How to Survive Authoritarianism with Maria Kuznetzova and Dan Storyev

The Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights welcomes authors Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev for a discussion of their new book, How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian’s Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America.

Drawing on the Russian experience of authoritarian rule, Kuznetsova's and Storyev’s book offers an accessible and often humorous glossary of Russian idioms and expressions that show us how authoritarianism takes shape in everyday life. The book explores the language of political repression, the mechanics of illiberalism, and what this vocabulary can teach us about the American present.

In-person events are open to Harvard ID holders only.

Maria Kuznetsova is a Russian human rights defender, writer, and policy researcher on authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, and the technologies reshaping both. She is the co-author of ''How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America'' (W. W. Norton, 2026), an irreverent glossary of 100 Russian terms that gives Americans the vocabulary to recognize and resist tyranny. She holds an MPP’25 from HKS, where she was also a Human Rights Defender in Residence at the Carr-Ryan Center.

Dan Storyev is a writer and speaker focusing on authoritarianism and societal collapse. He grew up between Russia and the US, and worked as a conflict correspondent and human rights defender. Dan’s writing was featured in the New York Times, the Nation, Foreign Policy and many others. He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MPhil from the University of Oxford.  

Moderated by Mathias Risse, Faculty Director, Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights