Anne Applebaum: Trump's Firehose of Lies
6/11/202650 min
Trump shifts his position on the Iran war so often that it sure looks like he is using the same propaganda technique that Putin uses with abandon: Flood people with contradictory stories to confuse and exhaust them so they'll just tune out. That could be helpful for a commander–in-chief running a failed military campaign. At the same time, the only engagement the administration seems to want is from the online world—which they use to create an alternate reality. Plus, Russia is not winning the war in Ukraine and does not know how to, much of Trump's immigration policy is about performative cruelty, political oppression still continues in Venezuela, Kari Lake has a new gig, and new selections for the Anne Applebaum book club.
Anne Applebaum joins Tim Miller.
show notes:
- Anne's latest reporting from Ukraine
- Phillips O'Brien piece on Iran, "War Crimes Seem To Be Official US Policy Now"
- A Venezuela opposition leader on the continuing political oppression there
- Anne's reporting on Kari Lake running Voice of America
- Anne on Lake being nominated as ambassador to Jamaica
- Summer novel rec from Anne, "The Time of Cherries"
- Tim's summer novel rec, "My Tender Matador"
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTim Miller· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to The Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. Um, congrats to all the Knicks fans, uh, that are listening and all my friends, the long-suffering Knicks fans, you know, Justin and Jackson and Ben and the others. I hope that none of you, like me, turned the game off when the Knicks were losing by twenty-nine and turned on Pod Save the World to prep for today's podcast. Um, I, I would say that the Pod Save the World episode was far less invigorating than, uh, the basketball game that I missed. Um, but the highlights looked exciting. Kudos to the Knicks fans, and this podcast is gonna be invigorating. I'm excited to welcome back one of our friends, staff writer at The Atlantic. Her most recent books include Twilight of Democracy and Autocracy, Inc. It's Anne Applebaum. Hey, Anne, how you doing?
Anne Applebaum· Guest0:54
Fine. How are you?
Tim Miller· Host0:56
[thunder rumbling] Thunderstorm in Poland, you were telling me in the green room. I'm hoping that does not augur poorly for the podcast, but, uh, we'll see how it goes.
Anne Applebaum· Guest1:03
I can hear it right now, and it would be amazing if you couldn't hear it, but, um, 'cause it's very loud. But it won't last that long, I, I hope.
Tim Miller· Host1:10
Okay. Well, our podcasts are kind of a rainstorm usually for listeners anyway, so it's, it's appropriate.
Anne Applebaum· Guest1:16
[chuckles] Sure.
Tim Miller· Host1:17
Um, I wanna start with, uh, Iran. We're just gonna kinda hop around the world as usual. Um, this morning... well, I guess last night, we should say, the US carried out a fresh round of strikes on Iran with Trump claiming it was an effort to force the regime into