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The big picture in Europe doesn’t look good. Russia is moving to encircle key cities in Ukraine and is shaking its nuclear saber at the West. Ukraine’s nearest neighbors are, understandably, concerned about Moscow’s aggression and militarizing at an alarming rate. This summer, NATO will conduct Operation Steadfast Defender, a military exercise the Pentagon said is the largest since the Cold War. To Moscow, an enormous military exercise on its border could seem a tad aggressive.

Add to this Russia’s recent nuclear rhetoric and missile exercise and the geopolitical situation is looking a bit tense. On this episode of Angry Planet, Aram Shabanian stops by to talk us through the troubling signs he’s seeing about a brewing conflict between Russia and NATO. Shabanian is the Open-Source Information Gathering Manager at the New Lines Institute. We also get into what happens when you mix Coke and Pepsi, how Reagan navigated a similar situation, and when it’s OK for everyone to stop worrying about the bomb. (Never.)

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Americans love shrimp. They love it so much they don’t think too hard about where it comes from—or the virtual slaves who are farming them. Joshua Farinella doesn’t have that luxury.

A few years ago, Farinella took a job working for a shrimp production company in India. The money they were paying would set his family up for a long time to come, but what he saw when he landed in the country made him realize the cash wasn’t worth it. He chose to blow the whistle.

On this episode of Angry Planet, Farinella sits down with us to talk about what he saw in the shrimp factory. It all starts one fateful night when he receives a WhatsApp message telling him that one of the plant’s workers was caught in the place’s water treatment facility. “She was searching for a way out of there,” the message said. “Her contractor is not allowing her to go home.”

After Farinella decided to blow the whistle, he began to document what he saw at the plant. Video, audio, and documents he secured can be viewed at The Outlaw Ocean Project.

Read The Whistleblower at The Outlaw Ocean Project

Read through the documents.

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In Russia there’s a revolving door between prisons and the frontlines. What began as a Wanger program is now official: the Kremlin will pardon nearly any crime if the convict agrees to serve on the front lines in Ukraine. After a six month stint at war, murderers and rapists are free to return to the scene of the crime. Some come home to kill again.

On this episode of Angry Planet, New York Times journalist Milana Mazaeva is here to talk about what happens to Russian communities when criminals return to them after going to war. The first half of the conversation covers the articles and details harrowing stories of Russian murderers who became soldiers who became murderers again.

The latter half of the episode is about how hard it is to report from Russia right now, the incredible games of telephone Mazaeva plays to get the stories she does, and what’s lost when you can’t visit the place you’re reporting on.

Pardoned for Serving in Ukraine, They Return to Russia to Kill Again

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