Euphe-Putin-isms

Recently I had an amazing conversation with an employee of VGTRK (All Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company). She was a bookish, middle-aged woman who seemed a bit oppressed by life.

Just as the British like to talk about weather, Russians like to talk about politics – with whomever we happen to run into, even before we’ve gotten to know them, just to pass the time.

So we started chatting as soon as she came out into the corridor to take my husband and me into the studio.