Stephen Kotkin is a historian specializing in Stalin and Soviet history. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Lambda: https://lambdalabs.com/lex - Scale: https://scale.com/lex - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil - ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free - ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order EPISODE LINKS: Stephen's Website: https://history.princeton.edu/people/stephen-kotkin Stalin: 1878-1928 (Vol 1): https://amzn.to/3NvokpC Stalin: 1929-1941 (Vol 2): https://amzn.to/3wIYqsT PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist:    • Lex Fridman Podcast   Clips playlist:    • Lex Fridman Podcast Clips   OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 2:19 - Putin and Stalin 13:09 - Putin vs the West 36:01 - Response to Oliver Stone 47:07 - Russian invasion of Ukraine 1:26:35 - Putin's plan for the war 1:34:33 - Henry Kissinger 1:40:28 - Nuclear war 1:51:01 - Parallels to World War II 2:13:47 - China 2:21:55 - World War III 2:29:24 - Navalny 2:33:41 - Meaning of life SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman