The Atlantic
Julia Ioffe is a staff writer at The Atlantic, covering politics and world affairs.
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Julia Ioffe
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FROM Julia Ioffe
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Gender politics and the recall the judge who sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner For the first time in more than 80 years, Californians have successfully recalled a state judge. Aaron Persky gained national attention when he sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail. Turner was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. He could have faced up to 14 years behind bars. Persky’s light sentence set off a firestorm nationally, and pushed the state to create new mandatory minimum sentences in sex assault cases.
To the Point
The Russians were coming. Did anyone listen? Yesterday's Senate testimony by former Obama Administration officials was as much a warning about elections to come as it was about last year's campaign. But the focus was on how former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told the Trump White House that its National Security Advisor had been compromised. She thought action was needed, but General Michael Flynn was not fired for almost three weeks — after he'd attended high-security meetings. Democrats want an independent investigation, but President Trump still calls it "fake news." How real is Russia's threat to democracy?
To the Point
U.S. Seeks Alliance with Russia to fight ISIS in Syria Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow to talk with Valdimir Putin about a U.S.-proposed alliance to cooperate on military operations in Syria. Julia Ioffe is contributing editor to POLITICO and columnist at Foreign Policy magazine.
To the Point
Could an Exiled Russian Oligarch Be Planning a Revolution? Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once the richest oligarch in all Russia, but running afoul of Vladimir Putin cost him the Yukos Oil Company — and 10 years in prison. Now, he's trying to start a revolution from exile. Julia Ioffe is a Russian-America journalist and well-regarded critic of Vladimir Putin. Next week's issue of the New Yorker magazine features her extensive interview with Khodorkovsy who now lives in Switzerland.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Ukraine Election Separatists in Donetsk declared victory in an independence vote held yesterday. Today, they declared their region of Eastern Ukraine a sovereign state: the Donetsk People's Republic. And they asked Russia to annex their territory, just as it annexed Crimea in March. The Ukrainian President called Sunday’s independence referendum a “farce.”
To the Point
The Temperature Rises in Europe's Latest Hot Spot Russian troops are poised on the Eastern Ukrainian border as the US and Russia trade charges of manufacturing political crises in that troubled country. Pro-Russian demonstrators are holding government buildings in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, and a crackdown by the interim government could be the pretext for an invasion. Vladimir Putin has been scornful of economic sanctions imposed by the US and Europe after Russia annexed Crimea. How has such tension developed over Ukraine's industrial heartland? If Russia resorts to military action, what could the US do then? How dangerous is the situation?
To the Point
Homophobia and Gay Rights in Putin's Russia The Sochi Olympics have focused attention on Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws, but homophobia runs deep in Russia and elsewhere around the world. Putin is not the only autocratic leader targeting gays to mobilize political supporters, sometimes to the point of deadly violence. And, increased approval of same-sex marriage in the US and parts of Europe is cited as evidence that the powerful West is “decadent.” Today we’ll hear what it’s like to be gay in Moscow—and what’s likely to happen when the Games in Sochi are over. Will pro-gay demonstrations have an impact in Russia? What about Africa? Will they make life even more dangerous for gays and lesbians? A photograph in the latest GQ magazine shows two men kissing with a Russian church in the background. The caption says, “What the two men… are doing is now illegal in Russia.” The article is called, “Inside the Iron Closet: What It’s Like to Be Gay in Putin’s Russia.” We speak to the author Jeff Sharlet, an English professor at Dartmouth College and a fellow with the Nation Institute’s Investigative Fund.
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To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Left, Right & Center
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.