Fiasco Podcast – Special Preview: The Wizard of the Kremlin

Host: Pushkin Industries (Leon Neyfakh)
Date: February 4, 2026
Episode: Listen Now: The Wizard of the Kremlin

Overview:

This special episode of Fiasco departs from the usual exploration of American political crises and instead features a gripping preview of the audiobook The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano Da Empoli. The novel explores the enigmatic world inside Putin’s Kremlin through the character of Vadim Baranov, a behind-the-scenes architect of power, reflecting on the nature of authority, political manipulation, and the psychological toll of living at the center of Russia’s elite. The story weaves political intrigue, literary allusion, and historical commentary, offering rare insight into the machinery of power and the fate of those who serve it.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to the Episode (01:59–03:04)

• Narrator invites listeners to experience “something a bit different”—a preview of The Wizard of the Kremlin audiobook.
• Premise: The story follows Vadim Baranov, a former TV producer turned senior Kremlin adviser, chronicling both the hidden conflicts of the Russian state and Baranov’s personal reckoning with the system he shaped.

Portrait of Vadim Baranov, “The Wizard” (03:04–05:58)

• Baranov’s Mythology:
  • Rumors after his resignation abound: retreating to a monastery, mingling with elites, or spotted at global hotspots (“Mount Athos...supermodels in Sotogrande...runway at Sharjah airport...”).
  • Unlike most in power, Baranov retains an aura even out of office: “Baranov was of a different order. What order that might be, though, I’d be hard pressed to say.” (03:42)
• Physical and Personal Details:
  • Described as "sturdily built, but not athletic," looking boyish, indifferent to his appearance — “...surprising considering that his stock in trade was exactly that, setting mirrors in a circle so that a spark could become a wildfire.” (04:20)
• Role in Power:
  • Baranov’s influence is profound but opaque: “He was called the wizard of the Kremlin and the new Rasputin.” (04:46)
  • Key strategic moves attributed to him: major business arrests, removal of federal republic presidents, changes with years-later consequences.

Notable Quote:

“For the most part, men in power derive their aura from the position they hold. When they lose it, it’s as if a plug had been pulled.... Baranov was of a different order.” – Audiobook Narrator (03:33)

The Cat-and-Mouse Game of Kremlin Politics (05:58–09:00)

• Baranov's Mysterious Communications:
  • Occasionally published essays and fiction, always under a pseudonym (Nikolai Brandeis).
  • His writings become objects of obsession for Moscow insiders, searching for Kremlin “hints.”
• Political Theater and Influence:
  • Referenced an infamous night when Moscow’s elite attended a play by “Brandeis,” suspecting Baranov observed unseen; everyone eager to divine his intentions.
• Decline and Disappearance:
  • Baranov grows weary and bored, falling out of favor with the President (the Tsar), leading to his abrupt resignation and disappearance.

Notable Quote:

“What? I brought you all this way and you have the gall to be bored?” – The Tsar to Baranov (08:40)

Historical and Literary Overlay: Yevgeny Zamyatin & the Architecture of Power (09:00–13:46)

• Entrance of the Narrator:
  • Reflects on the omnipresence of Baranov’s memory in Moscow. The protagonist, a foreign researcher, is more entranced by history and literature than by living politics.
• Zamyatin’s ‘We’ as Prophecy:
  • Zamyatin, early 20th-century novelist and engineer, became an inspiration for the narrator — “He thought he was writing a biting criticism of the Soviet system as it was then being built... But the truth is Zamyatin was not addressing them. Without realizing it, he stepped into the next century and was speaking directly to our era.” (12:45)
  • Draws parallels between Zamyatin’s fictional world and today’s algorithm-driven society—the “global matrix presently under construction.”

Notable Quote:

“Zamyatin was an oracle...not just speaking to Stalin. He was targeting all the dictators waiting on the wings, the oligarchs of Silicon Valley as well as the mandarins of China’s single political party.” – Audiobook Narrator (13:20)

Moscow’s Atmosphere & The Search for Meaning (13:46–17:05)

• Displacement and Temporal Overlap:
  • The narrator reconstructs the layers of Moscow—Stalinist facades, old Boyar residences, “hidden gardens which murmured their tales of times past.”
  • Moscow feels both contemporary and haunted by history, creating “a temporal dislocation that became my normal state of being.” (15:45)

Social Media, Disinformation, and Hidden Messages (17:05–21:00)

• Following “Nikolai Brandeis” Online:
  • The narrator follows a cryptic Brandeis account, suspecting it’s a student—not the real Baranov—posting enigmatic, literary, and dark aphorisms resonant with Russian temperament.
  • Example: “All is allowed in paradise, except for curiosity... There is nothing sadder in this world than to watch a strong, healthy family reduced to shreds by a stupid banality. A pack of wolves, for instance.”
• Digital Correspondence:
  • A chance online interaction over a quote from Zamyatin’s ‘We’ (“We live surrounded by transparent walls that seem to be knitted of sparkling air...”) leads to a mysterious personal invitation.

Notable Moment:

“I didn’t know that people still read Zee. It was from Brandeis, writing at three in the morning. I answered without thinking, ‘Zee is the hidden king of our times.’ And a question came back. ‘How long will you be in Moscow?’” (20:06)

Memorable Quotes

• “Life is a comedy. One must play it seriously.” – Opening epigraph by Alexandre Kozhev (03:04)
• “You could therefore never truly tell whether he was expressing his own ideas or playing with someone else’s.” (06:23)
• “In a civilized country, says the play’s central character, civil war would erupt. But as we don’t have citizens here, we’ll have a war between lackeys.” (07:05)
• “No one knows anything in Russia, and either you cope or you leave.” (19:35)
• “We live surrounded by transparent walls that seem to be knitted of sparkling air. We live beneath the eyes of everyone, always bathed in light.” – Quoting Zamyatin (19:51)

Key Timestamps

• 01:59 – Host introduces the special audiobook preview.
• 03:04 – Audiobook excerpt begins; introduction of Baranov.
• 06:15 – Baranov’s enigmatic influence and Kremlin culture.
• 08:30 – Theatrical depiction of Kremlin intrigue.
• 10:30 – Narrator’s personal research interests and arrival in Moscow.
• 12:45 – Zamyatin’s relevance to the present era.
• 17:05 – Social media, pseudonyms, and the art of literary subterfuge.
• 20:06 – Digital dialogue: the narrator’s first contact with “Brandeis.”
• 22:10 – Preview concludes.

Tone and Style

• The preview is atmospheric, literary, and introspective—blending realpolitik with philosophy, Moscow’s shadows with internet-age ambiguity.
• The narration weaves sharp observation, subtle irony, and a flavor of Russian existentialism, taking listeners deep into the heart of secrecy, legacy, and disinformation.

Final Thoughts

The Wizard of the Kremlin excerpt offers a tantalizing blend of political thriller and cerebral exploration, using the character of Baranov to illuminate the psychological and institutional machinery of modern autocracy. Both resonant and timely, it bridges the Russian past, the global digital present, and the universal allure (and danger) of those who master the machinery of power.

For the full experience, listeners are encouraged to seek out the complete audiobook at Pushkin FM or wherever audiobooks are sold.