reviewer said a few days ago which was when it comes to autocracy you need to hear and listen to masha gessen and that is the way we feel about this new book. so, we are really looking forward to the conversation prayed i will tell you a little bit about her background in case you do not know. having grown up in the soviet union before immigrating here as a teenager masha went back to russia to report on the rise of vladimir putin and russia's democracy. she moved to new york permanently in 2013 and targeted by putin. being here they did not stop writing us and warren mean us about how fascism takes through. masha has been a contributor to the new yorker and has written ten previous books and is has won more awards than i could possibly list here for journalists included the national book award in 2017. she continues to be an extraordinarily important voice explained to us about how fascism takes root and what it looks like and what it feels like and how to both prepare for it and hopefully prevent it. we are also in probably fortunate to have dalia with us tonight. dalia is a senior editor a