The choreographed televised spectacle vs. the spontaneous defiance of the street.

The master of the universe vs. the maverick revolutionary.

Vladimir Putin vs. Aleksei Navalny.

Welcome to the battle for Russia's future.

Putin is saying he's making Russia great again. And Navalny is saying we can do much better than this.

On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we look back at the optics of this past week -- from Navalny's nationwide anti-Kremlin protests to Putin's annual call-in show -- which appear to be a microcosm of the battle ahead

It will be a test of wills, a contest of images, and a competition of narratives.

Joining me are co-host Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and author of the blog In Moscow's Shadows; and Moscow-based journalist and playwright Natalia Antonova, an editor at OpenDemocracy-Russia.

Also on the Podcast, Mark, Natalia, and I discuss Russia's youth rebellion and the teenagers who are taking on the Kremlin.

Enjoy...

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