Uncompromised

Pussy Riot didn’t soften themselves for American television. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the Russian punk band that’s made their work out of defiance and paid for it with prison, appeared on Stephen Colbert and spoke plainly about Putin, the Sochi Olympics as propaganda, violence against queer people in Russia. No softening the message, no performed warmth to ease the audience in. Just two women saying what had to be said on a format that usually demands entertainment. That’s always been the point with Pussy Riot—they refuse to make you comfortable.