against Gorbachev, the Beslan school siege and the Chechen war.