Synopsis
Its the most important news story of the decade - the investigation which could bring down US President Donald Trump. As new information breaks, Russia, If Youre Listening will put it in context. Who was Carter Page again? What does money laundering have to do with it? Why does Vladimir Putin hate Hillary Clinton? Well tell the whole story, character by character, bringing you up to date on everything you need to know in terms you can understand before the FBI start kicking in doors.
Episodes
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S03 #8 - How Russia's rotten gas got Trump into trouble
08/12/2019 Duration: 18minYou might think Trump's impeachment inquiry started because of a dodgy phone call to the Ukrainian President. But the origins are actually in the Ukrainian gas industry - which is deeply corrupt and reliant on Russia - just the way Putin likes it. In 2014, Joe Biden flew to Ukraine to try and break their Russian gas addiction. And started the dominoes falling which would eventually lead to Donald Trump's infamous request for a favour.
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S03 #7 - Putin goes nuclear to retain his popularity
01/12/2019 Duration: 18minLike all dictators, Vladimir Putin is terrified of being overthrown by his people. Keeping his popularity high among average Russians is a priority for him, and from 2014 to 2018 he was king of the mountain. To keep that going in 2018 he announced an exciting new nuclear-powered nuclear missile. But that's where things started to go wrong.
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S03 #6 - The spies who suck at spying
24/11/2019 Duration: 21minIn 2006, Russian assassins killed a dissident in London. But they left a spectacular radioactive mess behind them and ended up in a Moscow hospital. But this wasn't the worst example of spycraft in England over the last two decades. One attack went so disastrously wrong it made the United Kingdom finally wake up to the threat of Putin's Kremlin. The story of how espionage screwups can have global consequences.
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S03 #5 - When the Father of Brexit met Mother Russia
17/11/2019 Duration: 21minFrom almost complete obscurity, Nigel Farage rode a wave of British anger to take his idea of leaving the European Union from a fringe fantasy to a mainstream cause. But as Farage rose from community hall meetings to primetime TV debates, he found himself increasingly allied with Vladimir Putin. This is the story of how Mr Brexit came to recognise Putin's power and how it could help his cause.
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S03 #4 - Putin's obsession with crushing the mother of Germany
10/11/2019 Duration: 19minGerman leader Angela Merkel was the most powerful woman in the world. Which is why Putin was determined to take her down. His campaign started by playing on her famous fear of dogs... and ended with the biggest migrant crisis the world had seen.
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S03 #3 - How to spin a war
03/11/2019 Duration: 21minWhen is an invasion not an invasion? When Putin's propaganda machine is involved, sowing false narratives, confusion and fear. From Putin's motorcycle gang to his 'little green men' and his hip-hop loving head of misinformation, Russia tried everything to convince the West it wasn't invading Ukraine. The propaganda push worked - sort of, and tells us a lot about the misinformation Russia has gone on to do in the West.
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S03 #2 - From spymaster to president
27/10/2019 Duration: 20minRussian President Vladimir Putin came to power declaring he would kill his terrorist enemies, even if they were in the toilet at the time. His transition from spymaster to President came in the midst of apartment bombings, and brutal crackdowns on those he held responsible. He learned that having an enemy to fight makes you a popular leader. The turbulent first years of his Presidency tell us a lot about why he has picked a fight with the West.
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S03 #1 - A cold, wet day in Salisbury
20/10/2019 Duration: 18minThe residents of the sleepy English town of Salisbury woke up one morning to find their town in chaos. Russian agents had attempted to assassinate a traitor with a terrifying weapon, in a brazen chemical attack on British soil. But the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal is only one step in a series of events which began five years ago and may help bring about Brexit, and the impeachment of a US President. Season 3 of Russia, If You're Listening begins in Salisbury, to tell the whole story of Russian President Vladimir Putin's 5-year attack on the western world.
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Putin vs The World. Welcome to season 3!
16/10/2019 Duration: 04minThe Russian campaign to meddle in the 2016 US Election was only part of President Vladimir Putin's big plan. Season 3 of Russia, If You're Listening looks at where the scheme to destroy western democracies began, the damage it's done, and where it might end.
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S02 #8 - The night at the wine rooms
22/05/2019 Duration: 21minIt's the meeting at a fancy wine bar in London that sparked the Mueller investigation. Some say it was a boozy, alcohol-fuelled drinking session where a clever spy tricked a Trump official into divulging information about Russia. Others say it was a brief encounter where a Trump official naively blurted something to a senior diplomat. So what is the truth? For the first time, both people at the meeting - George Papadopoulos and Alexander Downer - reveal what really happened that night. Here's one spoiler: they agree they both had a gin and tonic. So pull up a chair and grab a drink, because this story gets weird.
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Trumpdate: Hello Constitutional crisis
09/05/2019 Duration: 17minSix weeks after the Mueller Report, the Democrats in Congress have declared that the US is in a full-blown Constitutional crisis. President Trump is doing everything he can to prevent further investigation of his campaign and presidency. He's announced he will defy all subpoenas from the Democrat controlled House of Representatives. The Democrats are now openly talking about arresting Trump cabinet officials and locking them in the Capitol basement. But when this battle hits the court system who will have the upper hand? This week, we take a break from the story of the Mueller Report, to look at the chaos enveloping Washington D.C.
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S02 #7 Oleg Deripaska - The collusion connection?
02/05/2019 Duration: 17minRobert Mueller has investigated the relationship between former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska is an aluminium tycoon with close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Manafort tried to funnel secret insider information about the Trump election strategy to him. Was that information then used by Russia to influence the election? The story behind the last remaining collusion question.
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S02 #6 Don McGahn - Mueller's star witness
25/04/2019 Duration: 18minLawyer Don McGahn was on the Trump train from the beginning. But the dream job of White House Counsel quickly turned into a nightmare, as he slowly fell out of favour with the President. Then one night McGahn was forced to make a choice of historic proportions: help Trump potentially commit a crime or resign. McGahn has found himself the centre of attention, as his testimony to Robert Mueller implicates the President in possible obstruction of justice.
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The Mueller report in 20 minutes
22/04/2019 Duration: 20minThe Mueller report is out. All 400 plus pages of it. If you haven't had time over Easter to read it, we're here to help. Robert Mueller found no evidence that Trump or anyone in his campaign conspired to collude with Russia. But, there are now huge questions about whether the President obstructed justice in his attempts to shut down the investigation. So what are the best bits in the report? What’s new? And is it really a complete exoneration for Donald Trump? We also answer some of your questions!
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S02 #5 Julian Assange - Russia's favourite publisher
18/04/2019 Duration: 17minWhen Julian Assange was arrested last week, the only camera to capture it was Russian broadcaster RT. It's the latest event in a long relationship between the Wikileaks founder and the state-sponsored network. Assange has denied working with Russian military hackers to influence the US election. But what does Robert Mueller know about Assange’s links to Russia?
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S02 #4 Sergey Kislyak - The radioactive ambassador
11/04/2019 Duration: 17minEveryone who meets Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak ends up in deep trouble. But what if that was the point? Robert Mueller seems to have found no evidence that the Trump campaign were willing participants in the criminal Russian effort to disrupt the 2016 election. But what if the Trump campaign were unwitting targets of a spy operation, led from the Russian Embassy Were they tricked into taking pointless but suspicious-looking meetings - which the media and FBI would discover and investigate?
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S02 #3 Rob Goldstone - "I regret all of it"
04/04/2019 Duration: 19minAffable Englishman Rob Goldstone was literally in the room for the infamous Trump Tower Meeting, and he was with Donald Trump the weekend of the mythical "pee tape". But when you look at the rest of the characters involved in the Trump/Russia saga - Republican operatives, Trump family members and Russian spies - Rob Goldstone seems like the odd man out. He puts a lot of his story down to accidents and misunderstandings, but is that all there is to it? You can get a link to the full interview on our website.
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S02 #2 Maria Butina - Russian in the NRA
28/03/2019 Duration: 18minAn undercover Australian journalist from Al Jazeera spent three years inside the National Rifle Association of America. He wasn't the only one trying figure it out. Simultaneously, a Russian secret agent was trying to infiltrate the NRA. She is now the only Russian secret agent behind bars for Russia's meddling in the election, and could hold the key to understanding Putin's plans.
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S02 #1 Trump's best day ever
25/03/2019 Duration: 17minAfter 22 months Mueller's report has dropped. But it hasn't been made public - yet. US Attorney General Bill Barr has the report in his hot hands - and according to him - Mueller found no evidence of collusion. But who is Bill Barr? And can we trust his summary of Mueller's findings?
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Five ways it could end for Trump
18/12/2018 Duration: 24minAfter a turbulent year in America, for the first time there is serious discussion about how Donald Trump will leave the White House. Will he be impeached, pardoned, arrested, take a deal, or exonerated? With the year ending in Mueller-related chaos, Dom Knight and Emma Shortis join Matt Bevan to discuss 2018 in Trump/Russia.