Welcome to the recording of the live taping of Gaslit Nation featuring historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the bestselling book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman, co-host of the Kremlin Files podcast, and reactions from our live audience. We recorded this episode at P&T Knitwear in New York City. Thank you to everyone who came out on a torrential rainy night. We hope to do another live event closer to the election.  In this episode, we discuss whether Putin and Trump are winning and how to stop them; how to navigate the hellscape during a time of cults on the far-right and far-left; why are Americans having Ukraine fatigue even though Russian fascism helps prop up the Republican Party threatening our own democracy, and how to build a livable future even when everything feels especially demoralizing and overwhelming. The live audience Q&A will run as an upcoming bonus episode. Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation!  This week’s bonus episode is the live audience Q&A featuring Terrell Starr reporting from Ukraine during the recent virtual live taping of Gaslit Nation. That discussion includes how to stand up for yourself at work when you’re being exploited and gaslit; what to do when those around you don’t understand the urgency of the moment; and more! Thank you to everyone who keeps Gaslit Nation going especially during these difficult times. We could not make our show without you! Want to join the conversation? Subscribe to join our community of listeners at Patreon.com/Gaslit  We encourage you to check out the sponsors of this week’s episode:  Cozy Earth provided an exclusive offer for our listener’s today. Up to  35% off site wide when you use the code “GASLIT" Look out for upcoming interviews with Heather Cox Richardson sharing lessons from American history, her new book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, and the original Nazi hunter – Andrea’s boyfriend Ulysses S. Grant. We’ll also be joined by Jesse Eisinger, a Senior Editor at ProPublica and author of The Chickenshit Club Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives. Jesse is on the team exposing corruption on the Supreme Court and uncovered that former Manhattan DA Cy Vance, Jr. failed to charge Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. in a fraud case.