Carter and I discuss some early chunks of Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, and consider the implications of the archipelago metaphor, why it's valuable to read about atrocities, why this book has such lyrical power, what happens when we do not value freedom enough, Solzhenitsyn's provocative claim that the Gulag inmates "deserved everything" that happened to them, the dangers of lying, the consequences of political ideology, and much more.