The Slavic Connexion
By CREEES at UT
Categories: Society & Culture, News, Politics, History
A fresh international chat show on all things Central/Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia. "It's not typical Texas." The Slavic Connexion is brought to you by the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Podcasts are produced by students, faculty and staff 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 through the Texas Podcast Network. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin.
162 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- Reporting in "Relative Unfreedom": A Conversation with Pjotr Sauer of The Guardian
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…
- Haunted Empire: Power, Trauma, & the Uncanny in Russian Imperial Gothic Literature
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…
- Ukraine and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections with Terrell Jermaine Starr
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…
- Resiliency, Corruption, and Uncertainty: Assessing Ukraine's Politics and Long-Term Prospects
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…
- Ballistics and Ballots: The Ukraine War in 2024 and Beyond with Michael Kofman
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…
- Gravedigger of the Present: Memory Politics and the Weaponization of History
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…
- Bravehearts: The Real Story of the Chechens' Unending Fight for Independence (#Connexions speaker series)
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…
- From Russia to Hollywood: Bringing Slavic Culture to the Silver Screen
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…
- Bohemian Forgery: The Legendary Czech Manuscripts and National Myth
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…
- Post-Soviet Protests, Politics, and Premature Dismissals of Russia's Regional Governors
On this episode, Lera and Cullan chat with Tatiana Tkacheva, a research fellow at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, about the strategies of the autocrat in dealing with regional governors. In her paper, she and her co-authors attempt to answer this question by using the example of…
- The Case of DOXA: A New Chapter in Russian Youth Repression
On this episode, Lera sits down with Anastasiya Osipova, a scholar of Soviet and contemporary Russian and Ukrainian cultures, who shares about her research on DOXA, a student journal on political harassment in academia that emerged from Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2017. DOXA was…
- Behind Black & White Frontlines: Literature Development in Wartime Ukraine, 2014-2022
On this episode, Lera and Misha sit down with Dr. Alexander Chertenko, a professor of Ukrainian literature at the University of Giessen in Germany. Dr. Chertenko is uniquely positioned to trace the wartime development of Ukrainian literature in the country since 2014. He also illuminates the…
- The Art of Transition from Socialist to Post-Socialist Russia
On this episode, Elise Herrala takes us on a tour of the evolution of art and artists in Soviet Russia and post-Soviet Russia. Elise also gives us some insight into what is going on today in Putin's Russia in terms of state repression and renewed restriction on creative freedoms. You can check out…
- You Only Need to Die: The Secret Police of East Germany and Romania
On this episode, Valentina Glajar and Alison Lewis share their personal stories and research on the history of East Germany's STASI and Romania's Securitate and the dismantling of these secret police forces. Thank you for listening! You can listen to Douglas Selvage's episode here…
- Milan Rastislav Štefánik: The Slovak National Hero and Co-Founder of Czechoslovakia
On this episode, Cullan talks with Professor Michal Kšiňan about his monograph on the Slovak national hero and co-founder of Czechoslovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik. Michal talks about Štefánik's military career and meteoric rise and the place he continues to hold in Czechoslovakia history and…
- The Other: Russian-American Relations Through the Centuries with Ivan Kurilla
On this episode, historian Dr. Ivan Kurilla from European University in St. Petersburg shares about his research on the rich and little-known history of US-Russia relations since the 18th century. Dr. Kurilla explains how the US and Russia are "constitutive others" that have developed historically…
- Compounding Conflicts: Russia in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa with Robert Freedman
On this episode, venerated political scientist Dr. Robert Freedman joins us to expound on the various wars and conflicts that Russia has gotten into, not only in Ukraine, but also in Syria, Libya, Mali, and more. Dr. Freedman articulates Putin's current goals as he sees them, touches on the…
- The Reception Desk: Soviet Bureaucracy with a Human Face, 1979-1985
On this episode, Lera speaks with Emily Joan Elliott of H-Net about what got her interested in Soviet and post-Soviet history and her particular focus on migration to Moscow and the Priemnaia (reception desk) of the Supreme Soviet. Per Elliott's research: "the Priemnaia received thousands of…
- The Politics of Soviet Football in the 1950s and 60s
On this episode, Sergio talks with Yacov Zohn, football historian and former semi-professional footballer in Russia, France, and the US. Yacov's research into the development of Soviet football sheds light on the immense political pressure placed on the primary USSR team, the Sbornaya, to win each…
- Russian Law: "Is There Any?" with Will Pomeranz
On this episode, recorded in-person at the ASEEES 2022 Convention in Chicago, Lera and Taylor sit down with Will Pomeranz, the director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, to talk about his experience practicing Russian law in Russia, the work of the Kennan Institute, the evolution (and…
- "Oil, the State, and War" with Emma Ashford
To continue our discussion on the effects of the War in Ukraine on the energy sector, Foreign Policy columnist and Stimson Center senior fellow Dr. Emma Ashford joins us to share about her book "Oil, the State, and War: Foreign Policy of Petrostates." You can find more about this comprehensive…
- Shifting Sands: The Middle East and North Africa in Russia's War in Ukraine
On this episode, Misha speaks with Middle East expert Nicole Robinson who expounds on how MENA countries have responded to Russia's War in Ukraine and the reasons why. Ms. Robinson sheds some light on the future of the region as the conflict evolves and Russia's capacity to arm and feed its…
- "Ingredients of Change": History of Food in Bulgaria with Mary Neuburger
On this episode, Taylor talks with the director of CREEES, Dr. Mary Neuburger, about her latest book entitled Ingredients of Change: The History and Culture of Food in Modern Bulgaria. Thanks for listening! From the publisher: Ingredients of Change explores modern Bulgaria's foodways from the…
- "The Fastest Game in the World" with Bruce Berglund
On this episode, Eliza talks with sports historian Bruce Berglund who shares about his personal love of hockey, the global development of the sport, the rise of hockey in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, and its role of hockey in the expression of national identity on the international stage…
- Putin's War in Ukraine: Mobilization, Annexation, and the Coming Winter
On this episode, Lera and Taylor speak with returning guest Leonid Ragozin who candidly updates us on the war in Ukraine and helps us make sense of the fog of this conflict and the continual stream of headline-making actions from the Kremlin. They discuss Putin's mobilization orders, the West's…
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