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Dr. Stern describes his career and his pathway from the Soviet Union to the U.S. He shares his insights about some aspects of Soviet history, the issue of psychiatric abuse, its roots and reasons the Soviet government resorted to psychiatry to oppress dissent. Dr. Stern talks about the major differences between special psychiatrist hospitals vs. ordinary psychiatrist hospitals and gives some excellent illustrations of "symptoms" that the Soviet school of psychiatry considered signs of mental disorder. Dr. Stern shares his opinion as to the reasons why Soviet psychiatrists engaged in unethical practices. Dr. Stern describes the field trip in great detail, including some anecdotes and specific instances. He concludes by identifying the most important changes needed in Soviet psychiatry at the time and assesses the overall success of the American mission to the Soviet Union.

Dr. Roth describes his training and the highlights of his career; he then tells how he became interested in the issue of abuse of psychiatry in the U.S.S.R. His two human rights trips to the U.S.S.R. in 1985 and 1986 are discussed next. Dr. Roth then gives an overview of the general political background to the visit and tensions between him and Ambassador Schifter about some critical aspect of the visit. Dr. Roth then describes in detail the negotiation process between the U.S. and Soviet side, the main stumbling blocks, how he managed to overcome them, and who were his allies. Dr. Roth describes the Soviet uncooperativeness and tensions between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He then talks about informed consents, interview procedures, and the visit dynamics. He shares some anecdotes and most memorable events; he also talks about the people who meaningfully contributed to making the mission successful.

Mr. I. talks about his early life, family, education, how his dissident views formed and evolved with time. He shares about his repeated contacts with psychiatric system; he also describes his social and political activity and the repercussions he faced as a result. Mr. I. then tells about his criminal case, his forensic psychiatric evaluation, diagnosis, "symptoms", finding of non-imputability, the legal procedure used to involuntarily commit him to the Dnepropetrovsk special psychiatric hospital, and the inhumane conditions there. Mr. I. then describes his transfer to Nikolayev ordinary psychiatric hospital and release; he talks about his dissident activity that brought him back to the same hospital. He also describes his contacts with Ukrainian dissident movement at the end of 1980s and how he got on the list of people to be assessed by the U.S. team. The details of his participation in 1989 U.S. State Department mission are discussed next. Mr. I. then shares about the long-term impact this mission made on his life, his subsequent legal rehabilitation, being taken off the psychiatric register, the removal of his psychiatric diagnosis, his life and activism after 1989. Mr. I. describes some of his most interesting campaigns. The interview ends with a brief discussion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it affected Mr. I.'s life.

Mr. Reddaway talks about his education and career and the way he became interested and immersed in the issue of abuse of psychiatry in the U.S.S.R. He discusses the impact that his and Sidney Bloch's 1977 and 1983 books made in the Soviet Union. He also shares his knowledge about the evolution of punitive psychiatry with each new Soviet leader. Mr. Reddaway talks about Mr. Gorbachev's personality, the political factors in the early 1980s that allowed for such a leader to emerge and retain power; the reasons for perestroika; the peculiarities of perestroika in psychiatry versus other spheres. Mr. Reddaway gives a comprehensive overview of various internal processes in the Soviet Union at the end of 1980s that were important prerequisites for the 1989 U.S. psychiatric mission. He discusses at length the role of the WPA in the battle against the abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union. Mr. Reddaway also gives a detailed overview of the field inspections to Soviet psychiatric hospitals that he did as a member of the 1989 U.S. State Department psychiatric mission to the U.S.S.R.

Dr. Hirschfeld shares memories about his education and career, the way he got involved in the 1989 State Department psychiatric mission to the U.S.S.R., the methodological approach to the patient interviews, the range of findings of his sub-team # 3 in Leningrad, and his general impressions of the Soviet Union as of 1989.

Dr. Keith talks about the role and expertise of NIMH that was crucial to the success of the 1989 U.S. psychiatric mission to the U.S.S.R. He recapitulates the main points and stumbling blocks of the negotiations with the Soviets in November 1988, various organizational aspects of the mission, as well as the interview instruments and methodology used by the American team. Dr. Keith shares his opinion about the concept of sluggish schizophrenia, its diagnostic criteria, and other factors that made it possible to abuse psychiatry in the Soviet Union. He also emphasizes Soviet life, society, and governance as of 1989. Dr. Keith discusses the Soviets' admission of "hyperdiagnoses" and the validity of the excuse of "hyperdiagnoses" from the professional point of view. He also expresses his opinion about the tone of the final report and the general context that the American team had to keep in mind when drafting it. Dr. Keith describes Schizophrenia Bulletin and his role as its editor-in-chief. He also talks about the 1990 Soviet Reciprocal Visit to the U.S.

In the interview Dr. Carpenter discusses his career, his involvement in the 1989 US State Department psychiatric delegation to the USSR, the main goals of the mission, various aspects of the implementation in great detail, the diagnostic aspects of the study, interview instruments and methodology, the Soviet mental health care system and its shortcomings, the conclusions made by Dr. Carpenter's sub-team, the impact the American visit made to the interviewed individuals an mental health in the region.

Mr. Hopkins talks at length about the way he became immersed in the Russian studies, his education, and career. He well remembers the settings and arrangements of interviewing the Soviet citizens who allegedly had mental disorders, his expectations and apprehensions about the upcoming 1989 mission, the types of questions asked of the Soviet interviewees, and the peculiarities of his task as an interpreter during this unique venture. He also mentions the debrief that the entire American team had in Washington, D.C. after the visit was over.