Russia's history is more complex than we know

In the past two days I've listened to two podcasts, somewhat unconsciously. That is, I unconsciously chose them, not unconsciously listened to them, because that would be reckless. 

Both podcasts, one from Stuff You Missed in History Class and the other from This American Life told stories with Russia as their focus. One podcast entitled, "The Other Mr. President" fit my ideas and understandings of Russia perfectly, and also injected a whole lot of steroids into my stereotypes of a scary, harsh country - Vladimir Putin's rise to power is a CRAZY STORY!!! 

The other injected life into their bigger picture. Entitled "Three Nuclear Close Calls" this podcast told of three different stories where Russian generals, single handedly, prevented all out war against the US and saved thousands of lives. And they did so in almost direct opposition to their superiors. These are even CRAZIER stories!!! 

There's a couple films about on one of the men, Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. 

Here's the latest one.