Zukunft der Demokratie

Democracy and propaganda

Lukas Bärfuss in conversation with: Irina Rastorgueva

What happens when an entire country begins to live in lies? In her book "Pop-Up Propaganda", which was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2025, Irina Rastorgueva dissects Putin's propaganda machine - and reveals how a murderous system of fear, superstition and disinformation eats deep into people's everyday lives. With a sharp eye and biting irony, the Russian-born author, who now lives in Berlin, shows how language becomes ammunition, facts disappear in the fog of alternative truths and even soothsayers comment on the war. Rastorgueva tells of a Russia that is poisoning itself - and raises the question of how vulnerable democracies are in the age of manipulation. An evening about the destructive potential of propaganda - and about how resistance begins: with clear thinking and courageous speech.

Moderator: Lukas Bärfuss

guest: Irina Rastorgueva

Further information: Future of Democracy #8 | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg