The Union: Go Faster! No! Go Slower! Pushing Forward

Let's Think a Bit More, Estonian television's live talk show, has a reputation for being a glasnost groundbreaker, but few who tuned in one Wednesday evening nearly a year ago were quite prepared for what happened. During a debate about making the political system more democratic, a novel notion came up. Why not unite people who support perestroika into something resembling the popular-front movements that lobbied for social reforms in Europe during the 1930s? For a moment, the question hung in the air. Nothing like it had ever been tried in the Soviet Union. Telephone lines soon jangled with enthusiastic offers...