Chechnya's Kadyrov, Anti-Gay Violence, and the Orthodox Church

• 57:39Tim explains why Russia can't remove Kadyrov despite viewing him as a dangerous maniac—they'd risk another Chechen war they can't afford.
• 57:55Kadyrov's anti-gay violence reflects his own lunacy, not necessarily Putin's personal ideology.
• 58:15The Russian Orthodox Church functions as a state corporation that tells people Putin is a miracle sent by God.
• 58:51Americans also describe Donald Trump as a miracle sent by God, which Tim notes as an interesting parallel.
• 59:08Putin's first terms saw high oil prices fund military toys and elite corruption while improving ordinary Russians' lives.
• 59:47As the economy weakened, Putin shifted from offering prosperity to offering great power and traditional values instead.
• 1:00:08Putin's masculine persona—bare-chested on horseback, parachuting—is designed to emphasize Russia as a strong, traditional, conservative state.
• 1:00:29In Moscow, gay people face problems only if they try to march under a rainbow flag, when the National Guard beats them.
• 1:00:58Travel outside Moscow feels like traveling back in time, with attitudes in provincial cities and villages very different from the capital.
• 1:01:20Anti-gay propaganda laws allow provincial busybodies to accuse people of spreading 'gay virus' to children, which the Kremlin doesn't bother defending against.

Vladimir PutinRussian Orthodox ChurchDonald TrumpMoscowRamzan Kadyrov