Elena Kostyuchenko "I am a professional witness." // "Tell Gordeeva"

Elena Kostyuchenko, a special correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, opens the second season of Tell Gordeeva by sharing her experiences as an investigative journalist in Russia. At 00:00 she explains how she earns money from journalism to buy boots; at 04:12 she reflects on Anna Politkovskaya; at 05:58 she discusses the risk of being an investigative journalist; at 08:13 she praises doctors; at 11:38 she talks about new ethics at Novaya Gazeta; at 15:05 she describes the 'cool' profession; at 16:04 she recounts finding a Russian soldier’s body at Donetsk airport; at 20:13 she advises how not to die with your hero; at 22:15 she says 'We are special'; at 24:03 she admits she sometimes physically can’t work; at 26:20 she describes war as dirt; at 39:43 she comments that public morality doesn’t discuss war as murder; at 44:26 she tells how she ended up in a cult and nearly died; at 50:43 she explains who she is; at 52:51 she says a photographer is a second wind; at 55:00 she describes ending up in a professional dead‑end in Norilsk; at 57:35 she says you can’t let people think they can stop you; at 58:58 she recounts the shooting in Zhanaozen; at 01:01:30 she says she just turned out to be their chance; at 01:03:32 she explains how threats are made to her; at 01:04:56 she says her mother is an outstanding scientist; at 01:06:11 she tells how her mother adopted a child in the 1990s; at 01:08:34 she says she professionally washes floors; at 01:10:04 she describes the raped girls in Kushchevka; at 01:14:05 she says she is read by the FSB; at 01:15:32 she lists the top five coolest Russian journalists; at 01:16:02 she questions freedom when parliament was shot at; at 01:18:20 she says our miserable existence suits us more than the risks we will face; at 01:21:38 she discusses how to stop being a lesbian; at 01:25:04 she says there will always be someone who wants you to burn alive; at 01:27:09 she says people like you shouldn’t have children; at 01:29:07 she talks about a feeling that cannot be caught; at 01:32:26 she discusses the line between journalism and civil activism; at 01:37:37 she says people don’t care who you sleep with; at 01:39:49 she says her country doesn’t abandon her; at 01:41:38 she asks why, if she dies, her children would go to an orphanage; at 01:46:48 she shares her view of the future of Russia.