2026-02-22
30 分钟Hello and welcome to Meet the Writers.
I'm Georgina Godwin.
This week, it will be four years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Today's book is a front-line dispatch from inside modern Russia's descent,
from punk protest to penal colonies, secret police, state violence, exile and war.
It's fearless, angry,
often very funny in that gallows humor way activists cling to and it shows what resistance looks like when the price is your freedom,
your family and sometimes your life.
Our guests grew up in Moscow,
came of age in a country already sliding back into authoritarian habits and channeled that disquiet into activism and art.
As one of the members of the political performance art group,
Pussy Riot, known for their brightly coloured clothing,
the band gained global attention for their protests on police state, sexist in 1312,
and, of course, the cathedral performance that made global headlines.
What began as youthful defiance became a sustained confrontation with power.
Prison terms, surveillance, beatings, hunger strikes,
and a front-row seat to Putin's tightening grip and the assault on Ukraine.
Political Girl is her account of that journey.
A rebellion, a reckoning and a refusal to look away.
Maria Aliochina, welcome.