Since Vladimir Putin's planning on extending his run until 2036, also known as "almost forever," we decided to kick off True Stories with a tale of how precisely Putin (pictured) became who he is today. We also have Dominique Jackson's struggle to become herself and punk rockers who dared to punch police. It's a Wednesday to remember.
| When Russia’s president started out, he was seen as a pro-Western, reach-across-the-aisle type. This week, a Russian ruling party member proposed a constitutional amendment to “reset” President Vladimir Putin’s presidential term, which could help him stay in power until 2036. Putin’s already the second-longest-serving leader in modern Russian history, trailing only Josef Stalin. During those 20 years, Putin has become a bugbear to the Western world, positioning himself as one of its top geopolitical and ideological foes. Some politicians and commentators have even gone so far as to accuse the Russian president of waging a global crusade to undermine the very foundations of Western liberal democracies. But Putin wasn’t always regarded as someone hostile to the West or liberalism. In the years immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin worked as a deputy for one of Russia’s most notable reformist politicians: St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. The future president’s work helping foreign investors endeared him to Western diplomats and businesspeople in the city, who viewed him as a sympathetic problem solver. | READ NOW |
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| | On our new Hulu show “Defining Moments With OZY,” model and actress Dominique Jackson talks about her long, rocky road from unknown to known. The following is based on the first episode of "Defining Moments With OZY," which is airing now on Hulu. I thought that everyone would just be like, “We accept you, we love you!” Blah, blah, blah. But I would never have come out if I were [still] living in Tobago. Trans people on the islands are murdered, and nothing is done. There was this person … people on the island treated this person badly. Taxi drivers wouldn’t pick them up; they had no place to live. I would see people discriminate against them; I would see people laugh at them. But this person was so happy. When you saw them, they weren’t walking with their head down and looking sad. They were walking around like really happy. Singing and dancing! | READ NOW |
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| | | Punk was always about more than rock, but when the cops came? It was about making it home alive. |
| | The real punchline is that there is no original. |
| | OZY’s Eugene S. Robinson addresses queries from the love-weary in “Sex With Eugene.” |
| | The story of manned flight began on a frozen pond in Dayton, Ohio, in 1886. |
| | When a philosopher takes a walk in Central Park and gets mugged, it gives a whole different meaning to a walk in the park. |
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