Russias current borders. Putins Expansionist Nationalism requires military power, but its harnessed the cultural spiritual authority of the russian Orthodox Church, too. My guest, andrey kordochkin, was a russian Orthodox Priest who spoke out against the ukraine war and the putinisation of his church. But is he swimming against an unstoppable tide . Andrey kordochkin, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Its a great Honour And Privilege to be here. Well, its great to have you in the studio. Let me take you back to February 2022. Putin orders an all out invasion of ukraine. Within days, you, a priest in the russian Orthodox Church, choose to speak out against the invasion. When you did that, did you feel that this would be the end of your career in the russian Orthodox Church . I think that when the war has begun, very few of us could actually give a prediction of what is going to come through. So i think that many people would suggest that the war would be over in a very short period of tim
Violence not as a fire that needs to be put out and urgently but something to be fed and fueled. Apparently not satisfied with having disrupted life for thousands of his own constituents living and working in springfield, ohio, with his lies about haitian immigrants eating family pets, lies that have spurred dozens of Bomb Threats against elementary schools, middle schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, Jd Vance chose to fan those flames, laying blame for what is still an apparent Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump at the feet of democrats. Listen. You know the big difference between conservatives and liberal is that we No One has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple months and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple months. I would say thats pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down their rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out. Somebodys going to get hurt by it, and its going to destroy this country. We should point out that the
In the russian orthodox church, choose to speak out against the invasion. When you did that, did you feel that this would be the end of your career in the russian orthodox church? i think that when the war has begun, very few of us could actually give a prediction of what is going to come through. So i think that many people would suggest that the war would be over in a very short period of time. So i don t think that any of us was acting out of any kind of prediction. And i think when i spoke out against the war, i don t think that i really felt any choice. I thought that it was a moral imperative on behalf of any christian or any sensible and reasonable person, to try to stop it, or at least not to be a part of what one may call a moraljustification of evil. But you didn t actually just speak out yourself. Within days, you were a co signatory to a declaration that, i think, involved almost 300 russian orthodox priests, who were opposed to this invasion. So, it wasn t just yourself. Y
But how hard has the journey been, and has amerIca really left the Race Issue behInd . James earljones, welcome to hardtalk. Welcome to our theatre. Well, thank you very much. The wyndhams. The wyndhams theatre, where you, for weeks, have been treadIng the boards In a pretty exactIng role In the Play DrIvIng mIss daIsy. A lovely role and a great pleasure to be In hIm. Well, Ijust Wonder whether It Is any harder these days to get up for all of the rehearsIng, all of the preparatIon, all of the gruellIng physIcal endurance you have to have for a daIly play . Everybody works, you know. Even the PrIme MInIster works, the presIdent works. Everybody works or plays eIther one and then sleeps. So thats all, thats all we do. And Its not hard to go to work wIth thIs play. Its really such a pleasure doIng It, and wIth Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd GaInes especIally. I just wonder If thIs play partIcularly resonates wIth you, because Its set In atlanta, In the south, durIng the era of segregatIon. And
Whether it is any harder these days to get up for all of the rehearsing, all of the preparation, all of the gruelling physical endurance you have to have for a daily play? everybody works, you know. Even the prime minister works, the president works. Everybody works, or plays either one and then sleeps. So that s all, that s all we do. And it s not hard to go to work with this play. It s really such a pleasure doing it, and with vanessa redgrave and boyd gaines especially. I just wonder if this play particularly resonates with you, because it s set in atlanta, in the south, during the era of segregation. And, of course, you were born and raised in your very earliest years in mississippi during the era of segregation. Does this particularly have meaning for you? mm hm. Yeah, i. . . I can say, honestly, i know a lot about it, and i wish others knew about it and that s partly why it s important to do plays like this. And, luckily, we have a play here. . . . . Which is not about polemi