Moscow Times editors Eva Hartog and Jonathan Brown discuss the ups and downs of 2018 with former MT editor Nabi Abdullaev, Guardian correspondent Andrew Roth and Reuters reporter Polina Ivanova.

Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch remembers the life and work of Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the matriarch of Russia's human rights movement. And Moscow Times reporter Evan Gershkovich describes how Russia's ailing waste management system could be a political time bomb.

The United States has issued Russia an ultimatum: start complying with the INF missile treaty, or we’re out. Russian military expert Alexander Goltz explains why this could come as a relief to Moscow. And we speak to journalist Natalia Vasilyeva about how Ukraine's recent ban on Russian men has complicated life along the border.

Journalists Elena Chernenko and Christopher Miller discuss escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine following a dramatic naval skirmish. Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina tells us why Russian rappers might have become a little too political for the Kremlin's liking.

This week on the program, outspoken Kremlin critic Bill Browder describes his last-minute campaign to stop a Russian general from becoming the president of Interpol. Dutch journalist Tom Vennink tells us how pears from Belgium and the Netherlands circumvent a Russian import ban to end up on supermarket shelves in Moscow.

Henry Foy of the Financial Times discusses the questionable impact of sanctions and Yevgenia Albats describes crowdfunding to pay off the largest fine in Russian media history.