Topic: Nikita

Unsealed court documents reveal that Wisconsin teenager Nikita Kasap allegedly murdered his parents, Tatiana and Donald Mayer, in late February as part of a plot to overthrow the government. Kasap reportedly purchased explosives and a drone with the intent to assassinate the President. The investigation looks into whether federal authorities had the suspect on their radar prior to his arrest following a traffic violation in Kansas.

Vladimir Putin delivered a lengthy historical address claiming that modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia on ancient Russian lands. He cited the territorial transfers made by Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev's 1954 decision to give Crimea to Ukraine as evidence of the region's historical ties to the Russian Empire.

A critique of the media trope that Americans cannot find Ukraine on a map suggests that digital tools like Google have made such claims obsolete. The discussion also revisits the 1960s transfer of Crimea to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev as a pivotal but often forgotten moment in recent history.

NPR commentators compared Donald Trump's use of the phrase "enemy of the people" to the rhetoric of Joseph Stalin. The segment noted that even Nikita Khrushchev banned the term in the Soviet Union due to its dangerous implications. The hosts criticize the media for using extreme historical analogies to describe current American political discourse.

NPR's Jack Beatty noted that the phrase "enemy of the people" is a Stalinist term originally used to justify the physical annihilation of political dissidents. This historical context is used to criticize Donald Trump's rhetoric, with some commentators suggesting Trump should be added to a "rotation" of leaders compared to Joseph Stalin.

The 2017 French-British satirical comedy "The Death of Stalin" is recommended for its historically grounded portrayal of the power struggle following Joseph Stalin's demise in 1953. Starring Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev and Jeffrey Tambor as Malenkov, the film depicts the paranoia and absurdity of the Soviet political elite. The movie is noted for its "No Agenda" style roadmap of how people behave under extreme political pressure and fear.

Two former Russian anti-doping officials died within two weeks of each other under mysterious circumstances following a doping scandal. The hosts transition to the Democratic primary, discussing Bernie Sanders' prospects in South Carolina. Dvorak makes controversial claims regarding the state's receptiveness to Jewish candidates, citing viewership for Larry David.

A former official from the Gorbachev administration analyzes the Crimea situation, attributing the crisis to "terrible errors" by the Ukrainian elite and the European Union. He argues that forcing Ukraine to choose between Europe and Russia was a path to breaking up the society. The segment also references Mikhail Gorbachev's view that the annexation was a redress of Nikita Khrushchev’s 1954 "historic injustice" of attaching Crimea to Ukraine.

The hosts review a clip from the television show "Nikita," criticizing the quality of the acting and the unrealistic plot involving a character parachuting into Russia. They also note a lack of interesting content on C-SPAN during the weekend, which was dominated by "Book TV" and historical programming. This leads to a discussion of the various vacation spots favored by politicians during the holiday season.

The 24/7 live coverage of the Michael Jackson doctor's trial is contrasted with the lack of transparency in terrorism court cases. The discussion links the cultural obsession with celebrity news to a broader "Matrix" of distraction, noting a promotional tie-in for the TV series Nikita featuring drone warfare.