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Finding humor in hard times, from Soviet Russia to today

caption: Sasha Senderovich, Gary Shteyngart and Bill Radke (L-R)
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Sasha Senderovich, Gary Shteyngart and Bill Radke (L-R)
KUOW photo/Amina Al-Sadi

We've heard the jokes on late night about President Donald Trump taking on dictator-like qualities. But what is comedy really like under an authoritarian regime?

Two writers who know, satirist Gary Shteyngart and University of Washington professor Sasha Senderovich, join Bill Radke for a conversation about comedy under President Trump, life in Soviet Russia and immigrating to the United States.

Shteyngart was in town as a part of the Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies, an annual series of talks given by luminaries in the field of Jewish Studies, hosted by the Stroum Center for Jewish studies at the University of Washington.

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