Imagine you were an absolute ruler who started a questionable military action in another country and needed your people to be on board, despite their doubts. That’s the situation Vladimir Putin faced when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. To get his population's support, he launched a large-scale propaganda campaign that demanded obedience, strict routines, and unquestioning belief in what the government was s…

I've watched my share of behind-the-scenes documentaries, but few have been as unsettling as this one. The subject is Vladimir Putin’s obvious control over schoolchildren in Russia to ensure everyone—students and teachers alike—supports his “special military operation” in Ukraine. Pavel "Pasha" Talankin works as a teacher in Karabash, a town previously recognized for its extreme pollution due to the copper industry. …