HOW TO FEED A DICTATOR - AN EVENING OF STORIES AND INSIGHTS

Step into the kitchens of history’s most feared dictators with the acclaimed Polish non-fiction writer and award-winning journalist Witold Szabłowski. Dot Dot Dot Connect and the UT Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREEES), is thrilled to co-present an evening of culinary-literary experience as part of the HOW TO FEED A DICTATOR WEEK in Austin.

Schedule November 13, 2025

• 6: 30 PM: Doors open
• 7:00 PM - 8:20 PM: Moderated conversation with the author followed by Q&A
• 8:20 PM - 9 PM: Signing line and reception with food and drinks.

Featured conversation with the author will be filled with stories that are at once chilling, humorous, and impossible to forget. They will focus on how under authoritarian rule food can become both a weapon and a lifeline.

And it gets better — you’ll have the opportunity to taste dishes inspired by the menus of history’s most infamous leaders! Following the speaking portion of the event attendees are invited to sample dictator's favorite foods and join the signing line to have their books signed/personalized by the author.

Books by Witold Szabłowski available for purchase and signing at the event:

• How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks
• What’s Cooking in the Kremlin: From Rasputin to Putin, How Russia Built an Empire with a Knife and Fork
• Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life under Tyranny

Known for his sharp wit and deeply human reporting, Szabłowski ‘s How To Feed a Dictator brings readers face-to-face with personal cooks of world’s infamous strongmen. Their stories are equal parts absurd, terrifying, and deeply human. Through the eyes of the cooks, we see a world where a single meal could secure trust, spark suspicion, grant privilege, or cost a life. His later book, What’s Cooking in the Kremlin, takes us inside the Russian elite’s kitchens from tzars till today providing a perspective on power, politics, and propaganda all served on a plate. Szabłowski uncovers the truths hidden in kitchens that few outsiders ever saw.

Guiding the discussion is Dr. Mary Neuburger, Professor of History and Director of UT CREEES. Her expertise in southeastern Europe, consumption, the history of truth at the intersection of science and religion provides the perfect lens through which to explore Szabłowski’s work. Additional possible direction of their conversation may lead to Bulgaria through Szablowski’s “Dancing Bears, Turkey through his award-winning book of reportages “Assassin From the Apricot City” or Ukraine through several of his books and close personal experiences.

***Visit the event website

PARKING: The closest garages to The Glickman Center are:

• San Jacinto Garage (SJG): 2401 San Jacinto Boulevard. San Jacinto Garage is between 24th and Dean Keeton streets.
• Manor Road Garage (MAG): 2017 Robert Dedman Drive. South of the LBJ Presidential Library on Robert Dedman, directly across the street from Texas Memorial Stadium.