Added 5.31.19. Modern Russia is a study in intersectionality. How is it shaped by the overlapping spheres of strongman leader Vladimir Putin, the criminal oligarch class, plus a media more and more owned by said oligarchs, and the restless but still somewhat cowed masses? What are the key takeaways on the nation’s resurgent geopolitical profile? Milt probes the problems and prospects of modern Russia with two eminent “Russianists.” They are John Bushnell, a Northwestern University historian, and Martha Merritt, then of the University of Chicago.