What happens when Harry Potter arrives in Russia just as Vladimir Putin rises to power? Cullan and Lera speak with returning guest Dr. Eliot Borenstein (NYU), author of the new book The Politics of Fantasy: Magic, Children’s Literature, and Fandom in Putin’s Russia, to unpack how Western fantasy franchises, particularly Harry Potter, were translated, adapted, and politicized in Russia. From Orthodox denunciations of wizardry and bizarre propaganda flops like Kids vs. Wizards, to the homegrown parody heroine Tanya Grotter, Dr. Borenstein explores the strange cultural afterlife of global fantasy in post-Soviet Russia. We also dive into the politics of art and artists, the ethics of fandom in the age of J.K. Rowling, and how pop culture shapes—and distorts—Russian views of themselves and the West. We hope you enjoy!
Producer's Note: This episode was recorded via Zoom on August 8, 2025.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Eliot Borenstein is Professor of Russian & Slavic Studies and Vice Chancellor and Vice Provost for Global Programs at New York University, where he oversees NYU’s global sites and study away programs. He is the author of Men without Women: Masculinity and Revolution in Russian Fiction, 1917-1929 (2001 AATSEEL book prize), Overkill: Sex and Violence in Contemporary Russian Popular Culture (2008 AWSS book prize), Plots against Russia: Conspiracy and Fantasy after Socialism (2020 Wayne S. Vucinich book prize and 2020 AATSEEL book prize), Pussy Riot: Speaking Punk to Power (Bloomsbury, 2020), Meanwhile, in Russia…: Russian Internet Memes and Viral Video (Bloomsbury, 2022), Marvel Comics in the 1970s: The World Inside Your Head (Cornell, 2023), Soviet-Self-Hatred: The Secret Identities of Postsocialism (Cornell, 2023), and HBO’s The Leftovers: Mourning and Melancholy on Premium Cable (Lexington Books, 2023). More information can be found on his website: https://www.eliotborenstein.net
On this episode, Cullan speaks with sociology professor Lisa Wisniewski of Goodwin University about her new book exploring the lived experiences of Slavic Americans and the cultural, political, and emotional landscapes they navigate as immigrants. Drawing from personal narratives and interdisciplinary research, Dr. Wisniewski unpacks how migration shapes identity, memory, and belonging in both Eastern and Western contexts. This was a compelling and important conversation on diaspora, displacement, and the buried stories that are part of our recent past which connect us across borders and across generations. Thanks for listening!
Read more about Dr. Wisniewski's work: https://www.goodwin.edu/enews/navigating-american-education-as-eastern-european-immigrant/
About the Guest
Dr. Lisa Wisniewski is a professor of Sociology at Goodwin University. Lisa completed her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) focused on Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford in 2017. Her research has focused on immigrant students, first-generation college students, and effective teaching practices using Universal Design for Learning. Dr. Wisniewski presents regionally, nationally, and internationally. Most recently she served as the State Chair for the Connecticut American Council on Education Women’s Network. Her work in the community focused on the immigrant experience has led to invitations to the White House and the Polish Consulate of New York City. As an advocate for college access for first-generation students, she has worked with several groups and organizations throughout Connecticut to support students navigate the college process. Lisa created and hosts a lecture series called Community Conversations that began the conversation on the war in Ukraine and presents lectures on immigration, citizenship, democracy, social issues, and globalization that has garnered a national and international audience. In addition, she serves as the host of Goodwin Teaches: Universal Design for Learning Stories in Higher Education podcast.
In this episode, we sit down with Russian-born author Yaroslav Barsukov, whose life and work are deeply intertwined with the political upheavals of modern Russia. Growing up in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, Barsukov witnessed firsthand the rise of Vladimir Putin before immigrating to Vienna in 2005. From there, he observed as Russia's trajectory culminated in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
We discuss Barsukov’s personal experiences with Russian propaganda, his insights into the manipulation of truth, and how his experience-informed writing tends to forecast dystopian reality in eerily accurate ways.
About the Guest
Yaroslav Barsukov, an author with a unique background in physics and software engineering, has emerged as a distinctive voice in the realm of speculative fiction. Born in Cold War-era Moscow and educated at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and Austria's Vienna University of Technology, Barsukov initially pursued a career in software engineering. His entry into the literary world was serendipitous, stemming from his involvement in game development where he translated a companion tale to a game's mythology. This experience marked the beginning of his journey as a writer, and he started crafting short stories in English around 2014. Barsukov's work is celebrated for its innovative blend of fantasy and science fiction elements, diverging from the traditional hard-science SF model. His acclaimed novella "Tower of Mud and Straw" was shortlisted for the Nebula Award and received a Kirkus Star, demonstrating his prowess in weaving narratives that explore the human condition through a speculative lens. His stories, characterized by high-fantasy filigree and physics reminiscent of alchemy, have appeared in renowned publications such as Galaxy's Edge, Nature: Futures, and StarShipSofa. Barsukov's literary influences span from Russian maestros like Leo Tolstoy to American science fiction authors, shaping his unique storytelling style that transcends genre boundaries.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on February 28, 2024 via Zoom. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host: Michelle Daniel
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig
Associate Producer: Basil Fedun
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Background music by Ben Geraci, Denys Brodovskyi, Alex Productions. Closing Theme by Charlie Harper. Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel www.msdaniel.com
#Russia #Ukraine #Putin #Disinformation #SpeculativeFiction #Propaganda #YaroslavBarsukov #TheSlavicConnexion
What was life like for Russian women under serfdom? In this episode, Cullan talks with the expert on this subject, Dr. Tracy Dennison, a historian and professor at Caltech. Based on her talk by the same name, Tracy explores how societal structures shaped and limited women's choices, opportunities, and constraints under different ruling families. Thanks for listening, and Happy 2025!
About the Guest
Tracy Dennison studies institutions and their effects on long-term growth and development. She is especially interested in the roots of economic divergence between east and west Europe, and uses serfdom as a lens through which to examine institutional change over time. Dennison is interested in how specific societies worked in the past – how societal rules and norms affected human behavior and how and why this varied over space and time.
Dennison's research to date has focused on these questions at the micro level, using local sources to investigate the ways that pre-modern entities like states, landlords, communities, and households influenced the economic, social, and demographic behavior of people in their everyday lives. In particular, she has studied estate policies and practices in imperial Russia, and the way that quasi-formal legal systems established by some wealthy landlords made it possible for their serfs to conduct property and credit transactions despite their ambiguous legal status. This was the subject of her 2011 book, The Institutional Framework of Russian Serfdom (Cambridge University Press), in which she argued that these micro-level practices had significant implications for the longer-term economic development of Russia.
In her current project, Dennison is investigating these questions from a top-down perspective rather than the bottom-up approach taken previously. Comparing the abolition of serfdom in Prussia and in Russia, this research explores larger questions of political economy and state capacity and their implications for institutions and institutional change. How did the institutional structure of serfdom in central Europe differ from that in Russia and how did these differences matter to the process and outcomes of reform in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?
Dennison has also published on institutions and demographic behavior, comparative systems of serfdom, and on the importance of history and historical context in social science research. She is a regular contributor to Broadstreet Blog, an interdisciplinary forum which aims to bring research in historical political economy to a wider audience.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in November 11, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig
Associate Producer: Basil Fedun
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Background music by Denys Brodovskyi, Alex Productions. Closing Theme by Charlie Harper Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel www.msdaniel.com
On this episode, host Cullan chats with Siarhei of the Prague Civil Society Centre to discuss the transformative work of the organization and the power of the connections they build across Europe and Central Asia.
If you've been tuning in for a while, you probably noticed that some of our most recent episodes were also recorded in Prague, during the Centre's Unlock 2024 conference. Unlock is a civic summit showcasing the latest trends at the nexus of activism, media and technology in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The call for applications and proposals for Unlock 2025 is now open, through December 29, 2024. https://www.praguecivilsociety.org/events/open-call-unlock-2025?lang=en
Thanks for listening!
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in September 26, 2024 in Prague, Czechia. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig
Associate Producer: Basil Fedun
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Background music by Denys Brodovskyi, Alex Productions. Closing Theme by Charlie Harper Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel www.msdaniel.com
On this episode, Basil speaks with Lieutenant Colonel Martin Wroblewski, PhD, a seasoned officer in the German Army with deep insights into the intricacies of European security dynamics. They delve into the German role in NATO and in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, as well as Russian information operations as they pertain to Germany. LTC Wroblewski shares his expertise on the importance of developing interoperability within NATO forces, the strategic partnership between America and Germany, the critical role of information operations in modern warfare, and strategies for enhancing resiliency in the face of evolving threats particularly in the cyber domain. Thanks for listening!
ABOUT THE GUEST
LTC Dr. Martin Wroblewski is a native of Germany and a graduate of the University of Bonn, Germany. LTC Wroblewski joined the German Army as an active duty officer in 2016. He graduated from Infantry School in Hammelburg, German Army Officer School in Dresden and the German PSYOP Officer Qualification and Advanced Course in Mayen. Additionally, he attended various courses on Human Intelligence, Behavior Analysis, Advanced Target Audience Analysis as well as several PSYOP- and INFOOP-related trainings at the NATO School in Oberammergau. During his service at the Bundeswehr Operations Communication Center in Mayen, he served as an Information Environment Analyst and as the Sub-Unit Leader Target Audience Analysis of a Psyop Company. In 2019/2020 LTC Wroblewski was deployed with the 6th German Contingent to Enhanced Forward Presence in Rukla, Lithuania. There he held the position of Chief Information Operations. After returning from deployment his duty focus was on the refinement of TAA processes, eFP-related instructor duties, and product development in regards to hybrid threats with a regional emphasis on eastern Europe. In June 2021 he successfully completed the PSYOP Qualification Course at USAJFKSWCS. Starting in September 2021 he serves as an XO with the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) in Fort Liberty (previously Fort Bragg), NC. LTC Wroblewski holds a Master of Arts in Medieval and Modern History, Constitutional, Social and Economic History as well as Modern English Language and Literature from the University of Bonn, Germany. In 2016 he graduated from the PhD program at the University of Bonn in History after an extensive research project with the German Foreign Ministry. Before his career as an active duty officer, LTC Dr. Wroblewski had several years of experience as a private school teacher and public relations consultant. His military awards and decorations include the German and Lithuanian Deployment Medal, the German PSYOP Badge in bronze as well as other medals and awards.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in September 2024.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions, Dirk Dehler, Joey Hendrixx
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel | slavx.org | connexions.ai
Visit the Texas Podcast Network for more great podcasts.
On this episode, Josh Sanborn joins Lera and Sergio to talk about his latest cultural research on spies and spy fiction from the Cold War, and the fascinating interplay between the Intelligence Community and the fiction world. In his forthcoming book project Bad Romance, Josh unpacks famed novels such as From Russia with Love and Soviet films and how the portrayal of espionage and covert action differs between the West and the USSR. Thanks for listening!
About the Guest
Joshua Sanborn is professor of history at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire (Oxford University Press, 2014), Drafting the Russian Nation: Military Conscription, Total War, and Mass Politics, 1905-1925 (Northern Illinois University Press, 2003), and the co-author of Gender, Sex, and the Shaping of Modern Europe, 3rd revised and expanded edition (Bloomsbury, 2022). He is currently working on a new project on scientists, spies, and the narratives created about them in the Cold War. He teaches a variety of courses on the history of Russia and Eastern Europe, including surveys of Russian history and seminars on the global history of 1968, the Cold War, and on human rights. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Chicago at the 2022 ASEEES Convention. If you have any questions, email us at slavx@connexions.ai.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Hosts: Lera Toropin, Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Closing Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Audiorezout); sound bites from "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love"
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel | www.msdaniel.com | https://connexions.ai
"When we think about the War in Ukraine, we should think about Belarus as well," says Ryhor Astapenia, founder and research director of the Centre for New Ideas, a Minsk-based non-partisan civil society organization promoting democratic reforms in Belarus. On this episode, Ryhor shares with us about the importance of Belarus in the European security theater, the role of independent media in promoting democracy among Belarussians, and Aleksandr Lukashenko's support for Putin's agenda and the Russian wartime economy. Thanks for listening.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit https://unlockprague.com for more information.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host: Nicholas Pierce
Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Closing Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Beat Mekanik, Audiorezout)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com | https://connexions.ai
On this episode, recorded at UNLOCK Prague 2024, SlavX host Kate speaks with Anastasiia Apetyk, a lawyer and expert on information rights and digital security. Since 2017, at the Expert Centre for Human Rights (Kyiv, Ukraine), Anastasiia has been researching security issues at the community level, problems of information and digital rights, data protection, and digital security. She advises on and develops training programs in the field of digital rights and digital security for executive authorities and local government. She is co-founder of the public organization MINZMIN where she directs the development of educational materials on digital security. She is the author of the first online course in Ukraine, Digital Rights and Child Safety. She is a Forbes Top 30 Under 30 in Ukraine. Thanks for listening!
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit https://unlockprague.com for more information.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Beat Mekanik, Bleu "Tequila")
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
In this episode, Basil and Misha sit down with Maksim Dvorovyi to discuss his work on digital advocacy in Ukraine and globally, the potential banning of Telegram due to its lack of content regulation, and the trouble with debunking as a method for countering disinformation. We hope you enjoy!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Maksym Dvorovyi (@dvorovyi) is a Kyiv-based digital rights and media law & policy expert, currently legal counsel with the NGO Digital Security Lab Ukraine. Since 2015, he has been actively engaged in media law and policy reform in Ukraine including the tracks of public service broadcasting, traditional media and platform regulation. He also organized, judged, participated in, and coached teams for various moot court competitions in public international law and international human rights law, such as Jessup, Telders, and Price. He is also on LinkedIn. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit https://unlockprague.com for more information.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Host/Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Audiorezout)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Keith Brown, a distinguished anthropologist from Arizona State University's Melikian Center. Dr. Brown takes us on a deep dive into the rich and often contentious history of Macedonia, exploring the complexities of historiography and the narratives that shape our understanding of the Balkan region. Join us as Dr. Brown shares his unique journey into the study of Macedonia, revealing how personal and historical narratives intertwine in the pursuit of knowledge.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Keith Brown is the Director of the Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, and Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. During 2021-22 he was on research leave as a Core Fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago and a BA in classics from Oxford University. His work focuses on history, culture and politics in the Western Balkans, with a particular emphasis on 20th century Macedonia. He has spent extended time in the region, and his published works include The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation (Princeton University Press, 2003) and Loyal Unto Death: Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia (Indiana University Press, 2013). PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 02, 2023 at the ASEEES Convention in Philadelphia.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Host/Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Blue Dot Sessions)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
On this episode, Nick speaks with Susanna Weygandt a scholar studying performance theories of Russian and East European theater. She discusses the work of Anatoly Vasiliev, famed Russian theater director for the Moscow School of Dramatic Arts. Thanks for listening!
ABOUT THE GUEST: Elena Susanna Weygandt analyzes and documents performance theories indigenous to Russia and East Europe that have not yet been documented. She draws on methods of interview and ethnography as well as digital display in her research on contemporary topics. In her soon-to-be published book with the University of Wisconsin Press, From Metaphor to Direct Speech: Drama and Performance Theory in Contemporary Russia, she identifies the main writers and performance theories of the vibrant movement, Novaia Drama, and situates this pioneering literature in the contemporary Russian literary canon, the Performance Studies field, and within Post-Soviet studies. The New Dramatists assert that it is precisely in the theatre, with its inherent form of critique and reflection provided by the stage, where the contemporary moment of the present can be held at arm's length away, which creates enough of a distance from the present for a historical perspective about it to emerge. This research has shaped her into a scholar and teacher of visual language, the body, feminist art, gender, exhibition on digital platforms, and all genres of documentary and realism in Russian and East European literature. Her publications on these topics of cultural history in Russia and East Europe from 1953 to the present appear in The Russian Review, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, TDR: The Drama Review, Apparatus: Film, Media, and Digital Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe, and in a co-edited anthology published by Columbia UP. She received her training in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Princeton (PhD 2015; Graduate Certificate in History of Science 2015). At Sewanee: The University of the South she teaches all levels of Russian in the Russian Department and her joint affiliation in the Humanities Program. https://new.sewanee.edu/programs-of-study/russian/faculty-staff/susanna-weygandt/
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Eliza Fisher
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Assistant Producer/Videographer: Basil Fedun
Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet
Host/Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Crowander, Dlay)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
On this episode, José Vergara (Bryn Mawr College) delves into the challenges and rewards of teaching literature in a carceral setting and his continued exploration of novels born behind bars. From the haunting prose of incarcerated writers to the innovative realms of digital humanities, Vergara shares his many projects such as the Encyclopedia of the Dog (https://encyclopediaofthedog.com/) based on the iconic novel "Between Dog and Wolf" by Sasha Sokolov, and the Reactor Room, an immersive Chernobyl Exhibition (https://digitalscholarship.brynmawr.edu/reactor-room/). Thanks for listening!
ABOUT THE GUEST
José Vergara is assistant professor of Russian at Bryn Mawr College. In addition to his work as a scholar and teacher, he enjoys collaborating with others to advance and support Slavic Studies and the Humanities. He has organized numerous guest lectures, a teach-in on the centennial of the October Revolution, and a symposium on the state of Russian Studies today. As advisor to the Swarthmore Project for East European Studies (SPEER), he has worked with students to develop conversations on campus about the region and its culture and politics. Visit his personal website for more on his teaching, research, events, and upcoming projects: https://josevergara.net/
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 1, 2023 during the 2023 ASEEES Convention at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher
Host/Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Assistant Producer/Videographer: Basil Fedun
Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Crowander, Dlay)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
On this episode, Misha and Cullan speak with Fabian Baumann, a research associate at the University of Heidelberg, whose latest book Dynasty Divided (2023, NIU Press) uniquely approaches the nuanced history of Ukrainian and Russian nationalism through a prominent Kievan family of journalists, scholars, and politicians. Thanks for listening!
ABOUT THE BOOK From Cornell University Press: Dynasty Divided uses the story of a prominent Kievan family of journalists, scholars, and politicians to analyze the emergence of rivaling nationalisms in nineteenth-century Ukraine, the most pivotal borderland of the Russian Empire. The Shul'gins identified as Russians and defended the tsarist autocracy; the Shul'hyns identified as Ukrainians and supported peasant-oriented socialism. Fabian Baumann shows how these men and women consciously chose a political position and only then began their self-fashioning as members of a national community, defying the notion of nationalism as a direct consequence of ethnicity.
Baumann asks what made individuals into determined nationalists in the first place, revealing the close link to private lives, including intimate family dramas and scandals. He looks at how nationalism emerged from domestic spaces, and how women played an important (if often invisible) role in fin-de-siècle politics. Dynasty Divided explains how nineteenth-century Kievans cultivated their national self-images and how, by the twentieth century, Ukraine steered away from Russia. The two branches of this family of Russian nationalists and Ukrainian nationalists epitomize the struggles for modern Ukraine.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 1, 2023 at the 2023 ASEEES Convention in Philadelphia. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS Assistant EP/Host: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer/Host: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Fabian Baumann.
On this episode, Kseniya Yurtayeva joins Taylor and Basil to discuss her work on cyberaggression, hybrid warfare, and the difficulty of creating and enforcing cyber law in the midst of a global conflict.
ABOUT THE GUEST: Kseniya Yurtayeva holds a PhD in criminal law, criminology and criminal-executive law and is a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan with support from the Weiser Diplomacy Center. Her current scientific interests focus on cyberaggression as a method applied in contemporary warfare and on engaging post-truth for impediment administration of international justice. Yurtayeva teaches the course “Theory of Hybrid Conflicts in the Context of Russia-Ukraine War” in CREES . Yurtayeva is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. She holds a PhD degree in criminal law, criminology and criminal-executive law from State Research Institute at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and an LLM degree in international and comparative law from Chicago-Kent College of Law. The topic of her PhD thesis is “The Place of Commission of Crimes of International Character.” She also teaches courses in criminal law, criminology and cybercrime prosecution. Professor Yurtayeva is a certified trainer at the National School of Judges of Ukraine and developed a course in cybersecurity and human rights in cyberspace for the judiciary candidates.
Department of Defense Disclaimer: The views and opinions presented herein are those of the speakers and do not represent the views of the US Army or the Department of Defense.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 1, 2023 at the ASEEES Convention held in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Host/Assistant Prodcuer: Basil Fedun Assistant EP/Host: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, AlexProductions, Aldous Ichnite)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Kseniya Yurtayeva.
On this episode, Taras Fedirko from the University of Glasgow joins us on the Forty Acres to share the multilayered story of post-Soviet media in Ukraine and its dramatic transformations from Kravchuk to Zelenskyy.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Taras Fedirko is a Lecturer in Organized Crime and Corruption at the University of Glasgow. His current research focuses on the political economy of war in Ukraine since 2014, with a particular interest in the transformative effects of war, e.g. in the new elites and political alliances that emerged from the war in Donbas and are currently leading the response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Check out his website: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/tarasfedirko/
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on April 15, 2024 at the William C. Powers Student Activity Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Assistant EP/Host: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher
Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Audio Editor I: Ben Geraci
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Audiorezout, Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions, Ketsa
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Taras Fedirko.
On this episode, attorney and business consultant Daniel Satinsky shares about his new book, which tells the story of American participation in the dismantling of the Soviet economy and the creation of the Russian market economy in the 1990s. Creating the Post-Soviet Russian Market Economy: Through American Eyes is based on more than 100 interviews with citizen diplomats, entrepreneurs, bankers, consultants, and aid program administrators active in Russia in those years. The book chronicles the real-life experiences of these Americans as they participated in building new sectors of the post-Soviet Russian economy in finance, investment, stock trading, real estate, restaurants, public relations, law, and media (television, radio, newspapers, and movies) at a time of historically unprecedented collaboration and interaction between Russians and Americans.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Daniel Satinsky is an attorney, business consultant, and independent scholar. He first visited the USSR in 1984 and was active in business there and in Russia from 1990 to 2014. He is the co-author of "Hammer and Silicon: The Soviet Diaspora in the U.S. Innovation Economy" (2018). He is also former president of the board of the U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England (1998-2014) and a Davis Center associate. He holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and a JD from Northeastern University Law School.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on February 16, 2024 via Zoom.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Host/Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher
Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch
Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by kaleidoplasm, Holizna, Crowander, Blue Dot Sessions, Ketsa, Eazy)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Daniel Satinsky.
On this episode, Pjotr Sauer shares his firsthand experiences and reflections on reporting on Russia both before February 24, 2022 from within the country and then after, reporting from outside of the country. He elaborates on the difficulties for all journalists in navigating the challenges and constraints in Russia and expands on the plight of his friend and colleague Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street journalist who has been officially imprisoned by Russian authorities for one year as of March 29, 2024. Thank you for listening!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Pjotr Sauer is a Russia affairs correspondent for the Guardian. His work can also be found in The Moscow Times, The Telegraph and Het Parool. He has been a guest on the BBC, NOS, Al Jazeera, among other outlets. He is on Twitter @pjotrsauer.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on November 09, 2023 via Zoom.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Guest Host/Producer: Anton Shingarev
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Charlie Harper, Damiano Baldoni, Alex Productions
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Pjotr Sauer.
On this episode, Valeria Sobol of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaigne talks with us about her 2000 book "Haunted Empire." Dr. Sobol guides us through the tapestries of Imperial Russia, where crumbling estates and eerie figures cast long shadows over the pages of history. Drawing on her meticulous research and profound insights, she unveils the intricate interplay between Gothic motifs and the imperial legacy, offering a captivating exploration of power, trauma, and the uncanny in Russian literature.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Valeria Sobol is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of Febris Erotica and a coeditor of Interpreting Emotions in Russia and Eastern Europe. Check out her book Haunted Empire on the Cornell Press website: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501770104/haunted-empire/#bookTabs=2.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 15, 2023 via Zoom.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher
Host/Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Assistant Producer/Videographer: Basil Fedun
Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Audiorezout, Beat Mekanik, Damiano Baldoni, Alex Productions)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
Special Guest: Valeria Sobol.
On this episode, independent journalist Terrell Jermaine Starr shares his experiences covering Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022 and explaining to Americans the importance of the nation for global security, democracy, and humanity broadly. "We all need to be invested in each other's safety and security... Ukraine is the exact place I feel that I need to be to tell the story of how we can be better human beings to one another, and that's what my journalism is about."
The #Connexions Experts speaker series is dedicated to providing accessible and engaging discussions for a general audience on critical issues pertaining to media, technology, and information globally.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Detroit native Terrell Jermaine Starr is an independent American journalist widely known for his coverage of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is the founder and host of Black Diplomats, a weekly podcast reporting on foreign affairs and Eastern European politics. A former Fulbright grantee, Terrell is currently a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Conversant in Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian, he is a recognized authority on Ukraine-U.S. relations, Georgian politics, Central Asia, and American democracy. Visit his website https://terrellstarr.com/ and follow him on Twitter @terrelljstarr.
PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on March 6, 2024 at The University of Texas at Austin.
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun
Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Main Theme by Charlie Harper
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com
DISCLAIMER: 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.
