'Putin Country': The realities of Russia

'Putin Country' by Anne Garrels
'Putin Country' by Anne Garrels
Courtesy of publisher

To many people, the name of former NPR Foreign Correspondent Anne Garrels is synonymous with the second Gulf War.

She wrote a bestselling account of covering that conflict called "Naked in Baghdad." In her new book, however, she reveals her journalistic heart lay elsewhere. In "Putin Country: A Journey into the real Russia," she relates how she has visited Russia over the decades and witnessed huge change.

In her time in Russia, she decided to focus her reporting on a small polluted town a thousand miles east of Moscow called Chelyabinsk. She told MPR News reporter Euan Kerr that a lot of people thought she was crazy, but there was truly method in her madness.

For the full interview with Anne Garrels, use the audio player above.

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