Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast
Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast
48 episodes
3 days ago
In this episode, we talk about one of the most fundamental things in all our lives: food. How can food help us understand culture, identity, and history? How does food bring people together in dark times? How has Ukraine’s status as a major global exporter of food been affected by the war? We discuss all these questions and more with two brilliant food writers - Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector.
Olia Hercules is a British-Ukrainian chef, author and cultural ambassador, she is the author of Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine & Beyond; Kaukasis: The Cookbook – A Journey Through the Wild East; Summer Kitchens Inside Ukraine's Hidden Places of Cooking and Sanctuary; Home Food and most recently Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Felicity Spector is a journalist, author and baker. Her work in TV journalism has taken her all over the world, covering everything from the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia to the inauguration of Barack Obama in the US; most recently, she has been a tireless volunteer in some of Ukraine’s most war-torn regions. Her book about these experiences, Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope, was published in 2025 by Duckworth.
Book recommendations:
Olia Hercules:
Lesya Ukrainka, The Noblewoman, translation. Percival Cundy, in Spirit of Flame: A Collection of the Works of Lesya Ukrainka (Bookman Associates, 1950). Translation available online here.
Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight, Food for the Dead (Penguin, 2024)
Lina Kostenko’s poetry (See here for some translations by Uilleam Blacker at Words Without Borders)
Felicity Spector:
Oleksandr Mykhed, The Language of War translation. Maryna Gibson, Hanna Leliv and Abby Devar (Penguin, 2024)
Artur Dron, We Were Here, transl. Yuliya Musakovska (Jantar, 2024)
Victoria Belim, The Rooster House (Virago, 2023)
Also mentioned:
Lesya Ukrainka, Cassandra trans. Nina Murray (Harvard, 2024)
Oleksandr Mykhed, I Will Mix Your Blood with Coal transl. Tanya Savchynska and David Mossop (Northwestern University Press, 2025)
Links
The UCL European Institute Ukraine Shelf: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-instit...
UCL European Institute newsletter: https://ucl.us5.list-manage.com/subsc...
UCL European Institute instagram: ucl_ei
UCL European Institute BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/uclei.bsky.social
Ukrainian Institute London: https://uil.org.uk
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In this episode, we talk about one of the most fundamental things in all our lives: food. How can food help us understand culture, identity, and history? How does food bring people together in dark times? How has Ukraine’s status as a major global exporter of food been affected by the war? We discuss all these questions and more with two brilliant food writers - Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector.
Olia Hercules is a British-Ukrainian chef, author and cultural ambassador, she is the author of Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine & Beyond; Kaukasis: The Cookbook – A Journey Through the Wild East; Summer Kitchens Inside Ukraine's Hidden Places of Cooking and Sanctuary; Home Food and most recently Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Felicity Spector is a journalist, author and baker. Her work in TV journalism has taken her all over the world, covering everything from the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia to the inauguration of Barack Obama in the US; most recently, she has been a tireless volunteer in some of Ukraine’s most war-torn regions. Her book about these experiences, Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope, was published in 2025 by Duckworth.
Book recommendations:
Olia Hercules:
Lesya Ukrainka, The Noblewoman, translation. Percival Cundy, in Spirit of Flame: A Collection of the Works of Lesya Ukrainka (Bookman Associates, 1950). Translation available online here.
Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight, Food for the Dead (Penguin, 2024)
Lina Kostenko’s poetry (See here for some translations by Uilleam Blacker at Words Without Borders)
Felicity Spector:
Oleksandr Mykhed, The Language of War translation. Maryna Gibson, Hanna Leliv and Abby Devar (Penguin, 2024)
Artur Dron, We Were Here, transl. Yuliya Musakovska (Jantar, 2024)
Victoria Belim, The Rooster House (Virago, 2023)
Also mentioned:
Lesya Ukrainka, Cassandra trans. Nina Murray (Harvard, 2024)
Oleksandr Mykhed, I Will Mix Your Blood with Coal transl. Tanya Savchynska and David Mossop (Northwestern University Press, 2025)
Links
The UCL European Institute Ukraine Shelf: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-instit...
UCL European Institute newsletter: https://ucl.us5.list-manage.com/subsc...
UCL European Institute instagram: ucl_ei
UCL European Institute BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/uclei.bsky.social
Ukrainian Institute London: https://uil.org.uk
European Literary London: Journeys, Languages, Writing
Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast
37 minutes 29 seconds
1 year ago
European Literary London: Journeys, Languages, Writing
In conversation with Olivia Scher, our European Literary Map of London Writer-in-Residence Joanna Elmy and writer, artist and director, Larisa Faber Larisa Faber talk about London: journeys, languages, writing and cultures. This episode explores central themes of identity, belonging, and how London shapes and is shaped by its rich tapestry of stories.
European Literary Map of London: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-institute/lost-found-european-literary-map-london
Bulgarian-born author and journalist Joanna Elmy was our 23/24 inaugural Writer in Residence. Joanna’s first novel Born of Guilt, written during her years in university, received a prestigious Bulgarian prize for emerging literature in 2022 and was shortlisted for several other national awards. During her four-week stay at UCL (24 April – 22 May 2024), Joanna engaged with academics across faculties, and worked on her second novel which features London prominently and explores ‘cities of the world’ – a modern take on urban spaces partly inspired by Italo Calvino’s approach to writing the city.
Writer, director and actor Larisa Faber collaborated with UCL European Institute and the UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities in the summer term of 2024, in the context of the European Literary Map of London project, and an ongoing partnership with EUNIC London, the European Literature Network and the European Writers’ Festival, curated by Rosie Goldsmith. Larisa worked to develop an irreverently multivocal text about the politics of seasonal vegetables – which will feature on the European Literary Map of London as the first Luxembourgish entry.
Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast
In this episode, we talk about one of the most fundamental things in all our lives: food. How can food help us understand culture, identity, and history? How does food bring people together in dark times? How has Ukraine’s status as a major global exporter of food been affected by the war? We discuss all these questions and more with two brilliant food writers - Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector.
Olia Hercules is a British-Ukrainian chef, author and cultural ambassador, she is the author of Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine & Beyond; Kaukasis: The Cookbook – A Journey Through the Wild East; Summer Kitchens Inside Ukraine's Hidden Places of Cooking and Sanctuary; Home Food and most recently Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Felicity Spector is a journalist, author and baker. Her work in TV journalism has taken her all over the world, covering everything from the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia to the inauguration of Barack Obama in the US; most recently, she has been a tireless volunteer in some of Ukraine’s most war-torn regions. Her book about these experiences, Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope, was published in 2025 by Duckworth.
Book recommendations:
Olia Hercules:
Lesya Ukrainka, The Noblewoman, translation. Percival Cundy, in Spirit of Flame: A Collection of the Works of Lesya Ukrainka (Bookman Associates, 1950). Translation available online here.
Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight, Food for the Dead (Penguin, 2024)
Lina Kostenko’s poetry (See here for some translations by Uilleam Blacker at Words Without Borders)
Felicity Spector:
Oleksandr Mykhed, The Language of War translation. Maryna Gibson, Hanna Leliv and Abby Devar (Penguin, 2024)
Artur Dron, We Were Here, transl. Yuliya Musakovska (Jantar, 2024)
Victoria Belim, The Rooster House (Virago, 2023)
Also mentioned:
Lesya Ukrainka, Cassandra trans. Nina Murray (Harvard, 2024)
Oleksandr Mykhed, I Will Mix Your Blood with Coal transl. Tanya Savchynska and David Mossop (Northwestern University Press, 2025)
Links
The UCL European Institute Ukraine Shelf: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-instit...
UCL European Institute newsletter: https://ucl.us5.list-manage.com/subsc...
UCL European Institute instagram: ucl_ei
UCL European Institute BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/uclei.bsky.social
Ukrainian Institute London: https://uil.org.uk
