By Anne Levin

Since graduating from Princeton University in 2005, Julia Ioffe has earned a reputation as a highly respected journalist in her field. Specializing in Russian politics, she covers national security and foreign policy topics for The Atlantic, and lists Politico, The New Yorker, and The New Republic on her resume.

On January 23, Ioffe will return to campus for a discussion, open to the public, from 4:30-6 p.m. in McCosh 50. Trading thoughts with her on Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Russia will be fellow international journalist Deborah Amos, a visiting Ferris Professor of Journalism and lecturer in the Humanities Council at the University.

Simon Morrison, a Department of Music professor and an expert on Soviet and Russian performing arts, will moderate. “I’ve been trying for a while to bring her to campus,” he said of Ioffe. “I consider her to be not only one of the most courageous and industrious journalists in the business, but one who inhabits both the American and Russian political worlds.”

Directly following her talk at the University, Ioffe will hurry over to Princeton Public Library for a 6:30 p.m. discussion with Shaun Walker about his book The Long Hangover: Putin’s Russia and the Ghosts of the Past. Walker was a journalist in Moscow for more than a decade and was Moscow correspondent for The Independent. His appearance is co-sponsored by the library and Labyrinth Books.

Morrison is equally enthused about the participation of Amos, who has been teaching a seminar at the University focused on journalism and the global migration crisis. The National Public Radio reporter was recently honored with a 2017 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. In addition to her NPR duties, she has reported on Nightline, World News Tonight, and Frontline. Amos has traveled across the Middle East covering such stories as the Syrian uprising, and is now focused on Syrian refugees in the United States.

“This is someone who was hospitalized during the anthrax attacks,” Morrison said. “Having these two brave women journalists together is very special.”

Ioffe is scheduled to talk about her recent reporting and the risks she has encountered, including online harassment from white supremacist groups. A profile she did in 2016 on Melania Trump for the magazine GQ helped make her a target. Ioffe’s article, “What Putin Really Wants,” is the cover story for this month’s issue of The Atlantic.

“She has deep ties within the so-called deep state,” Morrison said. “She is really on the front lines of the Mueller investigation and what people like Paul Manafort have been up to. The other thing is that she will be the major bilingual journalist covering the re-election of Putin in March. I think of her as an empress of the dark web. I’m fascinated by her. She must have the most extraordinarily thick skin.”

The Princeton University event is co-hosted by the Department of Music and Humanities Council. Admission is free.