You Can't Live in Russia Without Paying Bribes

Simon and Rachel speak to the journalist and author Oliver Bullough. After studying history at university Oliver moved to Russia, where he worked first for an English-language magazine in Saint Petersburg, then for The Times of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and subsequently for Reuters, where he covered the war in Chechnya. Oliver's early books - "Let Our Fame Be Great" in 2010 and "The Last Man in Russia" in 2013 - examined respectively the Caucasus and a dissident Orthodox priest. His more recent books have focused on financial crime, with "Moneyland" in 2018 and this year with "Butler to the World". Oliver's journalism also appears in the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the New York Times, and GQ. We spoke to Oliver about writing about oligarchs in the year that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, navigating the complexities of English libel law, and the response to "Butler to the World".

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.