“Art Imitating Life Imitating Art Imitating . . “
“You can’t turn a ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’ without a ‘Maybe’ in between.
–President Frank Underwood; “House of Cards”
You can be excused for mistaking the fake “Pussy Riot” headline (above) with the real thing.
After all, that was the real Pussy Riot sitting amongst (fictional) Congressional leaders at a White House ballroom dinner for Soviet Premier (and Putin proxy) Victor Petrov.
Pussy Riot said and did exactly what you’d expect Pussy Riot to say and do: spit out a denunciation of Russian despotism and intolerance, smash their wine glasses on the floor, then dramatically depart.
Negotiation “Master Class”
In fact, the Pussy Riot interlude was merely an appetizer for the main course (so far) of House of Cards’ just-released 
third season: the squaring off of evenly matched, equally cunning rivals Petrov and Frank Underwood (masterfully played by Lars Mikkelson and Kevin Spacey, respectively).
The exchanges between those two may be fictional, but the insights into negotiation tactics and strategy are real.
As for headlines, it’s hard to go back to the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal when the fictional Washington portrayed in House of Cards is so much more compelling (not to say fast-paced).
See also, “Frank Underwood’s Negotiating Secrets“; and “Review: Netflix’s House of Cards – Season 2.”
