The Slavic Connexion
A fresh international chat show on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia from The University of Texas at Austin
About the show
A fresh international chat show on the Slavic world from the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security at The University of Texas at Austin. "It's not typical Texas."
The Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies condemns the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine. We stand in support of the people of Ukraine who are fighting for their lives and sovereignty in the face of the unjustified invasion by Russian military forces.
Texas Podcast Network is brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin.
The Slavic Connexion on social media
Episodes
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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?
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From Red to Green: The True Nature of Environmental Activism in Russia with Angelina Davydova
January 27th, 2021 | Season 3 | 50 mins 24 secs
environmental activism, environmental issues, journalism, russia, siberia
From St. Petersburg, Angelina Davydova, Environmental journalist and head of the German Russian Office of Environmental Information, graciously joins us to give us some surprising facts on the landscape of environmental activism and reform in Russia. This was an uplifting and eye-opening conversation and we hope you enjoy!
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Russia's Mercurial Role in Southeast Europe (with Dimitar Bechev)
January 11th, 2021 | Season 3 | 28 mins 4 secs
balkans, covid, regional politics, russia, turkey
On this episode, Samantha chats with Dr. Dimitar Bechev on the geopolitics of the Balkans and the stratagems of Russia in the region. Dr. Bechev also discusses Russia's relationship with Turkey and Turkey's ties with the US and how these affect the countries nested in the Balkans which have fallen out of US foreign policy priority since the George W. Bush administration.
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"Mixed Messages": The Survival of the Buryat Language with Kathryn Graber
January 5th, 2021 | Season 3 | 34 mins 59 secs
buryat, culture, siberia
Амар мэндээ or hello and Happy New Year! On this episode, Dr. Kathryn Graber of Indiana University Bloomington joins us to
talk about her research on the Buryat language and minority-language media in Russia’s Buryat territories, a multilingual region of eastern Siberia on the Mongolian border. Enjoy! Ехэ баярлаа! -
"How to Lose the Information War" with Nina Jankowicz (Wilson Center)
December 9th, 2020 | Season 3 | 39 mins 33 secs
information wars, misinformation, propaganda, russia, us elections
In this episode, Matt and Tom talked to Nina Jankowicz of the Wilson Center about her new book, How to Lose the Information War, and how it serves as a useful primer for understanding the disinformation challenges facing the US today, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
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From the Russian Far East to the American West with Matthew Luxmoore (RFE/RL)
December 1st, 2020 | Season 3 | 33 mins 2 secs
american politics, belarus, elections, regional conflicts, russia, turkey
On this episode, Zack speaks with journalist Matthew Luxmoore. Matthew is the Moscow Correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Politico, and elsewhere. Zach and Matthew discuss a wide-range of issues, from the Russian Far East to the current state of the Russian opposition movement, to environmental concerns and other current affairs of the day. We hope you enjoy!