Yuri Polyakov’s new book “The Secret Future” can be given the subtitle “chronicle of the covid year”: almost all the materials in the collection were written during this difficult and eventful period, when many long-standing contradictions intensified and new conflicts emerged. One of the brightest Russian publicists, the author gives clear and deep assessments of everything that is happening in our politics, public life, information sphere, and culture. And his forecast is reasonably disappointing: the government, balancing between multidirectional forces, does not realize the growing alienation from society, which seeks, above all, a fair way of life and a clear plan for the future. The Achilles heel of the government continues to be the lack of a clear futurological project, when no one can explain where the country is heading. All this is said, as always, precisely, figuratively, aphoristically, with striking Polyakovian sarcasm. A surprise for readers will be the “Current Rhymes” section, where the author includes new poems of a political orientation, composed in the year of coronavirus.