>> TODAY, RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK CAME CLOSER TO HITTING A NATO COUNTRY THAN ANY PREVIOUS RUSSIAN ATTACK. THE DRONE ATTACK OCCURRED IN THE UKRAINIAN TOWN OF GRANNY, WHICH IS JUST ACROSS THE DANUBE RIVER FROM ROMANIA, WHICH IS A NUMBER OF NATO. THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS AND ROMANIA'S PRESIDENT BLAMED THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA, WHICH HAS SPENT THE PAST WEEK BOMBARDING UKRAINIAN PORTS NEAR THE CITY OF ODESSA, AFTER PULLING OUT OF A DEAL THAT ENABLED UKRAINE TO SHIP ITS GRAIN ACROSS THE BLACK SEA. RUSSIA JUSTIFIES ALL OF ITS ATTACKS ON UKRAINE BY DELIVERING TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE AND UNINTERRUPTED STREAM OF PROPAGANDA ON RUSSIAN TELEVISION. OUR NEXT GUEST SPENT FIVE DAYS VIRTUALLY LOCKED IN A ROOM WITH THAT PROPAGANDA IN CONSTANT MONITORING OF RUSSIAN TV, FOR AN ARTICLE IN THE ATLANTIC TITLED, I WATCHED RUSSIAN TELEVISION FOR FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT, MY FULL IMMERSION IN PUTIN'S PROPAGANDA. GARY SHTEYNGART DID NOT JUST WATCH NEWS PROGRAMS. HE WATCHED EVERYTHING ON RUSSIAN TELEVISION, INCLUDING WHAT WE WOULD CALL REALITY SHOWS. THE REALITY OF RUSSIAN LIFE DEPICTED ON THOSE SHOWS IS A GRIM, WITH WOMEN BEING THREATENED AND MISTREATED BY DRUNKEN HUSBANDS AND BOYFRIENDS. QUOTE, A WELL TROD RUSSIAN TV THEME, PROVINCIALS IN DISTRESS ARE INTERVIEWED BY A STYLISH URBAN HOST, AS IF THEY ARE SICK OF IAN PEASANTS BEING A JUDGE BEFORE THE DISTRICT COURT IN CZAR TIMES. SUBCONSCIOUSLY, SHOWS LIKE THESE TEACH FOR AN ELDER RUSSIANS, THE KIND OF PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY WATCH STATE TELEVISION, THAT THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED BEFORE THEIR BETTERS, AND THAT THEY CANNOT EXPECT MUCH FROM LIFE OR THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES. THE ANTI IMPOTENCE POTION ADVERTISED ON RUSSIAN TV IS CALLED THE EMPEROR'S SECRET, WHICH THE ADVERTISEMENT ASSURES A DRUNKEN HUSBAND FROM A REALITY SHOW, QUOTE, CAN BE MIXED WITH ALCOHOL. AFTER WATCHING FIVE DAYS OF RUSSIAN TELEVISION, GARY SHTEYNGART SAW RUSSIA'S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE MOST ACCURATELY REPRESENTED IN RUSSIAN TELEVISION BY ACTUALLY THE TYPICAL DRUNKEN ABUSIVE MAN IN THE REALITY SHOWS. RUSSIA IS THE SPURNED LOVER WITH THE VERY AGGRESSIVE NATURE, TAKING OUT HIS INHUMANITY ON THE INNOCENT NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR, DESPITE ALL THE POSTURING AND DOUBLESPEAK RUSSIAN TELEVISION ANNOUNCES AS MUCH TO THE WORLD. WHETHER ON THE AIRWAVES, OR PERHAPS SOMEDAY AT THE HAGUE, THE EVIDENCE HAS BEEN CLEARLY PRESENTED. JOINING US NOW IS NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR GARY SHTEYNGART. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. IT IS READING, AS I DID, ABOUT RUSSIAN TELEVISION IS MUCH MORE THAN I HAVE EVER COME TO UNDERSTAND BY OUR OCCASIONAL COVERAGE OF WHAT A SHOW ON SO-CALLED NEWS PROGRAMS AND THE TALK SHOWS OVER THERE. OUR AUDIENCES HAVE SOME FAMILIARITY WITH THAT. IT'S THE OTHER PROGRAMMING WHERE THE PROPAGANDA IS SO FASCINATINGLY EMBEDDED. WAS THAT A SURPRISE TO YOU? >> YES, IT WAS ACTUALLY INTERESTING TO SEE THAT RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA EXISTED ALMOST IN EVERY SINGLE PART OF STATE TELEVISION, NOT JUST THE NEWS. IT'S A FULL STOP PACKAGE. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU HAVE A SHOW WHERE A DOCTOR IS TALKING ABOUT FOODS THAT HELP WITH YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. AND IT JUST HAPPENED TO MENTION THAT THE BEST WAY IT'S RED ONION FROM RUSSIAN OCCUPIED CRIMEA, PART OF UKRAINE THAT THEY TOOK OVER IN 2014. SO, EVERYTHING HAS A DOUBLE MEANING, AND EVERYTHING IS THERE TO REMIND THE VIEWER WHETHER IT'S REALITY TV, OR A HEALTH SHOW, OR EVEN A SHOW WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE DANCING. THERE IS TROOPS OF YOUNG DANCERS. THOSE YOUNG DANCERS ARE ALSO FROM A REGION THAT RUSSIA HAS TAKEN OVER. SO, YOU ARE CONSTANTLY BEING REMINDED OF RUSSIA'S GREATNESS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS WAR. >> DID YOU HAVE ANY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BOMBARDED WITH THIS NONSTOP? AND IN TERMS OF THE CREDIBILITY OF THE MATERIAL, I MEAN, FOR YOU, IT WAS INCREDIBLE. BUT YOU HAVE OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION. >> I THINK WHAT'S INTERESTING IS THAT A LOT OF RUSSIANS WHO WATCH STATE TELEVISION, DAY IN, DAY OUT ARE OLDER RUSSIANS. A LOT OF THEM, VERY YOUNGER RUSSIANS, GET THEIR NEWS FROM THE INTERNET, WHICH IS ONE REASON WHY PUTIN IS NOW THINKING OF WAYS TO CUT OFF THE INTERNET IN RUSSIA, OR AT LEAST CENSOR IT THE WAY IT'S BEEN CENSORED IN COUNTRIES LIKE CHINA. BUT OLDER PEOPLE -- AND RUSSIA IS A VERY OLD COUNTRY. IT IS DEMOGRAPHICALLY, NOT A LOT OF RUSSIANS ARE HAVING KIDS, YOU KNOW? BUT DEMOGRAPHICALLY, A LOT OF OLDER RUSSIANS ARE MIDDLE AGED RUSSIANS LIVE AND DIE BY RUSSIAN STATE TELEVISION. SO, AFTER MY ARTICLE CAME OUT, I WOULD GET ALL THESE EMAILS FROM RUSSIANS IN AMERICA, THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WATCHED RUSSIAN STATE TELEVISION IN AMERICA, AND WHO HAVE MOTHERS OR MOTHER-IN-LAW'S, OR FATHER IN LAWS, AND THEY SAY, EVEN HERE IN AMERICA, THEY WATCH THIS NONSTOP, AND HAVE A COMPLETELY BIASED VIEW OF THE WORLD SO, THIS DOESN'T EVEN JUST BACK IN RUSSIA. THIS IS HAPPENING AMONG THE DIASPORA OF RUSSIANS. >> SO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY LEFT RUSSIA WHEN YOU WERE ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD. DID YOU FIND YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE IMMERSED IN THIS TELEVISION, WONDERING ABOUT WHAT YOUR LIFE WOULD BE THERE TODAY, IF YOU HADN'T LEFT? >> WELL, I'M VERY CERTAIN THAT IF I HADN'T LEFT RUSSIA EARLIER, I WOULD HAVE LEFT, AS MANY YOUNG MEN ESPECIALLY DID, AND I'M NOT A YOUNG MAN, BUT RIGHT NOW, AND THEY ARE GETTING PEOPLE IN THEIR 60S TO JOIN THE RUSSIAN ARMY. THEY ARE REALLY DESPERATE FOR ANYBODY TO FIGHT. SO, I THINK RIGHT NOW, AND HAVING A SON, I WOULD BE PROBABLY FLEEING TO TURKEY, ARMENIA, GEORGIA, OR MANY OF THE OTHER PLACES WHERE THE RUSSIANS, RUSSIAN MEN ESPECIALLY FIND THEMSELVES. BUT ALSO, ANYONE WHO FEELS THAT RUSSIA IS NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE NEXT TEN, 20, 30, INFINITY AMOUNT OF YEARS. >> WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE INSECURITY OF THE REGIME? WHAT DOES THIS PROPAGANDA ULTIMATELY COMMUNICATE ABOUT THE INSECURITY OF A REGIME? >> THERE IS, I THINK, THERE'S A FEELING OF SUPERIORITY MATCHED WITH A FEELING OF INFERIORITY AND A LOT OF RUSSIAN TELEVISION. THERE'S A SUPERIORITY OF SAYING, WE ARE THE STRONGEST. WE HAVE THE BEST CULTURE. WE ARE FAR BETTER THAN WESTERN CULTURE. WE ARE CERTAINLY FAR BETTER THAN UKRAINIAN CULTURE, AND WHICH IS WHY WE COMMITTED GENOCIDAL ACTS AGAINST THEM. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS A FEELING OF INFERIORITY, THIS CONSTANT ANTONY BLINKEN IS ON ALL THE TIME, AND, WHY DON'T THEY LIKE US -- GOSH, ALL THEY'RE TRYING TO DO IS INVADE ANOTHER COUNTRY. WHY CAN'T THEY LOVE US THE WAY THEY SHOULD, GIVEN HOW SUPERIOR WE ARE. SO, THERE IS THIS ENDLESS CYCLE OF SUPERIORITY AND INFERIORITY THAT REALLY EXTENDS TO RUSSIA'S WAY OF DEALING WITH THE WORLD FOR CENTURIES, NOT JUST AFTER PUTIN, OR DURING THIS WAR -- >> YOU REPORT THAT THE MOST POPULAR AMERICANS ON RUSSIAN TELEVISION ARE DONALD TRUMP AND TUCKER CARLSON. >> WELL, THE CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, AS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT IN THE PREVIOUS SEGMENT, THE MANY TRIALS THAT DONALD IS GONNA HAVE TO FACE IN THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO, OR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG, THAT IS REALLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT RUSSIAN TELEVISION, HENCE THE KREMLIN, IS WORRIED ABOUT. BECAUSE THE FEELING IS THAT IF TRUMP COMES BACK, THEN WE HAVE A CHANCE WINNING AGAINST UKRAINE, BECAUSE HE MAY HOLD BACK ON ARMAMENTS. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, AS THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD, AND CERTAINLY ONE OF THE CHIEFS OF NATO, HE IS THE PERSON THAT CAN REALLY HELP UKRAINE WIN THE WAR. AND WITHOUT HIM, WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A CHANCE. AND TUCKER, AND I HAVEN'T SEEN RUSSIAN TELEVISION SINCE TUCKER'S DEMISE FROM FOX, I MEAN, YOU WOULD SEE TUCKER ALL THE TIME. I WAS SURPRISED THEY JUST DIDN'T GIVE HIM THE WHOLE HOUR, JUST TRANSLATE IT TO RUSSIAN. YOU JUST GET SNIPPETS OF HIM THROUGHOUT THE DAY. I MEAN, EACH OF THE THREE MAIN RUSSIAN CHANNELS, HE WAS THEIR BE
