Join us for a conversation with Mikhail Zygar about his powerful new book The Dark Side of the Earth, which reexamines the final decades of the Soviet Union through an intensely human lens.

Spanning the years from the dawn of the space age to the collapse of the USSR, this sweeping documentary narrative draws on hundreds of interviews and archival sources to reconstruct a society in motion – caught between stagnation, reform, and eventual dissolution. Rather than focusing on abstract systems or political theory, the book brings to life the personal choices, private doubts, and quiet acts of defiance that shaped history from within. Through the stories of public figures and ordinary citizens alike, Zygar offers a compelling account of how individuals – often unknowingly – helped unravel one of the 20th century’s most formidable empires.

In conversation, we will explore the questions at the heart of the book: How do ordinary people influence the course of history? What role do individual choices play within authoritarian systems? Can a society quietly resist from within – and what does that resistance look like? And ultimately, what does the story of the Soviet Union’s collapse tell us about the possibilities for change today?

Mikhail Zygar is a journalist, historian, and bestselling author known for his work on Russian politics, propaganda, and authoritarianism. He was the founding editor-in-chief of TV Rain (Dozhd), Russia’s only independent news television channel, which became a critical voice against state censorship before he was forced into exile.

He is the author of several internationally acclaimed books, including All the Kremlin’s Men (2015), an insider account of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle; The Empire Must Die (2017), a narrative on the fall of the Russian Empire; and War and Punishment (2023), named one of The New Yorker’s best books of the year. His most recent book, The Dark Side of the Earth (2025), explores how private lives intersect with historical violence and was named a Times History Book of the Year.

Since relocating to the United States, Zygar has become a leading commentator on Russian affairs, contributing to major publications and appearing regularly on international media. He is the founder of Zygaro Publishing House, which publishes books banned in Russia, and writes the Substack newsletter The Last Pioneer. He has taught and lectured at institutions including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Columbia, and is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.

Arkady Ostrovsky is an award-winning author and journalist who is Russia and Eastern Europe Editor for The Economist, and leads its coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Prior to this, he was The Economist’s Moscow Bureau Chief; he joined The Economist in 2007 after 10 years with The Financial Times. He has three decades of experience reporting and analysing domestic and foreign affairs in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. His cover stories and special reports have helped to shape Western policy and thinking about the region. Ostrovsky holds a doctorate degree from Cambridge University in English Literature. He is the author of The Invention of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War, winner of the 2016 Orwell Prize.

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