What’s the difference between colonialism and imperialism? What types of colonialism can we identify — and which of them are playing out in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other countries?
This conversation is not purely academic. It helps us better understand what’s happening today — and what might happen tomorrow. Russian colonial and imperial practices sometimes resemble those of other empires — but at other times, they differ significantly. Russia often masks its imperial violence with nationalist mythology. It’s important to reveal why that mythology is misleading — and dangerous.
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Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
Our guest today is Botakoz Kassymbekova, a renowned scholar of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She is currently Professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich and specializes in Soviet history, Stalinism and post-Stalinism, and Russian imperial practices. She holds a PhD from Humboldt University of Berlin.
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"Thinking in Dark Times" podcast is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.
This episode is created in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute, the country’s leading cultural diplomacy institution.
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A quick reminder: you can SUPPORT our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
Your support is essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.
You can also help us fund VOLUNTEER trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com
***
CONTENTS:
00:00:00 — Intro: what is colonialism and imperialism, and why does it matter now?
00:02:06 — Why Russia is an empire? What is the difference between colonialism and imperialism?
00:04:32 — Russia’s colonial tactics
00:07:44 — Why does Russia seek full control over Ukraine? Not just influence, but domination and assimilation.
00:09:55 — Difference vs. sameness: how empires shape identities
00:11:24 — Settler colonialism vs. extractive colonialism: what drives conquest?
00:16:30 — Russia as a settler empire: back then and now
00:18:22 — How Russia colonises its internal nations through assimilation and language suppression.
00:20:50 — Censuses, schools and silent erasure: how Russian state mechanisms classify and erase non-Russian identities within its borders.
00:23:00 — Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the memory of famine
00:25:30 — Why colonialism is about state power, not ethnicity, and why Ukrainians were tools, not masters, of the Russian colonialism elsewhere.
00:27:42 — Soviet categorisation: Muslims vs. Europeans. How the USSR racialised and managed populations with a colonial gaze.
00:32:04 — Why Russia criticises Western colonialism while mimicking it.
00:34:57 — “Greatness” as the keyword of Russian imperial ideology. Territory as the imperial prestige
00:40:15 — Russia's strategic aims: bullying Europe for superpower status.
00:43:33 — Why the Soviet Union’s support for global decolonisation masked its own imperial domination.
00:45:15 — “Friendship of peoples”: a Soviet colonial tactic in disguise
00:50:10 — Nuclear tests, cotton fields, and poisoned generations: how Moscow exploited Central Asia
00:53:20 — Health and autonomy: why so-called “Soviet development” often meant suffering, not progress.
00:55:44 — Who decides? The colonial theft of political agency
00:58:12 — Why many Western scholars failed to see Soviet colonialism and still don’t.
00:59:21 — Final reflection: Ukraine’s struggle is part of a bigger story
In this episode, I pose a question about evil. I argue that while the relativization of the concept of evil may once have been necessary, it has now swung to the opposite extreme—one in which we often fail to ask moral questions at all.
I suggest that we must return to the question of evil—again and again—if we are to remain moral beings capable of ethical action.
This question is not isolated. It is deeply connected to broader philosophical themes: the nature of being and nothingness, creation and destruction, and what I call thanatocracy—the rule by death.
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This is Thinking in Dark Times, and my name is Volodymyr Yermolenko. I’m a Ukrainian philosopher, president of PEN Ukraine, and editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld.org. If you’d like to support my work, you can do so on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
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This episode is done in partnership with Politeia, a Ukrainian NGO focusing on preparing a new generation of change-makers in Ukraine.
Joseph Stiglitz is a world-renowned economist and thinker who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001.
I met him in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in June 2025 during the inspiring Zeg Festival in which we both participated.
In this podcast episode, we spoke about his latest book, "The Road to Freedom", published last year, and about how flawed ideas of freedom can ultimately undermine freedom itself. I also asked him what the world can do to stop Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
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Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
This episode is also made in partnership with "Politeia", a Ukrainian NGO focusing on preparing a new generation of change-makers in Ukraine.
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You can support "Thinking in Dark Times" on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg). Your support is vital, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.
***
Contents:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:02:24 - How does "The Road to Freedom" compare to Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom" and Snyder's "The Road to Unfreedom"?
0:02:45 - What are Stiglitz’s main criticisms of neoliberalism?
0:08:09 - What's the core flaw in the concept of "limitless freedom"?
0:17:33 - How is Russia undermining democracy?
0:19:00 - What steps can Europe take with frozen Russian assets for Ukraine?
0:20:46 - Why won't seizing Russian assets cause a capital crisis or violate rule of law?
0:27:22 - How can good regulation foster beneficial innovation, not just exploitation?
Some might argue that the concept of evil is outdated in our relativistic age. And yet—how can we speak of war crimes, cruelty, or the neglect of human dignity without invoking the word evil? Perhaps it’s time to take it seriously again, to revisit the thinkers who have grappled with its meaning.
One of them, of course, is Hannah Arendt.
This is a conversation about Hannah Arendt and the concept of evil, which took place in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on June 1st, at the Kyiv Book Arsenal—one of the country’s major literary events. Despite the ongoing war, the fair was full of people.
My guest was Marci Shore, an American intellectual, historian, and university professor. She specializes in 20th-century European intellectual history, with a particular focus on Hannah Arendt. This year, Marci co-curated the Kyiv Book Arsenal’s focus topic, alongside Oksana Forostyna.
My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko. I’m a Ukrainian philosopher, the editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
UkraineWorld is an English language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine, one of the country’s leading media NGOs.
***
You can support our work at
https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
Your support is vital, as we increasingly rely on crowdfunding. Even a small monthly donation can make a big difference.
You can also help fund our regular volunteer trips to Ukraine’s front-line areas, where we provide aid to both soldiers and civilians—mainly by delivering vehicles for the military and books for local communities. To support these efforts, you can donate via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.
***
Contents:
00:00 Intro
01:18 Support our work
04:44 Why is Hannah Arendt essential to understanding the 20th and 21st centuries?
06:16 What is Hannah Arendt's concept of 'radical evil'?
07:48 How are people made superfluous?
10:12 How has World War II shaped Arendt’s thought?
17:17 From “radical evil” to the “banality of evil”: connecting Arendt’s key concepts.
26:34 Marci Shore on the current situation in America
30:46 Thoughts on human dignity
32:14 Is the idea that 'everyone is replaceable' starting to repeat itself?
34:49 Why Sartre’s idea of “nothingness” might be dangerous?
42:14 Hannah Arendt: vita activa versus vita contemplativa
50:15 Outro
We need a fresh perspective on propaganda. The old strategies for combating misinformation are no longer effective. Simply offering fact-checks isn’t enough—those ensnared by propaganda aren’t searching for facts. They’re searching for something deeper: identity, belonging, and meaning.
This is the central argument of a new book by Peter Pomerantsev, a renowned scholar of propaganda and information warfare. "How to Win an Information War" tells the story of British journalist Sefton Delmer, who developed innovative techniques to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II. Peter explores Delmer’s legacy in hopes of uncovering lessons for today. Perhaps we, too, can learn something from both of them.
Book: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter…81541774728/
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
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UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of the country’s leading media NGOs.
You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg.
Your support is crucial, as we increasingly rely on crowdfunding. Even a small monthly contribution can make a meaningful difference.
You can also help fund our regular volunteer missions to Ukraine’s front-line areas, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians—primarily by providing vehicles for the military and books for local communities. To support these efforts, donations can be made via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.
***
The podcast episode is created by Internews Ukraine as part of the project “Strengthening Truth, Transparency and Democracy to Counter Disinformation”, supported by the Government of Canada.
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CONTENTS:
00:00:00 — What if fact-checks don’t work anymore?
0:01:52 — He, who fooled Hitler. Meet Sefton Delmer
00:05:28 — Why did we forget those who understand what propaganda is?
00:07:05 — Why propaganda keeps coming back
00:09:59 — Why did the Nazis win those who lost their identity?
00:11:42 — Are you wearing the mask or is it glued to your face?
00:13:57 — Think you're immune? That’s when propaganda hits
00:16:29 — To beat propaganda, you have to be vulnerable to it
00:18:55 — The real battle isn’t between freedom and unfreedom, but about what kind of “us” we build?
00:22:50 — Delmer’s radio war
00:25:53 — Weaponizing corruption: Delmer’s strategy to weaken Nazi loyalty
00:30:41 — “We know you better than they do”
00:33:28 — Tuning in = waking up: breaking the Nazi spell with masquerade
00:35:38 — What makes Kremlin elites panic? Not war - but losing control
00:39:39 — How to break Russian support for war?
00:44:24 — Forget regime change - exploit fear of losing grip
00:47:44 — Angry? Frustrated? That’s where good media begins
00:50:02 — Do I want to die for this? The question Delmer planted in Nazi minds
00:51:00 — Propaganda, trauma, and the fight for independent thought
Democracy is fragile today. Yet it is not confined to a single place, a specific country, or a particular political system. The democratic promise remains far from fully realized. Still, we can find hope in the idea that when democracy retreats in one part of the world, it may grow stronger in another.
This is “Thinking in Dark Times”, a podcast series by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet focused on Ukraine.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
Guest: Aman Sethi, an Indian journalist and the editor-in-chief of openDemocracy—an independent international media platform based in London.
We are recording this conversation during the Lviv Media Forum in May 2025, in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine.
You can support our work at: www.patreon.com/thinkinggg
Your support is vital, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.
You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians. Donations are welcome via PayPal at: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.
This episode is produced in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute, the country’s leading institution for cultural diplomacy.
SUPPORT "Thinking in Dark Times" podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
We had a conversation with Anne Applebaum a few months ago on this podcast about her book "Autocracy, Inc".—be sure to check it out: ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts//ep-332
The current episode features a public conversation on similar themes: the crisis of democracy, the rise of new autocracies, Trump’s pro-Russian stance, and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
It was recorded as a keynote discussion at the Lviv Media Forum—one of Ukraine’s major media events—in May 2025 (lvivmediaforum.com/en)
We’re now publishing it as part of our Thinking in Dark Times series at UkraineWorld.
Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and political analyst.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld and the president of PEN Ukraine.
SUPPORT "Thinking in Dark Times" podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: https://patreon.com/thinkinggg
What lessons can we draw from the Ukrainian experience? Why is Ukraine not only a place of suffering and fight, but also a place of thinking and creation? Why is the cultural renaissance so strong during the war? What does it mean to think in dark times?
Lecture by Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine, at the Institute for Human Sciences (Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen) in Vienna on May 6th, 2025.
Moderator and host: Ludger Hagedorn, Permanent Fellow at IWM.
"Thinking in Dark Times" is a podcast series of UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine.
You can support this podcast on
https://patreon.com/thinkinggg
Your support is crucial for us as we rely a lot on crowdfunding.
You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver support for both soldiers and civilians. You can donate via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com
Do dictators rule by death and nihilism? Do they want to make us powerless - and do they succeed? Is today’s crisis also our chance?
This is an online conversation between Polish philosopher Krzysztof Czyzewski, American historian Marci Shore, Georgian writer Iva Pezuashvili, and Ukrainian philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko.
The event was held under the aegis of the Dilemma project implemented by the Institute for Central European Strategy with the support of the European Commission
"Thinking in Dark Times" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet based in Kyiv.
Author: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and writer.
You can support "Thinking in Dark Times" podcast at patreon.com/thinkinggg
Margaret Atwood is perhaps one of the greatest living writers today. Her novel "The Handmaid’s Tale" and its continuation, "The Testaments," are seen by many as prophetic.
This is a conversation about dangers and hopes, about human nature, the classics, and the challenges of dark times.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
"Thinking in Dark Times" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine based in Kyiv.
You can support our work at
https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
This podcast relies increasingly on crowdfunding.
You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas of the Russian war against Ukraine via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com. We are trying to help both soldiers and civilians.
Which 20th-century ideas should we carry with us into the 21st century? And which of them have become obsolete?
We discuss these topics during a live event with David Rieff, a prominent American writer and journalist. The discussion was held on March 1st at PEN Ukraine space in Kyiv, and was organized by UkraineWorld, PEN Ukraine and Thinking in Dark Times podcast.
Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and the chief editor of UkraineWorld, the president of PEN Ukraine, and Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar, and author of the French-language podcast L’Ukraine face a la guerre by the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Both are lecturers at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the oldest Ukrainian university.
Support: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
In this episode, I offer a critical perspective on communism. I will argue three main points:
First, while the idea of communism is built on certain commendable foundations, its Marxist and later Leninist iterations lead it down a misguided and immoral path.
Second, unlike Nazism, totalitarian communism has never been fully condemned, resulting in a legacy of unpunished crimes—crimes that, without accountability, continue to be repeated.
Third, Soviet Marxism was, in fact, a distorted or reversed version of Marxism. Instead of empowering those who control the means of production, it placed power in the hands of those who control the means of destruction.
This is Thinking in Dark Times, a podcast where I reflect on ideas in the midst of global crisis.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko; I am a Ukrainian philosopher. Despite the war, I continue to live and work in Ukraine.
You can support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
In this episode, I argue that a healthy polity is an equilibrium between the values of agora (conversation, dialogue, exchange) and the values of agon (warrior ethos, capacity to fight when needed).
The absolutization of one of these values weakens the state and society.
I also refer to classics of political philosophy and history, particularly the Greek historian Polybius and his account of the Roman Republic.
My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko, I am a Ukrainian philosopher and book writer, president of PEN Ukraine, and chief editor of UkraineWorld. Despite the ongoing war, I live in Ukraine and often visit frontline areas to help soldiers and civilians.
Support my work at https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
What misconceptions do we have about the 20th century? Our inaccurate understanding of the past often leads to mistakes or inaction in the present. In this episode, I delve into what I believe are misconceptions about the 20th century. I will focus on two main points: 1) why a certain interpretation of the end of World War II is incorrect; 2) why the belief that we are living in a "post-history" era is misleading; and 3) why equating economic prosperity with political and social strength is misguided. These misconceptions have left the world unprepared for the return of dark times.
Author: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, president of PEN Ukraine, and associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Support my work at https://www.patreon.com/thinkinggg
Many anticipated that the 21st century would perpetuate the trend of the previous century, moving steadily away from imperialistic and colonial practices.
Yet, what if the coming decades herald a reversal, ushering in not fewer, but more empires?
Imagine a future where liberal democracies are overshadowed, forced to defend their existence and fight for their survival, much like Ukraine's current struggle. This possibility warrants serious consideration.
I am Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
Welcome to my podcast, "Thinking in Dark Times."
To support this endeavor, please visit https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkinggg
In this episode, I reflect on the commonalities and differences between sea imperialism and land imperialism. I also explore different forms of power and domination within these imperialisms: domination by difference and domination by sameness. Additionally, I analyze the specifics of Russian imperialism and why it remains misunderstood worldwide.
My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko, and I am a Ukrainian philosopher living in Ukraine. I am launching this new podcast because I believe Ukraine is a key place for critical thinking today. Despite the war and suffering, Ukraine is a place where important ideas are being born.
Support my work:
https://www.patreon.com/thinkinggg
Timothy Snyder came to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to present his book "On Freedom".
We have had several conversations about the ideas of this book before (in Kyiv and Kharkiv), and you can find links to the podcast episodes featuring these discussions in the description.
However, this was the first time we talked about this book after its publication.
We recorded this conversation on February 9, 2025, at the Sense bookstore on Khreshchatyk Street, in the heart of the Ukrainian capital, very close to Maidan.
Several hundred people attended, with many staying despite the lack of available seats. Most of them were young.
This demonstrates how important reading and critical thinking are for Ukrainians today.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko – Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.
The Ukrainian translation of this book was done by Choven Publishing House (translator: Halyna Herasym)
Support "Thinking in Dark Times" on Patreon:www.patreon.com/thinkinggg
Other conversations with Timothy Snyder:
Kyiv, September 2022 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHksNrj7elQ&t=10s
Kyiv, September 2023 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LkXsW14qJQ&t=724s
Kharkiv, September 2024 www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR0bqQy5gzA&t=9s
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Contents:
01:54 - «I feel in Ukraine better than in most other places»
02:44 - being a historian who wrote a philosophy book
07:17 - What can the Ukrainian experience tell other nations about freedom?
12:45 - positive freedom (freedom-to) vs negative freedom (freedom-from). «Freedom isn’t just the absence of evil, but the presence of good»
15:44 - thinking about positive and negative freedom in America and Ukraine
20:30 - freedom and values
24:55 - freedom and sovereignty
32:47 - freedom and unpredictability
41:13 - the metaphor of the bell
45:07 - freedom during military occupation and de-occupation
50:30 - is history repeating itself?
1:00:00 - on social networks
1:11:50 - which values can unite Ukrainians during the war?
1:14:50 - rethinking Ukrainian history from the global perspective
Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, historian, and political analyst. A few weeks ago, she was awarded the Peace Prize of German Publishers at the Frankfurt Book Forum.
Her new book, "Autocracy, Inc.", explores the fragility of today’s democracies, and an ever-stronger network of autocracies that threaten them.
In this podcast, she discusses some of the book’s key ideas and Ukraine’s role in this global setting.
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld and president of PEN Ukraine
UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine’s largest media NGOs.
Support "Thinking in Dark Times" podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinking_in_dark_times
You can also support our volunteer trips to the front lines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.
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Link to Anne Applebaum's book:
www.penguin.co.uk/books/455382/aut…ne/9780241627891
Link to Anne Applebaum's Frankfurt speech:
ukraineworld.org/en/articles/opin…nkfurt-book-fair
My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko, I am a Ukrainian philosopher who lives in Ukraine. I am launching this new podcast because I believe that Ukraine is a key place for thinking today. Despite the war and suffering, Ukraine is a place where important thinking is being born.
In this podcast, you will find my conversations with prominent intellectuals from Ukraine and abroad, as well as my reflections on key topics of today's world, as well as existential philosophical ideas and metaphors.
Support my work: https://www.patreon.com/c/thinking_in_dark_times
