Everyone is asking about the contents of “Chubais’s little briefcase”. Here it is:
I really liked the debate; it was interesting. What I liked even more was the very fact that it happened—something ordinary in a normal country, but extraordinary in ours.
For the head of a state corporation to be questioned live on air like that—and to ask questions in return—well, that’s simply not allowed here!
It’s not just debates—there haven’t even been real political talk shows in this country since 2003. Everything has degenerated into the endless spectacle of “TV host” “Solovyov” (Vladimir Solovyov, a pro-Kremlin presenter) inviting Zhirinovsky into the studio for the hundred-millionth time, along with some odd person declared to be a “representative of the liberals” and meant to be publicly humiliated to the audience’s jeers.
And TV Rain reminded all of us how much more interesting politics and argument are when they’re real, rather than “pre-approved by the Presidential Administration.”
Interestingly, after the broadcast, everyone of course started shouting at the TV Rain people: This is great, you should organize debates like this all the time, to which they quite reasonably replied: And who exactly would take part? Out of the entire power structure, Chubais was the only one who agreed the whole time.
Anyway, take a look. The full version is here; for now it’s behind a paywall, but TV Rain usually makes its materials free on the third day.
A few short clips, like this one, are available for free on the channel’s website:
It would be personally helpful to me if you wrote some substantive comments about the debate: what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to be improved. I’ll definitely read everything and take it into account.
Thanks to TV Rain, thanks to everyone who watched, and thanks to A.B. Chubais for an open conversation.
People