There was a big crypto scene in Russia as well. A lot of people in the former Soviet Union or back then, there were a lot of very highly educated people. In Siberia, for example, where it's cold and energy is really cheap, there were those mining farms. And so you have people who were growing their vegetables back then who turned to mining cryptocurrency because it was so much more lucrative. The Russian Central Bank was pretty strict on it, though. They had a very serious central banker. Now she's obviously working to prop up the Russian economy in the war.
#450: On the First Friday of each month, we roll out a bonus episode that’s totally different from what we usually produce.
These bonus episodes are special, unique, and – we hope – round out a fuller, more multifaceted picture of what we think about.
Today, I’m introducing you to a business and economics correspondent from Moscow who I’m honored to call a close friend. Her name is Andrea Palasciano. She’s covered business stories from Paris, Marseilles, Rome and Moscow. She’s fluent in Italian, German, Spanish, French, English and Russian. She’s covered stories ranging from diamond mining in Siberia to sleep deprivation.
She’s close friends with Evan Gershkovich, the 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter who’s currently in a Russian prison. Today is his 100th day behind bars.
Andrea and I were both Knight-Bagehot Fellows and bonded during our year of immersing ourselves into deeply understanding how to tell better stories about business and economics. She joins me in this special episode to talk about the stories she’s covered, the sabbatical experience, and why it’s critical to understand how a bond works (!!).
Enjoy!
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode450
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