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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

On this episode, renowned historian John Connelly from the University of California, Berkeley, talks with us about the growth of fascism from democracy, the roots and justification narratives of anti-semitism in Germany and elsewhere, and the development of nationalism in modern history across Europe. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST John Connelly is the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History and Director of the Institute for East European, Eurasian, and Slavic Studies at the...

On this episode, poitical scientist Serhiy Kudelia of Baylor University speaks with us about multiple topics on Ukraine from the prospects for Ukraine in the long-term, depending on continued western support, to the political effects of the war on Ukrainian leadership. Dr. Kudelia discusses the likelihood of Ukraine gaining any security guarantees from the West and under what conditions Putin might deploy strategic nuclear weapons or perhaps advance his military campaign beyond Ukraine....

On this episode, Francesca Lockhart, cybersecurity professor at The University of Texas at Austin, talks about her unique and prescient cybersecurity clinic that she developed on the Forty Acres after leading the Homeland Security Unit at the Texas Department of Public Safety. Francesca also discusses the role of state and local security units in protecting critical infrastructure and the importance of area studies for the national security community. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE...

On this episode, Dr. Togzhan Kassenova joined Taylor and Nick for a conversation about the destructive impact of Soviet nuclear testing in Kazakhstan and the figurative fallout of the dissolution of the USSR which resulted in Russia providing security guarantees to "divorced" states in exchange for the surrender of Soviet weapons of mass destruction. Check out Dr. Kassenova's book for more about Kazakhstan's complex nuclear history under the USSR and beyond:...

On this first episode of 2024, we reflect on the War in Ukraine and Ukraine's prospects for continued political and military support in 2024 and beyond with Carnegie Endowment's senior fellow and renowned military analyst Michael Kofman. ABOUT THE GUEST Michael Kofman is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on the Russian military and Eurasian security issues. Prior to joining Carnegie in 2023, he served as...

On this episode, Eliot Borenstein returns for a fun conversation about the political and historical themes in pop culture and the abundance of Marvel, Harry Potter, LOTR, etc. fan fiction that emerged post-socialism. We hope you enjoy! ABOUT THE GUEST Eliot Borenstein is Professor of Russian & Slavic Studies at New York University. His most recent books include Plots against Russia: Conspiracy and Fantasy after Socialism (winner of the 2020 Wayne S. Vucinich brook prize and the 2020...

On this episode, cyber expert Gavin Wilde joined us to talk all things cyberwarfare. He defined the term and its distinction from information warfare; shared the reasons why he believes studying Russia is important for this complex, actively developing, and hard-to-measure battlefront; and touched on the differences between the US and Russian military cyber and information operations and structures. Follow Gavin on Twitter/X @gavinbwilde. Thanks for listening! PRODUCER'S NOTE: This...

In this episode, Bartek Gajos discusses his in-depth research into memory politics during the Soviet period and today, specifically the weaponization of history by the Russian regime, the past's influence on present actions taken by great powers, NATO expansion and EU enlargement, the "armageddon option" taken by Western G7 leaders at Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the questions surrounding Polish-Ukrainian relations. Bartek appropriately quotes Nietzsche: "... the past must be forgotten...

On this episode, Taylor and Misha speak with Mikhail Rubin, journalist and co-founder of Proekt Media, the lead investigative media outlet in Russia. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST Mikhail Rubin has covered Russian policy processes for nearly 13 years. During this period, he has had the opportunity to work as a Kremlin pool reporter for the popular print and web-media outlets Izvestia and RBC. He has also worked as a TV-journalist with Rain (Dozhd), hosting a program about the...

In this episode, Nick and Eliza talk with widely respected historian and sociologist Marlène Laruelle about the concept of illiberalism and its spread across Europe. Dr. Laruelle explains how she frames the relatively new term as a cluster of ideologies that is challenging liberalism in its various forms, mostly based around two key arguments: (1) the need for sovereignty, and (2) the idea that traditional hierarchy must be reinforced and protected. She also talks about Russia's rebranding of...

On this episode, Adam Klein, director of the Strauss Center for International Security & Law, shares his insights on the concerns around security versus freedom of speech; his work covering the confluence of law, surveillance, and emerging technologies; and his unique perspectives on global affairs. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on November 6, 2023 at the LBJ School for Public Affairs, UT Austin. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show,...

On this episode, Dr. Michael Dennis, a leading expert on the Chechen Republic, tells the multifaceted story of the Chechen fight for independence, including the consequences of the Chechen Wars, the rise of the Kadyrov family, lessons learned by the Russian Army, impacts on the Putin regime's decision-making in crises, and Chechnya's role in Ukraine. Dr. Dennis also talks about the future of the North Caucasus and the different actors' stakes in this fraught region. Thanks for...

On this episode, we talk with Financial Times' Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon who speaks about his personal path to journalism in Putin's Russia, the state of the country's economic system, the political ineffectiveness of Russian oligarchs, and much more. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST Max Seddon has been the FT's Moscow bureau chief since 2021 and leads coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He was previously a correspondent in the Moscow bureau, where he wrote about the...

On this episode, Slovakian politician and academic Martin Klus talks with us during a trip to Texas about the state of the Slovak Republic following the recent elections favoring a more Moscow-friendly government. Slovakia's move towards the pro-Russia camp in which Victor Orban's Hungary sits will make things difficult for its eastern neighbor Ukraine and easier for Putin in the European space. Per statistics that Dr. Klus cited as a fellow at the Bratislava-based think tank GLOBSEC, 55% of...

On this episode, Misha talks with Ruslan Pukhov, a Russian defense analyst and the director of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). Mr. Pukhov shares about the origins of CAST during the late 90s, the state of Russia's defense economy, and his views on the current war in Ukraine. He states that neither the Ukrainian public nor Ukrainian leadership and elites understand what "victory" means in terms of a realistic approach and that continued American...

On this episode, we had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Paul Edgar, the interim executive director of the Clements Center for National Security at UT Austin. Paul spoke about how he went from the military to academia, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and his goals for the Clements Center as a leading educational institution for discourse around history, strategy, and statecraft. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST Paul Edgar is the Associate Director of the William P. Clements, Jr. Center...

On this episode, Misha and Taylor speak with Lada Egorova, a Russian filmmaker in Los Angeles who has an ambitious and timely project, creating a TV comedy about Slavic emigres to the US and their culture. The show is titled BLIN, meaning 'pancake' and explores the Russian community and its culture in Los Angeles. As Lada mentions in the episode, one of the inspirations for BLIN is the TV show Ramy on HBO. Learn more here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7649694/ SYNOPSIS: When New Yorker,...

On this episode, Mark McNamee, political, economic, and intelligence analyst, talks with host Nick about a range of topics pertaining to Russia's War in Ukraine: from the late Prizoghin's mutiny to China's and Russia's relationship rooted largely in an anti-Western agenda and what this means for the continuing conflict. Thanks for listening! PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on September 15th, 2023 via Zoom. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the...

On this episode, Cullan is joined by Dr. David Cooper, the department head and associate professor at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois, to speak about his recent book on two Czech Manuscripts and the story of their successful forgery and dramatic discovery in the early 19th century. Dr. Cooper elaborates on the manuscripts' importance to the Czech cultural revival during the period of "Medieval mania" in Europe and the role they played in...