The Russians had been in the news a lot. They’d invaded Ukraine, shot down a passenger plane, and cheated in the Olympics—and it seemed like the hosts wholeheartedly agreed that Putin was a malign influence on the world. I told Sergei’s story just as I had many times before, but now I was able to back it up with a hardcover book that sat on the coffee table in front of us. The interview was over in less than five minutes, but it couldn’t have gone better.
