The Slavic Connexion
Episode Archive
Episode Archive
198 episodes of The Slavic Connexion since the first episode, which aired on March 11th, 2019.
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Mountains without Borders: Discovering the Carpathians with Patrice Dabrowski
October 21st, 2021 | Season 4 | 38 mins 26 secs
environmental history, forest, geographic history, mountain ranges, poland, ukraine
In this episode, Patrice Dabrowski takes us on a historical journey through the highly understudied Carpathian Mountains of Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Her brand new book details the many forces at play in the mountainous region over the years from 1860 to 1980 and shows how this area gradually went from terra incongita to tourist attraction. We hope you enjoy!
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"Frozen by the Thaw": The Soviet Masculinity Crisis of the Long Sixties with Marko Dumančić
October 9th, 2021 | Season 4 | 42 mins 32 secs
culture, film, gender, history, soviet union
On this episode, Marko Dumančić joins Lera and Cullan to talk about his recently published monograph entitled Men Out of Focus: The Soviet Masculinity Crisis in the Long Sixties wherein he unpacks the changing conceptions of men in post-Stalinist society by taking a deeper look at Soviet films made at the time. This is a fun conversation, riddled with film talk. We hope you enjoy!
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The Unexplored History of the USSR, Afghanistan, and the Cold War with Timothy Nunan
September 24th, 2021 | Season 4 | 43 mins 30 secs
afghanistan, cold war, international history, ussr history
Dr. Timothy Nunan from the Free University of Berlin joins Cullan and new host Sergio to discuss his latest book, The Humanitarian Invasion: Global Development in Cold War Afghanistan. With his research interests spanning from Soviet-Russian religious internationalism to the USSR’s relations with the global south, we are lucky to host such a knowledgeable resource on the pod! Take a listen!
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An Intimate Look at Prostitution in Late Imperial Russia with Siobhán Hearne
September 10th, 2021 | Season 4 | 49 mins 23 secs
culture, imperial russia, prostitution, society, soviet union
Dr. Siobhán Hearne joins Katya to talk about her new book, Policing Prostitution: Regulating the Lower Classes in Late Imperial Russia, a social history of prostitution in last decades of the Russian Empire. Dr. Hearne uses archival research conducted in Moscow, St Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Riga, Vilnius, Minsk, Kyiv and Tartu to examine how prostitution and its regulation functioned in different parts of the empire. We hope you enjoy!
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Afghanistan: A Strategic Failure with Ret. Col. Robert Hamilton
August 30th, 2021 | Season 4 | 36 mins 50 secs
afghanistan, georgia, security, us military operations, war
For the first episode of Season 4, we asked Dr. Robert Hamilton of the U.S. Army War College to return to the show and speak about the current situation in Afghanistan and the fate of the region's security architecture. Currently on leave to serve as advisor to the Georgian Ministry of Defense, Dr. Hamilton discusses the role of the Georgian military in the Afghanistan War and what the U.S. withdrawal (and Taliban rule) means for Georgia's future as well.
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Decolonization in Eastern Europe: A Critical Geographer's Perspective with Zoltán Ginelli
July 30th, 2021 | Season 3 | 41 mins 11 secs
central europe, geography, history, hungary
Zoltán Ginelli from Budapest joins Zach and Cullan to talk about his field of critical geography and the framing of colonial history of Central Europe following both World War II and the Cold War. We hope you enjoy this conversation!
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The Inside Scoop on "Cold War Correspondents" with Dina Fainberg
June 29th, 2021 | Season 3 | 43 mins 30 secs
america, history, journalism, media, soviet union
On this episode, Professor Dina Fainberg joins Zach and Lera to talk about her latest book, the highly readable "Cold War Correspondents" in which she highlights stories of Soviet and American journalists and draws parallels to the US-Russia media landscape today. We hope you enjoy!
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Eurovision: More than a Song (Contest) with Sophia Kontos
June 7th, 2021 | Season 3 | 14 mins 50 secs
art, europe, eurovision, music, politics
On this special (musical) episode, guest host Sophia Kontos helps us understand Eurovision and break down the politics and ploys behind the song entries themselves, focusing on three major countries: Greece, Turkey, and Ukraine. We hope you enjoy!
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Steppe by Steppe: From America's Great Plains to Russia's Grasslands (and Back Again!) with David Moon
May 31st, 2021 | Season 3 | 34 mins 13 secs
agriculture, caucasus, environmental history, geography, russia, west texas
On this episode, Professor David Moon joins Tom and Lera from the UK to talk about the fascinating personal journey which led to the release of his latest book, The American Steppes: Unexpected Russian Roots of Great Plains Agriculture. He clearly delineates how the kernels of his transnational research all began during his tenure some years ago at The University of Texas at Austin. We hope you enjoy!
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The Pivoting Anthropologist: From Chernobyl to Social Activism to Kurt Vonnegut to... with Sarah Phillips
April 21st, 2021 | Season 3 | 37 mins 25 secs
anthropology, health, literature, social activism, soviet studies, ukraine
Our wonderful guest is Dr. Sarah Phillips, director of the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University Bloomington. Dr. Phillips walks us through her remarkable anthropological career in the Slavic world from her beginnings in the 90s with studying the effects of Chernobyl to her many social activism projects in Ukraine, taking us to her present fascination with the culture that developed in the USSR around Kurt Vonnegut's writings and translated works. We hope you enjoy, and as always thanks for listening!
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The Ghana-Soviet Connexion with Nana Osei-Opare
April 12th, 2021 | Season 3 | 34 mins 30 secs
african history, history, nationalism, politics, racism, soviet history
On this episode, Professor Nana Osei-Opare from Fordham University joins us to talk about the history of Ghana's independence from Great Britain and the way in which this West African country looked to the Soviet Union to build itself as an "industrialized, socialist" post-colonialist state. This is a fascinating, important discussion, and we hope you enjoy!
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Ukraine Through the Author's Pen with Oksana Lutsyshyna
March 24th, 2021 | Season 3 | 1 hr 1 min
literature, social media, ukraine, war, writers
In this episode, Dr. Oksana Lutsyshyna, beloved UT professor and recent winner of Ukraine's highest state prize for literature, joins Matt to talk about her most recent book Ivan and Feba (Іван і Феба), as well as her earlier works including Love Life (Любовне життя) and much more. We hope you enjoy!
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"American Girls in Red Russia" with Julia Mickenberg
March 17th, 2021 | Season 3 | 51 mins 55 secs
american stories, communism, history, social movements, soviet union, women's history
In honor of Women's History Month, we have a special episode featuring American Studies professor Dr. Julia Mickenberg who joins us to talk about her spectacular book "American Girls in Red Russia" which explores the intimate lives of American women who traveled to the USSR chasing the "Soviet Dream." We hope you enjoy!
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"Hate in the Homeland": The Global Far Right with Cynthia Miller-Idriss
March 7th, 2021 | Season 3 | 44 mins 15 secs
far right, fascism, global conversations, social media, white nationalism
On this special episode, we have renowned expert on far right youth movements, Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss who joins us courtesy of UT's ISPRII (https://isprii.la.utexas.edu/). ISPRII guest host Eliza talks with Dr. Miller-Idriss about her research and latest book, Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right. This is a fascinating episode on a very critical topic for the international community, and we hope you enjoy!
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"Russia Resurrected": The Paradox of the Perception of Russian Power with Kathryn Stoner
February 18th, 2021 | Season 3 | 35 mins 59 secs
global order, politics, russia
In this episode, Matt is joined by Dr. Kathryn Stoner of Stanford University to talk about her new book, Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order. The book pushes back at some misconceptions about Russia’s place in the international system while offering a new perspective on how the West should approach Russia. We hope you enjoy!
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Poison, Prison, Protests: The Continued Saga of Alexei Navalny with Mark Galeotti
February 3rd, 2021 | Season 3 | 47 mins 59 secs
anti-corruption, belarus, navalny, russia, russian protests
Once again, Dr. Mark Galeotti joins Matt to discuss yesterday's sentencing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and what it means for Russia's short and long term future. Is this the end of the first installment of Navalny’s battle with the Kremlin, which peaked with his poisoning at the hands of the FSB in August 2020? What will be the West's response?