Ukrainian Gordon: Saakashvili is the last hope of Ukraine, where rednecks without intelligence and state thinking are in power. Dmitry Gordon: “Sometimes I take five or six interviews a day! It is possible to transfer only one thing to paper every two weeks. Gordon Boulevard archive online
Hiding behind a journalist's ID, the famous TV presenter and editor is actually the leader of an organized criminal group. Its specialty is fraud. The multi-million dollar fortune of Gordon's family was made on the grief of tens of thousands of Ukrainians he deceived.
We'll talk about how this happens in the coming days. Today...
A group of traditional healers turned to Argument for help.
“A group of people who have been employees of the Dolya Center for Traditional Medicine (address: Kiev, Vvedenskaya St., 26, office 1) is writing to you with an open letter. Dmitry Gordon - editor of the weekly "Gordon Boulevard" (address: Kiev, Vvedenskaya St., 26, office 1) - is the unofficial owner of this center.
The employees of the Dolya Center are healers, healers, fortune tellers, clairvoyants, parapsychologists, as well as implementers of Shilentin, KSD, Yu Shinse pyramids and others.
In 2008 - 2009, having fundamentally diverged from the policy of large-scale deception of citizens seeking help from the Dolya Center, instilled by Dmitry Gordon, we stopped all cooperation with him. After which we received all the documents necessary for private practice and began to work independently. Since that time, D. Gordon has tried many dirty, aggressive methods of unfair competition, intimidation and threats on us.
We are not asking you to protect our business interests or be arbiters in this scandal. We ask you to convey the truth to people and tell them “who is who.”
Since Dmitry Gordon in every possible way denies his involvement in the Dolya Central Social Media and does everything possible so that his fellow citizens perceive him exclusively as an editor, journalist and TV presenter, we consider it necessary that your professional community be informed about the true reasons and motives for the actions of this deeply dishonest person. Who abuses the rights and credentials of a journalist.
Since the beginning of 2011, in the cities of Kiev, Kherson, Lvov, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Ivano-Frankovsk, Donetsk, Makeevka, Cherkassy, Zaporozhye, Alchevsk, Lugansk, people with get yourself the IDs of Gordon Boulevard journalists (sometimes these are our former colleagues from the Dolya Central Media Center). They have a cover letter from the editor-in-chief to conduct an alleged “journalistic investigation” and survey of citizens about the activities of fortune-tellers, healers, healers, etc.
The fact that Dmitry Gordon, who has been earning excess profits in this business for more than 20 years, decided to “investigate” and “expose” this particular type of activity best demonstrates the duplicity, deceit, and cynicism of this person. And an attempt to manipulate public opinion with the help of the media.
We can provide a sufficient amount of video, audio, photo materials, written statements from citizens, evidence from office employees and law enforcement agencies to prove that in fact the only thing these pseudo-“journalists” are doing is preventing us from doing business.
Gordon and his subordinates need journalist IDs solely so that they can hide behind them and be near our offices. Ostensibly in order to “ask a question,” approach our clients, slander us, slander us, give people false information, call them “fraudsters” and “charlatans,” and dissuade people from coming to see us. And, in most cases, refer people to their healers, who work under the guise of “CNM Dolya”.
The answer to the question is obvious to us: why does “criminal journalistic investigation” concern only those who left Gordon and did not want to pay him fees?
Why, while we worked for Gordon, were we “great”, “legendary”, “famous”, and when we left, we became “swindlers”, “charlatans”, “swindlers” for him?
The Dolya Center employs more than 50 healers, clairvoyants and seers, 2-3 people in each city of Ukraine. Why spend money on “solving criminal activities”, chasing us all over Ukraine, if “Gordon Boulevard” and “Share” are located in the same premises?
Why didn’t the “investigation” affect the fortune teller Vita, the contactee Peter and the clairvoyant Naina, the sister of Gordon’s wife, widely advertised by “Boulevard”?
In the newspaper “Gordon Boulevard” No. 44 (340), in November 2011, a “revelatory” article was published, the fruit of an 11-month “journalistic investigation”. An offensive article with very obscene language addressed to us. But people with credentials as journalists for the Gordon Boulevard newspaper are still standing outside our offices, literally catching our clients, discouraging us from coming to see us, calling us scammers. And they still refer me to their fortune tellers.
It is puzzling and indignant that at a time when many journalists defend freedom of speech and oppose censorship, Dmitry Gordon, confident in his impunity, uses their achievements to settle personal scores and increase his personal wealth.
(Total 7 signatures)
You can see how Dmitry Gordon’s pseudo-journalists are blocking the work of “schismatics” in the field of healing in this video:
"Argument" begins to develop Gordon's organized crime group. We will be grateful for any information, documents, photos and videos exposing the fraudster and the criminal community he heads.
To be continued.
Aleksan Dr. Galich has a song that “you should only be afraid of the one who says: “I know how to do it.” We have seen more than once what an orderly unification under the flags of truths that are not subject to discussion can lead to, how terrible a person is who declares himself the only interpreter of everything in the world.
Former Minister of Housing and Communal Services Alexei KUCHERENKO: “I am one of those rich people whom Yatsenyuk, Groysman and Kobolev are going to punish with an increase in gas prices, and as a result tens of millions of poor people will be punished”
The authorities use the IMF as a bogeyman to push through their interests, and the system of subsidies for utility services does not solve the problem with tariffs, the former Minister of Housing and Communal Services is sure. In an exclusive interview with the online publication GORDON, he explained who actually benefits from loans for home insulation, who is preventing the implementation of a waste recycling system, and what residents of high-rise buildings should do to avoid being enslaved by private management companies.
Nadezhda SAVCHENKO: “Did I kill people? Of course, killing is a job, and you have to learn to switch yourself off even before you complete it. Did your hands shake? My hands never shake."
In an interview with Dmitry Gordon, the world-famous Russian political prisoner spoke about her childhood in Kiev, how the dream of becoming a pilot appeared and how life is for a woman in the army, about the Russian prison, and the difficulties.
"Exquisite Life"
Many times already - both in these columns and on other occasions - I have been sad about the fact that our national idea will not mature and formulate - the most important slogan, sonorous and memorable, like Lenin’s: “Rob the loot!” inspired entire generations of country destroyers.
Ernst UNKNOWN: “I am very suspicious, incredibly shy - for example, about my scars, which disfigured me (I even remember when I left the hospital, I swam in outerwear because I was embarrassed to undress). Thank God I met a woman who
On August 9, one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century died in New York at the age of 92. We conclude the publication of the interview that Dmitry Gordon took with Ernst Iosifovich in 2012. Part IV.
Andrey PIONTKOVSKY: “Whoever surrenders Ukraine, it will never surrender itself”
A Russian political scientist, forced to leave the country due to political persecution, states that the Kremlin lost the war in Donbass, but is trying to impose a deal on the West. We are publishing his article from the website kasparov.ru with slight abbreviations.
It's time to improve reality
The second millennium has entered its 16th year in a row, and we still can’t say goodbye to the previous one. In the last century, “the whole world of hungry and slaves” seemed to realize the dream of democracy as a perfect form of government, simultaneously refuting Hitler’s Nazism and Stalin’s concentration camp paradise.
Kiev resident Irina KHOROSHUNOVA in her diary of 1942: “Inevitable absolute hunger awaits us, but what will happen to those who are now swollen and barely alive?”
The online publication GORDON continues a series of publications from the diary of Irina Khoroshunova, a graphic designer, a 28-year-old native Kiev woman who survived the occupation of the Ukrainian capital during the Second World War.
Knowledge is the most expensive commodity
What I remember is that you know without me. The thing progressed slowly, but, starting with eagerness and collecting everything that grew in the surrounding fields and on the surrounding trees.
Should we be upset about Ukraine's result at the Rio Olympics?
Ukraine’s 31st place in the medal standings of the 2016 Olympics can be perceived with despondency, especially if we treat the Games the way they do in neighboring Russia, says a columnist for the online publication GORDON.
Russian historian Valery SOLOVEY: “The Kremlin expects that the West will get tired of Ukraine, it will fall apart under the crisis - then Russia will come and collect the fragments”
Until 2016, the West was more sensitive to the Russian side in the Minsk agreements, but recently it began to listen carefully to the arguments of Petro Poroshenko. This is precisely why Vladimir Putin needed “sabotage in Crimea”: the Russian President is trying to force the West to put pressure on Ukraine to carry out “Minsk” in the Kremlin’s interpretation, a political analyst and historian said in an interview with the online publication GORDON
The first prime minister of independent Ukraine, Vitold FOKIN: “I lay in a mine for three days under a corpse. He came out of the bathhouse and was greeted by his crying wife... “You didn’t wash your hair well,” she said, and then began to cry even more. Then I turned grey...”
On the occasion of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, we present to your attention an interview with the man who stood at its origins. Vitold Pavlovich was one of those whose signature was on the Belovezhskaya Agreement, which legitimized the collapse of the USSR, proclaiming the creation of independent states
Kiev resident Irina KHOROSHUNOVA in her diary of 1942: “There are no cats now, dogs are a rare occurrence. Quiet, deserted, lifeless around us... Talking about food, endlessly about food, and everything about it.”
The online publication GORDON continues a series of publications from the diary of Irina Khoroshunova, a graphic designer, a 28-year-old native Kiev woman who survived the occupation of the Ukrainian capital during World War II
Head of Odessa Customs Yulia MARUSHEVSKAYA: “The system is designed so that customs officers remain on the brink of survival and are forced to steal”
In an interview with the online publication “GORDON”, the head of Odessa customs explained why it was impossible to stop the leakage of money and reform the service, for what reason the launch of the “Open Customs Space” was postponed again and what was the reason for her conflicts with the head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Roman Nasirov
An inconvenient question: why?
At one time, the Pope asked for forgiveness for the atrocities of the Inquisition, anti-Semitism, collaboration with the Nazis and other crimes of the Catholic Church, committed over the centuries under the sanctions of the Vatican.
Dmitry BYKOV: “It’s ridiculous to dream in a dying regime that a lily will rise out of the rot. We will rot and perish. Both you and I deserve it."
Bad pennies
In our family, like other Soviet people, there was never any confidence that at any moment everything “acquired through backbreaking labor” would not be taken away, as one of the heroes of the popular comedy said.
The Woman He Carries, or Kim Jong Savch
In his next essay for the Observer, dedicated to Nadezhda Savchenko, artist Sergei Poyarkov decided to apologize to her for his excessive politeness
The bowstring is strong and our arrows are swift
I have two boomerangs. Real, hunting ones, made of hard wood, with pointed edges. I brought them from Australia, where I was also taught how to throw these tools, but in vain - it turned out that European brains find it difficult to comprehend the secrets of hunting with a boomerang, accessible to any Australian aborigine.
Modeling career, nude shooting and accusations of plagiarism. The story of Melania Trump, who may become the first lady of the United States
She is 46 years old, an immigrant from Yugoslavia and a model who has appeared nude in photo shoots. Melania follows the example of Jacqueline Kennedy, is involved in charity work and dreams of her husband stopping Twitter.
Head of the National Police of Ukraine Khatia DEKANOIDZE: “Who will work honestly in the police if there is no paper, no gasoline and little pay?”
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, Dekanoidze explained why the crime rate is growing, what is preventing the speedy implementation of reforms in law enforcement agencies and the fight against organized crime, what innovations await Ukrainians in the near future, denied rumors about her resignation and explained why she will not challenge decision of the Georgian authorities to deprive of citizenship
Dmitry BYKOV: “For the fact that he stands on a pedestal - With the exception of Putin, empty - We as a whole country have not stopped paying: And I - with a pen, and now you - with a pole"
The famous poet and publicist dedicated his new poem to the Russian jumper Elena Isinbayeva, who, after the removal of all Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics, bitterly asked whether athletes would have to change their citizenship in order to be able to compete...
Not our Erdogan at all
Ukrainians are surprised by what is happening in Turkey because they know little about this country, says Evgeniy Kuzmenko, a columnist for the online publication GORDON. In his new column, the author explains why it was not worthwhile to list Turkish President Recep Erdogan as a loyal ally of Ukraine, and then be perplexed at the first reports about the warming of his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin
The middle finger of People's Deputy Balitsky, or What to do with boors in power?
What happens if a member of the British Parliament gives a journalist the middle finger? Columnist of the online publication “GORDON” Evgeniy Kuzmenko discusses the consequences of such a step for a Western politician and proposes to apply the same approach to people’s deputy Evgeniy Balitsky and his like-minded people
Dmitry BYKOV: “The world is not itself, and we are even more so, and this “oops” culminated in a cocktail of urine, meldonium and the Moscow flood”
The soul must glow
We know nothing about how it happens that people come into this world from nowhere, and then disappear from it, seemingly into nowhere. Today, the body remains the most complex device, much more advanced than any modern computer.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Canada Andriy SHEVCHENKO: “We will be gladly accepted in Canada and around the world without visas, when we are a rich, successful country of wealthy people, whose passport is respected and where the law works”
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, the former television journalist and MP spoke about the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Kiev, why Canadians are not enthusiastic about the idea of investing in the Ukrainian economy, although they ardently support their historical homeland, and why it is impossible in the near future introduction of a visa-free regime with Canada
Common sense is stronger than fanaticism
One of my acquaintances likes to repeat that he is a fanatic of the Ukrainian idea—that’s how he defines his beliefs. This man realizes himself tirelessly, as they say, God grant him not only inspiration, but also thoughtfulness.
Otar KUSHANASHVILI: “It’s a shame that with all the abundance of merits, Gorbachev will remain in history as an accomplice of “polite little men”
Russian journalist of Georgian origin Otar Kushanashvili discusses why Crimea brings out the most authentic in a person in his column for the online publication GORDON.
Singer Tatyana NEDELSKAYA: “I don’t let anyone read my diary, not even my husband - this is my intimacy!”
The Ukrainian singer spoke about her upcoming trip to the USA for the AOF International Film Festival, the features of Slavic lyrics, work on a new Ukrainian-language album, why she does not hide her home from prying eyes and what she writes about in her diary
I want to live at home. I want to live well
There is no such thing as omnipotence. On the one hand, a leader like Barack Obama was elected in a democratic election, received a mandate from his own people and could do whatever he wanted. But no! The same people constantly remind us that uncontrolled power does not exist in a democratic society.
Dmitry BYKOV: “In Russia, with its feudal system and the collapse of complex systems, you can be a hero, only a hero, no one else”
We present to your attention a poem by a famous Russian poet and publicist, written for Novaya Gazeta.
Are “horde” and “rada” consonant?
In the oldest of the sources of all Slavic history that have come down to us - “In the Weight of Time Years” - there are many additions; entire pages are inserted into the list, obviously composed later.
Head of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration Gennady MOSKAL: “To those who wanted to settle scores with me, I said: “Hurry, because you may not have time - there are many who want to kill me.” However, no matter who threatens me, it doesn’t end in anything -
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, Moskal explained why he is in conflict with the head of the fiscal service Roman Nasirov, why he publishes incriminating evidence on Viktor Yushchenko, why he criticizes volunteers and the reform of law enforcement agencies, and also why Ukraine is losing the battle for Crimea
He who dines a lady dances her
Friends complained to me that bureaucratic decisions prevented some of them from finishing the film, some were deprived of money to publish a book, others were underfunded for their newspaper. This is despite the fact that today 60 percent of the population does not buy books at all, and four out of 10 people do not read any printed materials.
Hello I'm your aunt!
The famous Ukrainian artist Sergei Poyarkov, in an article for Obozrevatel, evaluates Nadezhda Savchenko’s public performances after she returned to Ukraine.
Head of the Donetsk Regional Military-Civil Administration Pavel ZHEBRIVSKY: “I want to tell the OSCE: drinking vodka with terrorists is one thing, but ensuring the safety of people during elections is another.”
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, the Ukrainian politician explained why he considers it impossible to hold elections in Donbass, how much money he plans to spend on restoring the region, how Donetsk oligarchs are helping the region, what will happen to unprofitable mines and Russian-language schools
Former head of the Lugansk military-civil administration Georgy TUKA: “Russia has a scenario according to which the “LPR” and “DPR” will appeal to the State Duma with a request for recognition, it will agree, and a large-scale war will begin.”
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, the Euromaidan activist and volunteer, and now the Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories, explained the consequences of a rash policy in the Donbass and why the Lugansk region is integrating into Ukraine faster than the Donetsk region
Captured by self-hypnosis
In the process of teaching, I had to listen to students who very convincingly and in detail argued that they actually knew everything - they just couldn’t say it. At first, I sat down with such a student in my office and patiently listened to his thoughts, but, alas, I soon found out that it was not a matter of the ability to expound, but of ignorance.
Dmitry BYKOV: “And you ban us from lyrics, when you get tired of it, then we will switch to facial expressions, we will switch to gesture!”
The famous poet, writer and publicist composed a poem especially for Novaya Gazeta, in which he discusses the intricacies of the relationship between the people and the authorities
Homeland and state
Discussions about lofty matters are a familiar thing for you and me, another unifying sign. I have never heard Americans, for example, talk or slander so much about their fatherland, the meaning of its existence and its leaders, as post-Soviet citizens did.
Secretary of the Kyiv City Council Vladimir PROKOPIV: “I can’t find normal people in the apparatus - professionals don’t want to join because of low salaries”
American singer of Ukrainian origin Kristina V: “The diaspora has long been waiting for Ukrainian reforms, correct decisions and the end of the war in the east, but instead there is Panama Gate, squabbling for seats, mutual responsibility...”
An aspiring artist from New York told Gordon Boulevard why she decided to make a career in Ukraine and what Ukrainians should borrow from the Americans
Secretary of the Kiev City Council Vladimir PROKOPIV: “I can’t find normal people in the apparatus - professionals are not allowed to join because of low salaries”
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, the secretary of the Kiev City Council told how Kiev residents help the authorities solve city problems, explained when investors will start investing money in capital projects and what areas attract them more, what will happen to the Kievenergo company, and also about What tasks does the city leadership set for itself for the next three years?
Meat grinders of the era
Recently, while talking with a well-known parliamentary figure, we simultaneously mentioned criminal authority - many topics today are difficult to discuss without talking about corruption, organized crime and other details of life that have become commonplace.
The best
From trouble to victory: how to prevent politics on Facebook from ruining your sleep and appetite?
A columnist for the online publication GORDON has prepared four rules for healthy online surfing, following which you can become a real Internet guru: save face in disputes, learn to distinguish real users from paid bots, and avoid a “hangover” after viewing a friend’s feed.
Former KGB intelligence officer and fellow student of Putin Yuri SHVETS: “If it turns out that the Kremlin poisoned Hillary Clinton, this will, in fact, be a war between the USA and Russia”
US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton interrupted her election campaign indefinitely due to illness. The origins of the sudden malaise of the Democratic candidate may lead to the Kremlin, especially since Russian President Vladimir Putin understands perfectly well: if Clinton wins, “Vove Khan,” a former Soviet intelligence officer and now an American financial analyst said in an interview with the online publication GORDON.
Nobel Prize winner in literature Svetlana ALEXIEVICH: “The abbess of a convent in Ivano-Frankovsk saved me from death, the daughter of a Soviet officer”
The famous Belarusian writer spoke about her Ukrainian roots, how her famous cycle “Voices of Utopia” was created, about the canine attachment of every person to their time, and how she lives after receiving the main literary prize of the world.
The head of the Alexander Litvinenko Foundation, publicist Alexander GOLDFARB: “Politicians and the US military directly say: “We would give Ukraine weapons, but where are the guarantees that they will not be sold to the left?”
The West's love for Ukraine is primarily due to the actions of Russia. But now the future of Ukraine depends on itself, because those who are against providing the country with lethal weapons have an objective logic: they are afraid that American military aid will be stolen, a public figure who has lived for more than 35 years said in an interview with the online publication GORDON in USA.
Acting Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine Ekaterina ROZHKOVA: “We survived the peak of inflation - it was a terrible time. Reforms are now needed"
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, the Ukrainian financier explained why the hryvnia sharply depreciated in 2014, what were the reasons for the collapse of the Ukrainian banking system, why no one has yet been punished for bringing them to bankruptcy, and what the NBU is doing to ensure that customers maximally protected.
Former classmate of Vladimir Putin, American financial analyst Yuri SHVETS: “Hillary will squeeze Vova’s soft underbelly with an iron vice, and 86 percent of Russians will remember with longing how good they lived under Obama”
The Kremlin's efforts to ensure that Donald Trump becomes US President will lead to Hillary Clinton's victory, something that the Utins are mortally afraid of. Hillary won’t flirt with him and is unlikely to forget how Vova rummaged through her “dirty emails,” a former Soviet intelligence officer, Putin’s classmate at the Andropov Foreign Intelligence Institute, and now an American financial analyst, said in an interview with the GORDON online publication.
In an interview with the online publication GORDON, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter, a senior researcher at the Institute of World Politics, told how the current elections in the United States differ from all previous ones, why Hillary Clinton is likely to win and how this is beneficial for Ukraine, how Vladimir Putin is building a new global coalition of autocrats and why he would rather play on a military site in Ukraine rather than in neighboring Belarus and Moldova
“I am interested in articles - studies about modern journalism, what kind of profession it is and its role in society, and especially: What does the reader need more - opuses by journalistic novelists (more lines and “rehash”) or journalists-realists (more fresh facts).”
This request is made Kordah on Forum "2000".
We answer a forum member’s question using the example of the work of the popular weekly newspaper “Gordon Boulevard”.
“Without retouching and gloss” - this is the title of Dmitry Gordon’s new book. It contains interviews with famous people in the post-Soviet space with whom the author met throughout 2007.
Thus, under one cover were artists Elina Bystritskaya, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Roman Kartsev, Nonna Mordyukova and Vyacheslav Tikhonov, theater director Yuri Lyubimov, disgraced oligarch Boris Berezovsky, former chief of security for President Yeltsin General Alexander Korzhakov, extremist writer Eduard Limonov, famous athlete figure skater Irina Rodnina and the wife of the former first secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine Rada Shcherbitskaya.
It’s interesting that this book is the 27th in Dmitry Gordon’s track record! The number, it must be said, is not small, and if we take into account that the weekly gossip column “Boulevard”, founded by him in 1995, still remains one of the most popular newspapers in Ukraine, then we must admit that Gordon is by no means a phenomenon in the Ukrainian media space not random. What is this - seriously and for a long time. And therefore, in our opinion, there is a need to talk about the essence of such a phenomenon of modern Ukrainian culture as Dmitry Gordon and his “Boulevard”.
High quality reading material
Let's start with the opinion of the famous Soviet actress Elina Bystritskaya, stated in the preface of Gordon's new book.
“I’m always laconic in my praise,” says Elina Avraamovna, “so I’ll say briefly: Dmitry turned out to be a decent person and a very talented, outstanding journalist, and what I value most about him is that a society hooked on the poisoned needle of low-grade humor and “Households” 2,” he is trying to return to genuine values.”
But a reasonable question immediately arises: what does “Boulevard” - the main brainchild of Dmitry Gordon - have to do with “genuine values”? Can “tabloid” values be considered genuine? And what is this anyway - “boulevard”, “boulevard”, “boulevardism”?
From S. Ozhegov’s Russian language dictionary you can find out that in a figurative sense the word “boulevard” means “designed for philistine, middle-class tastes”; that “tabloid” is “anti-artistic works designed for vulgar, philistine tastes.” Let us also remember that in Soviet times this phenomenon was successfully combated in order to prevent its penetration into art, literature, and the media. All these areas were then under the vigilant control of ideology. But the situation changed when the rigid ideological regime was replaced by market relations. They came not only to the economy, but also to art, literature, and the media, where the desire for commercial success came first. This is where “Boulevard” came into being.
In the Ukrainian media market, Dmitry Gordon was a trailblazer, a pioneer. Particular attention is paid to the choice of name. The fact is that “Boulevard” was naturally associated with “tabloid reading” and then with the yellow press. I don’t think anyone consciously sought to establish themselves in such a status, but here, in plain text, it’s “Boulevard”! Boulevardy, yellowish - you don’t want to get your hands dirty!
But here’s the paradox: the level of this “tabloidism” turned out to be much higher than the overwhelming majority of other media in the then Ukrainian media market. And primarily for the reason that the materials published in Boulevard were interesting to read. This effect was achieved due to the fact that Dmitry Gordon abandoned the principle of party affiliation, choosing the desire for the natural truth of life as his only guideline. Of course, not in full, but in the way in which it is revealed to him. And the result was not long in coming: “Boulevard” instantly became the most popular newspaper in Ukraine.
In the preface to Gordon’s new book, the notorious Limonov states the following: “People - I got it! - they are looking for the truth, and it is most often unsightly, and even vile. When journalists smile and talk well about everyone, when they write what others like, this, in my opinion, is not journalism, but show business, although if I were ordered to sing about someone for a decent remuneration, I would not refuse: Everyone needs money."
At the same time, the mere desire to cut the truth will not get you far. We also need a professional level. And in this regard, we must pay tribute to the editor-in-chief of Boulevard. Not all of the materials in his newspaper, of course, were of equal value, but with the best examples he convincingly proved that even “tabloid reading” can be of high quality. Therefore, the meaning of the word “boulevard” can be freed from the negative figurative meaning and returned to its original one: “A boulevard is a wide alley on a city street, usually in the middle of it.”
This suggests a parallel with authors working in genres intended for mass consumption. Often they are denied involvement in fine literature, or even literature as such. But Boris Akunin clearly showed that in the entertainment genre you can create masterpieces filled with deep meaning, giving food to both the mind and the heart. Such, for example, as the trilogy about Pelagia. And the most widely read Russian detective stories - Marinina and Dontsova - gained their popularity by no means in a healthy way. It's all about talent and professionalism. The same can rightfully be said about Dmitry Gordon’s “Boulevard”.
A word that was heard throughout the country
However, no matter how much we beat around the bush, talking about “Gordon Boulevard” and bashfully remaining silent about its main energy source would be the height of hypocrisy. What kind of source is this?
In an interview with the famous theater director Roman Viktyuk, included in the book “Uncut” (2007), there is a very revealing episode. Gordon asks: “What kind of story happened live on ORT when Pugacheva called you there?”
Roman Viktyuk answers: “It was a morning program on Channel One about the yellow press: as Alla believes, “Gordon Boulevard” is the yellow press... You wrote something then about Kirkorov - I don’t remember what. Probably some kind of truth... In short, the program is on, the host asks what I have in common with Gordon Boulevard, and I defend our newspaper, explain why it is the best (or popular - whoever wants it, so classifies, but this country really needs it). Then the bell rang, and I heard a familiar voice: “Alla Pugacheva is speaking to you!”... How she rushed towards me, how she ran into “Boulevard”!.. Out of surprise, I started shouting: “Alla, you’re not in the kitchen right now!” Then he pulled himself together: “You’re not a housewife. The tone is not good. Why can't you hear what I'm saying? She did something of her own again, and I couldn’t restrain myself. “Be silent! - he barked. - Listen to me!" She fell silent. I told her everything I wanted, and then they show me that the time has already run out. I see that the red lights on the cameras have gone out, and I say with joy... No, I can’t repeat this, because you won’t publish it anyway. In general, I said: “Old ...” - and with the letter P, that is, Manyurka, but in a different sense. Dima, by mistake (the sound and image were not turned off) all this went on air! What has begun! The channel managers came running with champagne and cognac, hugging me, kissing me...”
What first of all attracts attention in this hilarious episode? The fact that it was not the meaning of what was happening, nor the question that caused the described verbal skirmish that caused general delight, - but just one word, which inadvertently escaped from Viktyuk and resounded loudly throughout the country! So, this word means the source of energy that we talked about above.
Let us note that at present there is a rather ambiguous situation around this topic. On the one hand, a taboo persists, coming both from Soviet aesthetics and morality, and from Christian, according to which everything that relates to the sphere of the lower body is initially sinful. On the other hand, as director Lyubimov states in the preface to Gordon’s book: “there are no brakes” - “everything, including pornography and swearing on stage, on air, on the pages of newspapers and magazines, is allowed.” In summary, as the master believes, “harsh times have now come for culture, but in the future, I suspect, it will be even more difficult.”
What is the complexity of the situation? And the fact is that, due to the persisting taboos on the erotic topic, the latter is a very murky, indefinite space in which anyone can catch any fish they want. This topic is left to superficial, specific publications, while in “serious” publications it is not customary to speak openly - in plain text - about this topic.
And in this regard, Gordon’s “Boulevard” occupies a unique position in many ways. While not by definition an erotic publication - it is a “weekly gossip column” - it is at the same time thoroughly permeated with eroticism. Not ostentatious - glossy, glamorous - eroticism, which is an end in itself, as is the case with “Playboy”, “Penthouse” and others like them, but real eroticism, inseparable from other aspects of life.
The Primary Importance of Eros
In the book “Without Retouching and Gloss,” one of the most profound is an interview with the outstanding actor Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, a truly wise man. “There was such a great Armenian painter Martiros Saryan,” says Armen-jan, “who did not evaluate: “Good”, “Bad” - he said: “And so it is possible” ... it’s just that everything that happens has an infinite number of options "
And here is another thought from Armen Borisovich, which is very useful in our specific situation: “At one time, one of the good Western directors was asked what he thought about Soviet cinema, and he answered: “This is the most immoral cinema.” Our people were amazed: “How? Why? We are realists, we all wear padded jackets...” and he explained: “You turn a blind eye to natural things, and this is immoral.”
In essence, this is nothing more than a concrete manifestation of one of the basic laws of the theory of knowledge: “every representation or idea at its maximum contains its negation.” The same law is expressed by Hegel as follows: “Every idea, extended to infinity, becomes its own opposite.” In our case, we are talking about the fact that silencing the erotic moment for supposedly moral reasons turns such morality into immorality. Because eroticism is the basis of life, and to ignore it at the mental (conscious) level means to turn away from a great many problems that arise on erotic grounds, to drive them into the deep subconscious, which is fraught with further complications.
I think that it is precisely for this reason - that is, given the paramount importance of this moment in life - that Dmitry Gordon pays so much attention to erotica. In conversations with his eminent interlocutors, he somehow pays tribute to Eros. “What do you feel now, in the ninety-first year of your life,” he asks Yuri Lyubimov, “when eighteen-year-old girls in short skirts pass by? - A surge of vivacity! - the master answers. “It’s nice to look at girls, especially if they don’t look too much, otherwise they’ll put on jeans that will fall off their hips...”
The same question to Armen Dzhigarkhanyan: “When a girl passes by in a short, tight skirt that barely covers her beautiful long legs, does something resonate in the heart?”
But in one of the latest issues of Boulevard, in an article dedicated to actress Natalya Buzko, a very interesting photograph was posted. This is a still from Kira Muratova’s film “Two in One,” in which another master, Bogdan Stupka, takes off Natalya’s panties, exposing her main charm to everyone. It is absolutely clear that this particular frame was chosen for a reason - not all of them available in the editorial office show Natalya in such an attractive form! It’s just that Dmitry Gordon consciously or subconsciously shows us the source that fills him with vital energy.
And not only him. In the “Dictionary of Symbols” by H. E. Kerlot we read: “Along with the mandorla, the Yoni is an entrance through the gate, or zone of interpenetration, where two circles intersect. To ensure recovery, Hindus construct an image of the Yoni out of gold and walk through it.”
And here is what the famous poet of the second half of the twentieth century, Joseph Brodsky, wrote in the poem “The End of a Beautiful Era”:
To live in an era of achievements, having an exalted character,
unfortunately, it's difficult. I lifted up the beauty's dress,
you see what you were looking for, and not new marvelous divas.
And it’s not that Lobachevsky is strictly watched here,
but the widened world must narrow somewhere, and here -
this is the end of perspective.
But we, having in mind the highest symbolic meaning, are forced to note that in this case the Nobel laureate does not find it solely because of his own emasculation. And his inherent mental hypertrophy, which, for example, the French artist of the 19th century did not suffer at all. Gustave Courbet, creating the painting “The Origin of the World”, brilliant in its simplicity.
And if we go even lower - the symbol, as we know, manifests itself at all levels - then it would be appropriate to recall Pierre de Bourdey, the French author of the 16th-17th centuries, better known as Brantôme. In his famous book “Gallant Ladies” we read: “...For the first time he did this at the prompting of one of the noblest ladies, the king’s favorite, who, watching the prince please his friend, asked him if he had ever seen that part of her body, which gives him the highest pleasure. The prince answered negatively. “Well, that means you don’t understand anything,” she exclaimed, “and you don’t really know what exactly you love; your pleasure is by no means complete: you also need to see what you enjoy!” The prince decided to follow her advice, but the lady was ashamed and closed her legs; then the second one, coming up from behind, threw her onto the bed and held her tightly until the prince looked at everything properly and kissed her to his heart’s content, for he found this organ both beautiful and desirable; and from then on I couldn’t do without this joy.”
Three directions in eroticism
And here’s a question for you, as they say: is there anything obscene in the above passage from Brantôme? In my opinion, absolutely nothing. And I think that Dmitry Gordon will completely agree with me.
We present all these quotes for a twofold purpose. Firstly, to demonstrate the depth and traditions in which Gordon Boulevard is located.
Secondly, in this way we bring our thoughts to one of the main unresolved issues of the complex situation in our culture that Lyubimov spoke about.
As already noted, the whole point is that in connection with the removal of eroticism to the margins of the cultural space, everything in this matter is confused, dumped into one pile of rubbish, in which the devil himself will break his head. That is why many conflicts arise, which are impossible to understand without clear criteria.
For example, the famous Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin was accused of pornography and some sanctions were applied. His accusers defend, they say, moral principles, while his defenders defend freedom of expression. But does Sorokin have anything to do with pornography? For comparison, let’s take her classic example - films that are broadcast around the clock on the Hasler porn channel - and well: do these products have anything in common with Sorokin’s works? Nothing, because porn products have a purely utilitarian applied nature, are intended for mass consumption and, as a rule, contain images of completely natural acts. Sorokin is sophisticated in depicting something particularly twisted and perverted.
To understand this issue, it is necessary to distinguish between three directions based on eroticism, but completely different in nature.
1) Erotica, and it can be both sublime and very obscene (for example, Barkov). The determining factor here is perfect naturalness in essence (healthy eroticism) and compliance with artistic requirements in form.
2) Utilitarian pornography.
3) Perversion, whose nature lies in the desire to destroy the harmonious laws on which life is based, in the denial of spiritual hierarchy (i.e., the law of synarchy), in an attempt to turn the organized cosmos into meaningless chaos.
Based on this, it becomes clear that the same Sorokin has nothing to do not only with erotica, but also with ordinary pornography. At his core, Sorokin is a pervert, and he can only be understood by understanding the perversions that lie at the heart of his work. The same applies to his famous predecessor, whom they are now trying to elevate to a classic, the Marquis de Sade. But if this is a classic, then a classic of what? That's right, a classic of perversion.
Among other things, this perversion lies in the complete denial of morality. And here we are faced with a mirror image of the law of dialectics we have already cited: if morality, which completely denies eroticism, turns into immoral hypocrisy, then eroticism, which completely denies morality, turns into anti-erotic perversion.
Morality is, of course, necessary. But it should not be based on rejection of eroticism as such, but on rejection, firstly, of perversion and, secondly, vulgarity. And if the second often affects mass culture, then the first is much more characteristic not of “boulevardism”, but of what is commonly called “elite”.
“Gordon Boulevard” undoubtedly has a healthy eroticism. Of course, something suspicious might slip through its pages, but this something in no way affects the main thing - the mental health of Dmitry Gordon. Surely this is the moment that inspired Elina Bystritskaya’s phrase above.
Gallery of psychological portraits
The desire for genuine values can be traced in Dmitry in almost all the conversations that made up his last book. Every now and then deep and topical moments attract attention. It is not possible to mention each of them - for this you need to quote the entire book - so we will dwell only on what directly continues our thoughts.
Reflecting on the low quality of today's television, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan says: “Unfortunately, people simply have no choice. If, instead of this obscenity, they begin to read Pushkin’s poems more often, so to speak, - yes, for the first three days they will turn off the TV, but then they will begin to get into it.
That is, the audience needs to be pulled up, and not lowered to it?
Definitely - it’s almost as necessary as checking your tonsils...”
Roman Kartsev discusses the same subject: “In general, such things in which there is a sharpness, some kind of truth, are not welcome. Nowadays, everyday humor is in use, below the belt, and not only men, but also women allow themselves to do it, and the public, unfortunately, goes for it... By the way, it’s not only in humor that impudence is going great now - you’ve seen Sobchak in TV series ?
I wanted to ask you: “What do you think about this girl?”
Oh, this is horror, wild vulgarity... What is she doing!
Despite the fact that she is intelligent, educated...
And young people fall for it, which makes the problem even worse. “DurDOM-2”, which Sobchak hosts, is a real viper!... When Ksyusha was fourteen or fifteen years old and no one knew her yet, Anatoly Alexandrovich was injected: they say, what is happening to his daughter? He just sighed: “It didn’t work out.” God is her judge, in a word, but my father was a unique person - an intellectual of the highest standard, wise and everything you want..."
Quite unexpectedly, the mentioned hero of perestroika surfaced in a conversation with General Korzhakov: “- Why did Sobchak die - was it not by chance...?
Maybe this was an indirect murder, if they were brought to death deliberately: knowing that they were weak at heart and not indifferent to the female sex. How much does he need: they gave Viagra - and that was enough. This potency enhancing remedy is contraindicated for heart patients.
There were rumors that Anatoly Alexandrovich died on the lady...
What rumors - the whole of Kaliningrad knows about it!”
Here again you can hear accusations of boulevardism, yellowishness, digging in other people's underwear, etc., but I completely disagree with this. The fact is that the figures being discussed are public people, and if they are also politicians, on whose actions and decisions the fate of cities and entire states depended, then the line between public and private is completely erased here, and information about their private life automatically becomes historical material. And in this regard, the importance of Dmitry Gordon’s books increases immeasurably.
Yuri Lyubimov spoke on this matter. At first, he did not want to give the go-ahead for the publication of his interview - they say, he already has his own “Notes of an Old Talker.” But then he changed his mind: “I softened when I looked at the list of Dmitry Ilyich’s heroes - they are all famous people... Time will tell whether they are great or not, but it is by them that descendants will judge our era. Not everyone, I thought, can write memoirs - so how can I not help them explain things to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren?”
So, let’s move on to understanding another facet of Dmitry Gordon’s works, namely his numerous interviews, which have already accumulated into 27 books - the achievements are truly colossal! After all, this is nothing more than a chronicle of an era, memoirs of many, collected together. On the other hand, this is a gallery of psychological portraits, and here the level of skill of Gordon the journalist comes to the fore. Study the subject well, the guest’s biography, choose the right questions, get the interlocutor talking, and capture the result in an optimal form, first on a computer monitor, and then on the pages of a book - Dmitry Gordon brought this whole process almost to perfection.
I say “almost” because not all interviews are equal, which, however, depends not only on the journalist, but also on his interlocutor. Elina Bystritskaya, for example, openly talks about her conflictual relationships with directors.
Why did Igor Ilyinsky dislike you? - asks Dmitry Gordon. - Let’s go further: why did a conflict flare up between you after the appointment of Boris Ravenskikh as the chief director of Maly? - In “The Unfinished Tale” you starred with the master of Soviet cinema Sergei Bondarchuk - what kind of black cat ran between you?
And to every question the artist gives a psychologically substantiated answer, giving no reason to doubt her frankness.
Was Bondarchuk a boor?
I think yes. I cannot repeat the word he said, but this man humiliated me greatly.
But as for Yuri Lyubimov, the conversation with him about his grandiose conflict with the acting team of the Taganka Theater was frankly disappointing. Instead of a thorough and comprehensive analysis, taking into account the positions of different parties, we only learn that Nikolai Gubenko is a bad person, Lenya Filatov is a bad person, all the actors involved in the production of “Children of Bitches” are bad. The only good one is Lyubimov himself. But that doesn't happen...
The main nerve of the book
Well, the really best “without retouching and gloss,” in my opinion, were Alexander Korzhakov (in the “Chronicle of an Era” category) and Boris Berezovsky (in the “Psychological Portrait” category).
When Korzhakov’s book “Boris Yeltsin: From Dawn to Dusk” was published in 1997, it was immediately compared to the famous “Memoirs” of the Duke de Saint-Simon, which tells about many aspects of life, including the unsightly ones, at the court of Louis XIV. The former chief of his guard spoke about the morals at the court of “Tsar Boris,” prefacing his memoirs with an epigraph from another Frenchman, Talleyrand: “Entire nations would be horrified if they knew what petty people rule over them.” - I must say that this aphorism does not apply to us, citizens of Ukraine: small people have been ruling here for 18 years, but we have not yet come to horror. So it’s better to read what General Korzhakov told the journalist Gordon.
Let's start with the so-called “era of stagnation”: “What impression did Brezhnev make on you? - The most remarkable thing is that out of all those elite, he was the most humane. Leonid Ilyich treated the people around him, regardless of whether it was an officer, an employee who stands at the gate, a hairdresser, a cook or a waitress, and was always surprisingly friendly.”
From stagnation, let's move on to the characters of perestroika, in particular to the unforgettable Raisa Maksimovna: “Is it true that she, without hesitation, whipped her husband on the cheeks while being guarded? - Yes - it happened once in front of me (even before working with Yeltsin), and watching her anger was, to put it mildly, unpleasant. Gorbachev came home, had a drink somewhere (there was a slight smell), and she waved him away: a family scandal broke out. She constantly made sure that Mikhail Sergeevich did not drink... Yeltsin never had this, and he would not have allowed it. If Naina decided to raise him, she would immediately get hit in the eye, as she sometimes got.”
And here is what the general said about the notorious shooting of the White House in 1993: “... it depended on you how events would turn out on the decisive night of October 3-4... - You, journalists, like the opposition, love to excite people words about the shooting of the White House, but the shooting is the second part of the action, a response to what happened the day before. First, the riotous crowd destroyed the mayor's office, crushed posts in the White House itself, beat the police, and then staged a massacre at the Ostankino television center. There, by the way, one and a half hundred people died, and only ten died during the storming of the White House, so it’s not worth it, as they say, to blame a sore head.”
And here’s what Korzhakov says about Putin: “Do you like Putin as President of Russia? - Be that as it may, he is incomparably better than Yeltsin, incomparably! At least in foreign policy. As for the internal ones, everything is more complicated: on television we see one thing, but in life it’s a little different.” But Korzhakov’s political opponent, another Yeltsin nominee Boris Berezovsky, as you know, does not like the current president of Russia. In an interview with Gordon, Boris Abramovich states that “Mr. Putin is not a friend of democracy...” - And adds with regret that “Still, in 2000, Putin was still hope for the West...”
The correspondence confrontation between two ex-participants in Russian politics - Korzhakov and Berezovsky - is perhaps the main nerve of the book. So Berezovsky looks at the storming of the White House differently, in a democratic way: “There is an absolute, dense misunderstanding of how the new life works: these homo sovieticus did not believe that with the help of a “box” more could be achieved than with guns and cannon fodder.” . Using the “box,” that is, launching a democratic mechanism for manipulating consciousness, is a very valuable recognition.
And finally, a speech from which it is simply impossible not to be delighted: “We must understand that democracy is not a mechanism, but mental changes, and although the Russians have made a colossal breakthrough forward, this is only the first step, which is called: we liked being free . Indeed, it’s wonderful not to look back at anyone, to say whatever you want, to fly calmly to the Canary Islands, but for this to happen as a political system, as a stable society, you need to take the second step: fight for this freedom every day.” - In other words, you fight, I fly to the Canaries! Truly Boris Berezovsky is the father of Russian democracy!
That's how much valuable information can be gleaned from Dmitry Gordon's book alone. So what kind of “tabloid” can we talk about? What “philistine, bourgeois tastes”? I think, after the above, it becomes obvious that “Gordon Boulevard” is nothing more than a wide alley on the main street of modern Ukrainian journalism. Walking along it is both fun and useful.
On the eve of the anniversary of his weekly, Dmitry Gordon told FACTS about meetings with legendary personalities of our time
There is not a person in Ukraine who does not know the newspaper “Gordon Boulevard”. Its first issue was published exactly 15 years ago. And five years later, in 2000, the popular television program “Visiting Dmitry Gordon” started.
“The 95th Quarter”, Joseph Kobzon, Valery Leontiev, Tamara Gverdtsiteli will perform at the anniversary concert”
- Congratulations, Dmitry, on your double anniversary. How are you going to celebrate?
A big concert at the National Palace “Ukraine”, which will take place on November 13 at 19.00, says editor-in-chief of the weekly "Gordon Boulevard", famous journalist and writer Dmitry Gordon. - Many stars will come to congratulate us (and, of course, perform) - my friends: Joseph Kobzon, Valery Leontyev, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, Boris Moiseev, Andrey Danilko, “95th Quarter”, as well as a number of other famous artists whom we do not name in the poster. Their appearance at the concert will be a real surprise for those present in the hall. Among the spectators in the hall there will be pop and sports stars, outstanding politicians, artists, directors, actors I’m just sure that at the sight of some the audience will stand up, because these are truly legendary people - symbols of the era.
The editorial board of your publication is full of celebrities: Vitaly Korotich, Joseph Kobzon, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Sofia Rotaru, Alexander Rosenbaum, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Oleg Blokhin, Valery Leontyev, Anatoly Kashpirovsky, Roman Viktyuk, Igor Krutoy, Alexander Shvets You can’t list them all
For the 15th anniversary of Gordon Boulevard, this list has expanded even further. It included Sergei Bubka, Leonid Zhabotinsky, Nani Bregvadze, Edita Piekha, Boris Nemtsov, Valery Zolotukhin, Gavriil Popov, Mikhail Shemyakin, Nikolai Shmelev and others.
In this sense, your newspaper, in my opinion, is unique. Or maybe there is a similar stellar editorial board in some other publication?
There is nothing like this anywhere else - neither in the CIS, nor in the world (smiles).
Are the celebrities you listed on the editorial board formally or do they actually do something useful for the publication?
They review high-profile materials that are being prepared and have already been published. At the same time, they get together quite often. By the way, our next meeting will take place literally on the eve of the anniversary celebration - November 12. I think about 80 percent of the members of the editorial board will gather.
- And according to the long-established tradition, will you probably meet at your home?
Indeed, we often gather at my place. But this time we will meet in one of the Kyiv restaurants. A discussion of materials takes place over drinks and snacks. Sometimes the debate can be very heated! Often I get the nuts too. For example, Yulia Pyatetskaya’s article about Solzhenitsyn, published in Gordon Boulevard, caused a very mixed reaction in society. The widow of Alexander Solzhenitsyn sharply criticized the publication on central Russian channels. Yevgeny Yevtushenko also expressed disagreement with the publication, having published a letter addressed to me on the pages of our weekly.
Often members of the editorial board help me meet with one or another interlocutor. For example, Roman Viktyuk persuaded Yuri Yakovlev, who has been avoiding meetings with journalists in recent years, to give me an interview. The conversation with the actor turned out to be very interesting. About the meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev (on the picture), who also doesn’t give interviews to anyone now, our friend, former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of the USSR Viktor Mironenko, helped negotiate.
“My most memorable interview was with cartoonist Boris Efimov, who was 107 years old at the time of the conversation.”
You are one of the few editors-in-chief who writes. Your journalistic fees are probably among the highest in Ukraine
I receive a high salary, which means that I not only run the publication, but also write. I write a lot. Interviewing outstanding people of our time, I want to leave their story about themselves, their lives and the passing era to future generations - unbiased, unembellished This is a kind of eyewitness testimony. Sometimes they are very contradictory, but an intelligent person, reading these revelations, I think, will be able to get a real idea of how our compatriots lived in the mid-20th - early 21st centuries.
First, the interviews appear on TV, then you can read them in Gordon Boulevard, then in my books, of which there are already 33.
- Which famous person was your most memorable meeting?
With the outstanding cartoonist Boris Efimov (on the picture). When I met him, he was 107(!) years old. At 108 he died.
Boris Efimov, born in the century before last in Kiev Podil, amazed me with his clear mind and bright memory. He saw how Mayakovsky burned in the crematorium, communicated with Stalin and Trotsky. And here he sat in front of me - living history. I joked, read Pushkin’s poems Meeting him was one of my main journalistic successes. In search of interesting interlocutors, I travel all over the world. I often visit Russia. He flew to Viktor Suvorov and Boris Berezovsky, for example, in London, to Nikita Khrushchev's son Sergei Khrushchev - to the United States of America, to Mikhail Shemyakin - to Vilnius, where he made scenery for the Opera House. To create a kind of cast of the era from these meetings, you have to look for such people everywhere.
- You know, your performance is simply amazing.
Believe it or not, sometimes I take five or six interviews a day! It is possible to transfer only one thing to paper every two weeks. Conversations are, as a rule, very voluminous. I, as they say, “lick” each interview, scribbling five times from beginning to end with a red pen. I record over 40 television interviews a year, publishing about two thirds of them. This is my work schedule.
- Which interview in your publication over the 15 years of its existence has become the most scandalous?
Of course, this was an interview taken in the bathhouse by journalists Lada Luzina and Elena Krutogrudova with, unfortunately, the now deceased Nikolai Mozgovoy. Everything was scandalous: photographs with half-naked girls, impartial “compliments” handed out by Nikolai Petrovich to many Ukrainian pop figures. After the publication of that publication, the rector of the Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Anatoly Moskalenko (now also deceased), said that the history of Ukrainian journalism was divided into two stages: before Mozgovoy’s interview in “Boulevard” and after it.
- I remember it was a real bomb!
Yes, such revelations have never appeared in the domestic press before. By the way, this was in 1997
- I wonder how it all ended for you and for Mozgovoy?
It ended disastrously for Nikolai Petrovich - many managers and colleagues erased him from life for several years. He was refused funding for the “Sea of Friends” festival, so he was forced to hold it with his own money. To do this, he sold his own apartment and huddled in the office for some time. These were very difficult years for him.
- Lada Luzina is now a famous writer. What was the fate of Elena Krutogrudova?
Lada is a great guy, I really like her work. And Lena Krutogrudova married a wonderful man - my friend, and now devotes herself to raising a child.
- After these very shocking journalists left the newspaper, your weekly magazine noticeably changed its image.
Indeed, this also coincided with the arrival of Vitaly Korotich to the publication as head of the editorial board. We have settled down a little (smiles).
- Have other publications tried to imitate your newspaper?
It happened, but it is much more difficult to fake intellectual work than even any branded item.
“While visiting Vanga, despite the ban, I quietly pressed the recorder button”
- You probably had to interview in extreme conditions
I had to! For example, the late Vyacheslav Tikhonov God, how many people have already passed away from those whom I interviewed - Evgeniy Evstigneev, Bulat Okudzhava, Rollan Bykov, Nikolai Olyalin, Nonna Mordyukova, Yuri Bogatikov, Kote Makharadze, Sofiko Chiaureli, Nikolai Amosov. Now here comes Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin
- But you managed to record conversations with them.
Managed. You know, on my walls there are photographs of me with many of those who are no longer alive. So sometimes I’ll think Time is still inexorable. But let’s return to the story about my meeting with Tikhonov. 
He was a wonderful person, but a little, you know, strange. He flatly refused a television interview, saying: “You know, Dmitry Ilyich, after all, I should be remembered as young. You can’t show yourself at an age like mine.” I arranged a meeting at my dacha on Nikolina Gora. The winter that year was cold and damp, and I arrived in a light coat, shoes, and without a hat.
I went into the yard. I see a watchman sitting at the entrance to the house. I took a closer look - Tikhonov. Why did I think I was a watchman? He was wearing felt boots, some kind of mittens, a fur hat, a sheepskin coat, or rather an old sheepskin coat, very reminiscent of a sheepskin coat. There were almost no teeth. Unshaven. I say: “Hello, Vyacheslav Vasilyevich.” “Oh, hello,” he answers. - Do you mind if we sit right here on the street? My house is a mess." And for almost an hour and a half - in the cold, frosty, unable to feel my legs, I sat and asked questions.
No less interesting was the story of preparing an interview with his ex-wife, Nonna Mordyukova. She categorically refused to communicate, as she was already in poor condition. Our wonderful actress Raisa Nedashkovskaya helped arrange a TV interview. Mordyukova agreed to meet on her birthday, saying that, apparently, he was already the last in her life. Before my arrival, the actress was visited by stylist Sergei Zverev. When I entered the apartment, her brothers led her out arm in arm. Mordyukova’s apartment in Krylatskoe in Moscow was tiny. Three cameras were barely squeezed into a room of no more than ten meters. I look: the actress is barely breathing, suffocating - she feels bad. Nevertheless, the interview turned out to be incomparable! Soon after our meeting, Nonna Viktorovna passed away
- I heard that funny things happened more than once in your work.
Once I planned to film several interviews in my room at the Moscow Ritz Carlton Hotel. At seven in the evening I agreed with Sergei Zhigunov, at nine - with the former translator of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, Sukhodrev. And three more interviews were scheduled for the next day: with the writer Mikhail Weller, Vladimir Pozner and Mikhail Gorbachev. I arrived early, and with a photojournalist, my friend Felix Rosenstein, we went to the restaurant. It was half past five. I figured: we have time.
We leave the restaurant at six o’clock, and at the reception they say to me: “Mr. Posner was looking for you.” I think: why is he looking for me? We agreed on tomorrow at six!” "Where is he?" - I ask. “I went to your room.” And then I begin to understand that he mixed up the days. And I have Zhigunov at seven o’clock! What to do? I go up to the room. Posner meets me: “Well, where are you?” “So we agreed on tomorrow!” - I say. “How about tomorrow? We have agreed for today.” I say to my wife, who came with me: “Go down to the hall, wait for Zhigunov and hold him as long as you can!” And she entertained Zhigunov for half an hour, and then also courageously entertained Sukhodrev. Fortunately, we managed to do everything, we did everything.
- What is this story about how you were recording some important interview and suddenly discovered that it wasn’t recorded?
This was one of my first interviews - I was about 17. I went to interview the famous football player Oleg Protasov at the Dnepr Hotel, where he was staying. I borrowed a reel-to-reel (in Soviet times!) tape recorder “Vesna” from a friend and recorded our conversation on it. And guess what, I didn’t turn up the volume! As a result, nothing was recorded. I almost turned gray in my youth, but I gathered my resolve and the next day I came to him again, explaining the situation. He patiently gave a new interview.
I heard another story. When you interviewed the seer Vanga, she allegedly asked not to record the conversation on a tape recorder, but you still disobeyed her, and then discovered that nothing was recorded.
It wasn't quite like that. The people who brought me to Vanga warned me: under no circumstances should I record the conversation or take photographs - Vanga doesn’t like that! But I'm a journalist. What will you write later if you don’t record anything? I talked with her for 40 minutes. I placed the recorder in the patch pocket of my jacket and discreetly pressed the button. Everything was recorded perfectly! For several years I let my friends listen to this tape, and then it disappeared. I have no idea where.
- Which famous person do you dream of interviewing in the near future?
Marina Vladi, Edward Radzinsky, Naina Yeltsina, Sergei Dorenko, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Alliluyeva, Maya Plisetskaya. As you can see, the list is quite long.
And one last thing. What inspires your creativity most?
Interesting companion. When the conversation is successful, I get fantastic pleasure! After such a meeting you don’t walk, but literally fly, this is a real thrill, real happiness - professional and human. Happiness comes from touching an intelligent person. Happiness that nothing can compare with! When you communicate with such an interlocutor, it is as if you are breathing in fresh air deeply.
Quite a well-known Kiev journalist Dmitry Gordon, who made a career publishing the yellow newspaper “Boulevard (Gordon)” and talking on its pages with the stars of Russian politics and culture, sang the praises of the highest degree of flattery to the head of the Odessa Regional State Administration, Mikheil Saakashvili. The journalist, who actively supported Euromaidan and the war against the people of Donbass, called Saakashvili the last hope of Ukraine.
Mikheil Saakashvili is the last hope of the Ukrainian people for carrying out effective reforms, eradicating corruption and, ultimately, a bright future. Saakashvili has all the makings for this, says Gordon. Because Mikhail, Gordon draws attention, is a leader, a leader who is interested in the development of Ukraine, and not in the robbery of an already poor people, like most Ukrainian politicians.
According to Gordon, Mikheil Saakashvili already has experience in effectively implementing reforms. That is why it now depends on him whether Ukraine will be able to get back on its feet.
“Today Mikheil Saakashvili is the last hope for a new happy life. If he manages to restore order in the Odessa region, if we see the absence of corruption there, transparent Ministry of Internal Affairs and prosecutors’ offices, new roads and attracting investors, then Odessa residents, and with them all residents of Ukraine, will see what fruits can be obtained from transparent government activities. And then, maybe, success will await Ukraine,” Dmitry Gordon shared his thoughts.
Also, according to the journalist, Mr. Saakashvili has the traits that are necessary for a leader, and which are so lacking in the tactless goons and madmen from the cohort of his Ukrainian colleagues. Which, by the way, Gordon himself brought out.
“Vysotsky once sang: “There are few truly violent ones, so there are no leaders.” Saakashvili is violent in a good way, that’s why he’s the leader. At this historical stage, we have not found a violent one who would become a leader.
Lacks intelligence, lacks tact. Power is in the hands of rednecks without state thinking. It will be bad as long as this continues. But if Saakashvili shows how it is possible, then the people will simply demolish these rednecks and say: “Go away, you have not lived up to the trust,” Gordon assured. What will happen next is not specified. It can be assumed that the Ukrainian government will be completely Georgianized.
It should be noted that after what Gordon stated there remains some unpleasant aftertaste. No, his statements about the madness and redneckness of the Euro-Ukrainian political class are indisputable. But how high is the degree of decline of this country if even such a nonentity as Mikheil Saakashvili is considered the height of piety and intelligence. And it's truly scary. Because it ominously signifies that Ukraine does not have a single chance to get back on its feet.
