The Fall of the USSR, Pt I

Stuff You Should Know opens a multi-part series on the fall of the Soviet Union. The episode begins with a framing observation: the USSR's collapse is historically rare because it can be attributed to the decisions of just one person, Mikhail Gorbachev. It is also unusual because the empire fell in roughly a year's time. The episode sets up Gorbachev as the central figure whose choices ended the Soviet Union.