Post-Soviet culture — what was it? What has changed radically, and what has remained the same? How are culture and politics connected with public opinion? What does the state ask culture for in return for its patronage, and how can it preserve its independence?

In this course, Yuri Saprykin, one of the most authoritative Russian journalists and media figures, discusses the fate of the media, private and state cultural institutions, art and ideology, new heroes and old songs, the mass, elite and underground cultures, as well as the invention of a an image for the new Russia.