This week on q a, william taubman, he discusses his book on gorbachev, his life and times. Host william taubman, a book on mikhail gorbachev. Prof. Taubman gorbachev changed this country and the world. But neither as much as he wished. It is a story of great achievement and it has, in some ways, a tragic end. Host you suggest that in the book, that you spoke with him for an interview as many as eight different days. Prof. Taubman yes, my wife and i had eight long interviews with him. And then several other encounters at conferences where i knew he was going to be or he invited me to show up. Host what did you see in person over those eight different interviews, and how many years were between all of those . Prof. Taubman the first interview was in 2007. The last was in 2016. What i saw apprised me. He was remarkably natural, informal, warm, humorous. He did not ask questions in advance. He did not insist on having his own interpreter. Jane and i speak russian. So we did it ourselves. W