We check in about what’s been happening in and to Russia since the “special military operation” started in Ukraine. Why most of Lily’s Russian friends are leaving or thinking about leaving, peoples’ fears about the current situation and future of being in Russia, and the humanitarian effects of mass sanctions and corporate virtue signaling against Russia. Links we referenced: https://musatkin.com/iran-sanctions/ https://journal.tinkoff.ru/news/brands-left-russia/ Past eps we mentioned: Maslenitsa: https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/90-death-bliny Telegram: https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/60-bear-with-a-stick-telegram-pt-1 https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/61-whipping-boy-telegram-pt-2 VPNs and other resources: https://telegra.ph/CHto-delat-pri-otklyuchenii-interneta-02-27 Telegram channel: https://t.me/zatelecom

SIR has reunited once again to revisit the latest saga in the conflict with Ukraine, partially so that Lily’s brain doesn’t explode trying to explain to people separately or so she doesn’t start writing things on the internet she will likely regret later. First we get into some historical context to this latest wave of the crisis/conflict/war in Ukraine (which we remind, started in 2014). Also, we talk about how the mostly always ignored regular people from Donbass(aka self-declared Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics) are feeling about this latest escalation. Our past Ukrainian conflict eps: https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/sets/ukraine?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Are riots good? Are protests good? Plus Lily gives the etymology of the word pogrom.

Family history and Ukraine's war-time propaganda machine in Lugansk.

Lily gets updates on coronavirus in Russia from America and tells the story of Telegram's failed blockchain platform.

Petersburg doesn’t care about corona, Russian medicine, Soviet nostalgia and Ivan Chai.

Russian Orthodox Easter greetings and cake, Lily registers her new car.

Lily's finally reading Ferrante. Also a small COVID-19 in Russia update. And a tour of an abandoned experimental soviet neighborhood built in the late 1920s (Кондратьевский Жилмассив//Kondratyevsky Residential Area?)

In these times of troubles, SIR is back to update you on Russia’s response to COVID-19.

Undefined Hiatus by Olivia Capozzalo and Smith Freeman

Lily went to see an artistic evening with animator Yuri Norstein, best known for his movies Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales.

Lily returns to St. Petersburg. We talk about Soviet interior design, the Mongol Yoke and ordering Kosher on Aeroflot.

We tell the tale of the legendary 10th St. baths in New York. Also known as The Shvitz or the Russian and Turkish Baths or simply The Baths, the place has been co-owned by two Soviet immigrants since 1995, bringing its own particular breed of bath-spa culture to its devoted clientele.

We watched Werner Herzog's latest documentary, Meeting Gorbachev. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev wast the last general secretary and only president of the Soviet Union. He's known for supporting nuclear disarmament, causing mass chaos and having a birthmark on his balding head.

FALSE CLAIM: SIR is run by Putin trolls FACT: SIR is run by two brilliant lady humans who are here to dispel myths about Russia Russian Embassy's report The Russiagate Hysteria: a Case of Severe Russophobia: https://washington.mid.ru/en/press-centre/news/russian_embassy_special_report/

We talked to Ukrainian-born, London-based chef and cookbook author Olia Hercules about some of her delicious family recipes, summer kitchens, Georgian food you only get in Georgia and dishes from her childhood in Cyprus. Check out Olia's cookbooks: https://oliahercules.com/books/ Follow Olia: https://www.instagram.com/oliahercules/?hl=en Episode photo from Olia's cookbook Mamushka, taken by Kris Kirkham

Special guest and dear friend Polya once sailed across the North Atlantic ocean on a viking-style ship. Now's she's written a book about it based on her notes and drawings from the onboard. We talk about the voyage, how the crew slept, ate, socialized and went to the bathroom on an open wooden ship at sea. Plus a bit about sex ed and drug prevention in Russian schools. *11 days left* to pre-order Polya's book by contributing: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-i-sailed-a-viking-ship-across-the-ocean#/

Dissecting Rachel Maddow's screen vom and crimes against journalism. Related episodes: Troll Factory indictment https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/37-indict-me Annexation of Crimea https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/episode-11-crimea-it-existed-before-2014 2018 elections https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/39-maybe-putin-wont-be-president-anymore * Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Shop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/

Lily went to the great medieval city of Vyborg and gawked at abandoned buildings and Finnish tourists. * Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Shop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/

Why the right loves Solzhenitsyn and his Gulag writings. Anna Akhmatova's everyday life of squalor, drama and paranoia during the Terror. * Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Shop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/ Watch ContraPoints: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNvsIonJdJ5E4EXMa65VYpA

Yulia Voznesenskaia was part of the Leningrad dissident women's movement that formed in the 1970s. Later, as an emigre in Germany, she wrote the Women's Decameron — the story of ten women quarantined in a Soviet maternity ward for ten days, telling each other tales. * Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Shop new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/

What happened to all the death-commemorating and erotic traditions of everyone's favorite bliny-consuming, effigy-burning holiday, Maslenitsa? Here's the history of the week-long, slavic-pagan-christian, pre-Lenten celebration, plus several bliny recipes from a real Russian.

Popularly referred to as the puppet master and the shadowy man, Vladislav Surkov is back on the public stage with a manifesto on what he happily refers to as Putin's Russia. We break down the ideas he introduces in his latest article and trace how the man himself, specifically in the West, came to be known as the mastermind behind modern Russian politics.

Icicles falling from buildings kill people in Russia every year, but this winter, walking outside in St. Petersburg is even scarier than usual. buy russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/

SIR is joined by Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka, Vinni Pukh and Hedgehog in the Fog to discuss myths, techniques, legendary figures and beloved classics of Soviet animation. Watch all the cartoons we reference (plus ones we don't reference): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLFDtUKjvwX2P50tlMeyrtyx7KHPevbFW

Founder of London supper club KinoVino Alissa Timoshkina talks about why Russian-Soviet cuisine is so hard to define, plus shares memories of her childhood kitchen in Siberia and beautiful, mouth-watering descriptions of some favorite foods. Pre-order Alissa's cookbook Salt and Time — Recipes from a Russian kitchen: https://amzn.to/2DBnR34 Alissa is on Instagram @borsch_and_no_tears

We talk with Yulia Gorbunova, a researcher in the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, and author of a recently published report on domestic violence in Russia and the state's response to it. report in english: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/russia1018_web3.pdf report in russian: https://www.hrw.org/ru/report/2018/10/25/323648 resources for survivors of domestic violence in Russia: center.ru/index.php/ru/">http://anna-center.ru/index.php/ru/ https://nasiliu.net/ https://www.facebook.com/anokitez/ Episode art by Rebecca Hendin for HRW

The history of collective dining and the soviet cafeteria — utopias of factory kitchens and kitchen-less apartments, the science of soviet food consumption and where the design of the stolovaya as we know it actually came from. If you missed Fortochka, our Russian fashion pop-up at the beginning of December, you are in luck. We are selling off the remaining inventory, follow our ig: https://www.instagram.com/fortochka_/.

Why BuzzFeed news and Rachel Maddow suck and a little update on Russian president Putin and Belarusian president Lukashenko's holiday meetups.

Maybe the only critical analysis of the new movie Donbass (Dir. Sergei Loznitsa) that you're gonna get, folks (in English, at least). This non-documentary, allegedly based on real events and YouTube videos, is set in the eastern regions of Ukraine (collectively referred to as Donbass) — which are currently fighting a war with the western regions of Ukraine (collectively referred to as Ukraine). This movie was in part funded by the Ukrainian government. Separately, here's a short, independently made doc about every day life in Donbass (by Irina Lashkevich and Dan Levi) (Engl. subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA242BxEArE

The failings of Michael McFaul, Boys Town scandals, and why Lily is probably not a spy. Help us out and email this guy at Buzzfeed about how much you love our little podcast: https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/podcast-suggestions-2019

This fine New Year we read and discuss texts by and about 19th c. Russian/Soviet/queer/polyglot poet Marina Tsvetaeva. Read Tsvetaeva's poem New Year, translated by Caroline Lemak Brickman: http://hypocritereader.com/26/new-year

The co-creator of the ethnographic recording label Ored Recordings (@ored-recordings-1), Bulat Khalilov, talks to Smith about traditional music from various ethnic groups from the Caucasus. The ep includes lots of music, so best to listen with headphones. Listen to and support Ored Recordings: https://oredrecordings.bandcamp.com/ Episode image taken from this article about Ored Recordings: http://inrussia.com/understanding-circassian-folklore

The creator of streetwear merch producers Sputnik1985, Sergei Pakhotin, talks to Lily about why he's not a designer, the importance of subtle irony in political commentary, DIY punks in Belarus and what makes Gosha Rubchinsky an artist. Website: https://sputnik1985.com/ Episode image taken from Sputnik1985 ig

The history of standup comedy, reality TV, and what makes media in Russia independent. Our very special guest is Andrei Konyaev, founder and editor in chief of N+1, co-host of Kuji Podcast, math professor and humor expert. N+1: https://nplus1.ru/ N+1 FB page (in English): https://www.facebook.com/einsteinsmama/ Kuji: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8xpGAv8Oz7iMPgMw9j0LA

Historian, teacher, and author Tamara Eidelman talks to us about her recently-published book Как Работает Пропаганда (How Propaganda Works), published by Individuum. Russian-speaking SIR listeners! You can read Tamara's book for free here: https://bookmate.app.link/tamara All, you can also use the promo code TAMARA to subscribe to the Bookmate app for a free *month* of reading any book they have (some are in English!). Just don't forget to unsubscribe at the end of 30 days if you don't want to actually be subscribed for money: https://bookmate.com/code?promo=TAMARA The book is also available in print in Russia, check your local book store.

We are doing a popup of new Russian fashion designers on Dec 8th & 9th at 332 E 4th St, New York, NY. Follow things: https://www.instagram.com/fortochka_, http://fortochka.site/. This week: Gossip, slander, facts about the sexual harassment case that led to Meduza's Editor in Chief Ivan Kolpakov resigning last week. Episode image lifted from lenta.ru

We are doing a non-digital project, wherein we sell clothes made by Russian designers for two days in December in New York City: fortochka.site Why do slavs squat? The eternal question. The history of the gopnik phenomenon. Plus we trace the emergence of the gopnik image/meme from Runet—>Slavic internet—> Western internet—> global fashion trend. this episode was written up in MEL: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/slav-squat-meme-history-russia-gopnik (idk who made the episode image, i got it from the internet, good image tho!)

Two friends meet Baba Yaga and her army of babushkas in modern day St. Petersburg. A radio drama made in collaboration with Benita Klavis (Benjamin Davis and Nikita Klimov). Written by Ben, produced by SIR. Featuring the voice talents of: Elliot Davis, Ben, Nikita, Smith, and Lily Episode art by Nikita. Ben (author) and Nikita (illustrator) have also just published a book, the King of Fu, a surreal, dark humor-filled poetic memoir. You can get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2YYL6S Or directly from the publisher: https://www.nadablank.com/copy-of-epress You can also read/see more by Ben and Nikita in their Telegram channel https://t.me/benitaklavis or on their website 365.com/">https://flash-365.com/

Last month we trekked to a small village deep in the woods near the Ukrainian border to visit a certain legendary American and her horses. This episode is dedicated to the life, work, and loved ones of Laura Williams. Episode photo is a young Laura, taken by her husband Igor Shpilenok (presumably). If you would like to read Laura's book: https://www.amazon.com/Storks-Nest-Life-Russian-Countryside/dp/1555916295"

School shootings, how their symbolism and aesthetics continue to echo Columbine, and whether or not they're preventable. This week's ep is unfortunately apropos of the mass murder at the Kerch Polytechnic College on Oct. 17. If you'd like to send money to help fund the treatment of those injured in the attack, you can do that here (sorry, it's in Russian): https://www.sberbank.ru/ru/about/kerch

The mystical St. Petersburg courtyard, the rural homestead, the royal court. This week we talk about the architectural and emotional history of the Russian dvor. patreon.com/shesinrussia Music: (theme music) Shit Happens by Tierra Whack, Русский Ковчег by Монеточка, Шоколадное кафе by Тупые

Joined by our amazing special guest, Caucasus and MMA expert, Zukhra, we talk about how people from the North Caucasus relate to larger Russia, Khabib vs. Connor, why you shouldn't insult Caucasian people (the real ones), and everyday racism in Russian housing.

Super recognizers come one come all! The plot thickens in the case of the helpless Russian tourists visiting the lovely town of Salisbury. https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

The Russian dacha wasn’t always а one-family weekend house symbolizing a return to the land and folksy country virtues. Lily tells Smith the more complicated story. Main knowledge source for this ep: Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha, 1710–2000 by Stephen Lovell

Smith came to St. Petersburg and we went around recording our trials and tribulations.

(Best to listen with headphones, as this episode is in stereo) We tell the story (and listen to the music) of musician and poet Yanka Dyagileva and the late 1980s-early 1990s Siberian punk-rock scene she was at the center of. Listen to all the music from this episode: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLFDtUKjvwX0tq-FOBtZHbsDvNqw6nkXl Support us plz: patreon.com/shesinrussia

A discussion in Lily's kitchen about race paradigms, Gosha Rubchinskiy, censorship in Thaw-era film, and why Russia is the greatest country on earth.

We give our very in depth and diverging two cents on Keith Gessen's new novel A Terrible Country. There are spoilers, be warned. SPOILERS: 50:16 - 55:01 and 56:49 - 58:47 Support us plz: patreon.com/shesinrussia

An informal conversation where we talk about (among other things) a particular type of male expat in Russia, their relationship to women and sex, and the time Lily revealed herself to be nothing better than a capitalist parasite.

Part two of a two part series on the saga of Telegram in Russia. This week we give you a news update on the case, explain encryption, discuss one of the heroes of this story, Pavel Durov, and raise the question (and the various theories) of why, really, Telegram is being blocked For this series we spoke to a multitude of people more important and knowledgeable than us. A huge thank you to Mikhail Klimarev, Tanya Lokot, Damir Gainutdinov, Matthew Green, Philip Kulin, Anna Fomina, and Max Olenichev. Also thank you to Andrei for his voiceover work, and to Yulia Drobova for yet another incredible custom cover art. Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Links: - Internet Protection Society (Mikhail): ru.org/">https://ozi-ru.org/ - Agora (Damir): http://en.agora.legal/ - Usher2 (Phil): https://usher2.club/en/ - Team29 (Anna and Max): https://team29.org/ - Yulia (illustrator): https://www.drobova.uz/

Part one of a two part series on the saga of Telegram in Russia. This part is the one where we tell you more generally how the internet is regulated in Russia, why we care about Telegram, and how it (did it?) got blocked in Russia, legally and technically speaking. For this series we spoke to a multitude of people more important and knowledgeable than us. A huge thank you to Mikhail Klimarev, Tanya Lokot, Damir Gainutdinov, Philip Kulin, Anna Fomina, and Max Olenichev. Also thank you to Andrei for his voiceover work, and to Yulia Drobova for the incredible custom cover art. Listen to part 2: https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/61-whipping-boy-telegram-pt-2 Links: - Internet Protection Society (Mikhail): ru.org/">https://ozi-ru.org/ - Agora (Damir): http://en.agora.legal/ - Usher2 (Phil): https://usher2.club/en/ - Team29 (Anna and Max): https://team29.org/ - Yulia (illustrator): https://www.drobova.uz/ Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

We learn about the history of the Russian-speaking mafia and its intricate system of prison tattoos speaking with a specialist in the subject, Mark Bullen, a US-based former UK cop. Mark wrote a book documenting Russian prison tattoos and organized crime called Thief in Law, you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Thief-Law-Russian-Russian-Speaking-Organized/dp/0764355988/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528954355&sr=8-1&keywords=thief+in+law+mark+bullen Mark's site: https://www.markgbullen.com/ Or find him on Twitter @markgbullen Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

Lily visits a certain well-known Russian-speaking peninsula and learns that since its annexation, things have changed. And mostly not for the better. For a more in-depth legal/historical overview of Crimea, listen to our episode https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/episode-11-crimea-it-existed-before-2014 https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

The story of Moscow’s (in)famous Cherkizon market, the 90s born “city within a city” known for its cheap prices, über-wealthy owner Telman Ismailov, rampant corruption, and horrible living and working conditions. https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

Budapest local Zsolt tells Lily and her dear friend Liz about growing up in Soviet-occupied Hungary, why everything that's Russian is bad, and how Hungarian prime minister Orban Victor's feelings towards Russia have shifted since his days as a "young buck" on the early 90s political scene. https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia

Before the ever-encroaching Euro-Americans got their grubby hands on Alaska, Russian frontiersmen were colonizing the peninsula with the help of a fur trade-bead racket. Smith tells Lily the story. patreon.com/shesinrussia

We talk with head of press for The Bolshoi Theater, Katya Novikova, about the cultural significance of the institution, Ballet Nureyev, and how the theater used to be overrun with cats. You can watch Bolshoi production in real time in movie theaters around the world, keep an eye on this list: https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/about/relays/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia Podcasts from Meduza: https://meduza.io/podcasts Glagolev FM: http://glagolev.fm/ Arzamas: https://arzamas.academy/radio

Hello, yes, we have a launched a Patreon, support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia European University professor Alissa Klots talks to us about early Soviet domestic labor and post-Stalinist discourses on aging. More about Alissa: https://eu.spb.ru/en/history/faculty/17377-klots-alisa

Lily and Smith talk about dating without language, parallel lives, and romanticizing America.

Artist, activist, and writer Slava Mogutin talks to us about being exiled from Russia, outing Zhirinovsky, and the fetishization of military uniforms. Transcript of the episode: https://medium.com/shes-in-russia/malicious-hooligan-interview-with-slava-mogutin-2c529cc183b5 Slava's website: http://slavamogutin.com/ Get Slava's latest book of photography, Bros & Brosephines: http://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/bros-brosephines/ Get Pictures & Words: https://www.amazon.com/Pictures-Words-5-Slava-Mogutin/dp/1976191742 Episode image: Slava Mogutin by Paul Mpagi Sepuya  ( taken from Slava's Instagram)

Nuclear policy specialist Alicia Dressman talks to us about ballistic missiles, Cold War weaponry, and what "the Russia threat" means to her. Follow Alicia: twitter.com/thedelphivision

A conversation with award-winning author Alisa Ganieva about her upcoming neo-noir detective novel Offended Sensibilities and the formation of a new kind of past-focused patriotism in Russia. A reading of a chapter from the book, translated into English by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler. The translated text is published in the quarterly literary journal Apofenie. You can find it at https://www.apofenie.com/fiction/2018/5/1/an-excerpt-from-offended-sensibilities Follow Isaac: https://twitter.com/ThreeNamesTrans

On May 9, Lily went out into the city and collected stories from people celebrating Victory Day. On that day, people in Russia and much of the former USSR celebrate Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945 and the end of the Great Patriotic War.

This week we listen to music by 1980s Leningrad legend/cult figure Viktor Tsoi and his band Kino. Plus we tell some meaty stories about Tsoi's life and the late Soviet / early Perestroika rock scene.

Novaya Gazeta's Elena Kostyuchenko on why she decided to report on Chechnya, what exactly foreigners misunderstand about Russian media censorship, and why her journalism isn't trying to change people. This week we respond to a talk Smith went to earlier this month at Columbia University between Elena, who is the Harriman Institute’s Paul Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellow, and the World Editor of BuzzFeed News, Miriam Elder. Special thanks to the Harriman Institute for letting us use the audio for the show.

Smith asks Lily about her life in Russia. Lily talks about why she feels she has to explain basic bitch feminism all the time, the pecularities of black American cultural appropriation in Russia, and how she got broken up with for being a sugar mama. As a bonus, Lily debuts some new voices she's been practicing.

In the suburbs of Moscow people have been fighting with local government to solve what has now clearly become a region-wide garbage management crisis. To make matters worse, it's in the largest urban area of a country that, at least on the official level, doesn't recycle. This week Lily tells Smith what she learned about Moscow Oblast's trash problem from talking with people at a protest in Lobnya, one of the several Moscow suburbs that held trash-related protests on April 14, in honor of the regional governor's birthday.

On top of an unassuming building on the LES of Manhattan there is an 18-foot tall copper statue of Vladimir Lenin, gesturing to Wall Street. This week Smith tells Lily what she learned about the statue’s journey from post-Soviet Russia to New York — and what it has come to symbolize there — from speaking with the statue’s co-owners and residents of the neighborhood. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack

This week SIR tells the story of the recent tragic fire in Kemerovo through voices from the city. On Sunday March 25, a fire broke out in a mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, killing 64 people, mostly children, who had come to see the movie Sherlock Gnomes and celebrate the start of their Spring break. The tragedy has been filling the Russian internet and media space for the past week, occupying the minds of people across the country who are mourning with the city.

We've got Hannah Gais on to talk about the phrase the "Russian soul." We cover the phrase's origin and subsequent adoption by the West, its contemporary uses amongst unhinged Twitter personalities, and how it is Russia has excellent sushi despite being a landlocked country. Read Hannah's article on the "Russian Soul" in The Baffler: https://thebaffler.com/this-american-carnage/whos-afraid-of-the-russian-soul-gais Follow her on twitter at @hannahgais and go to her website to check out her other writing, https://hannahgais.com/ Theme music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Subscribe to our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we are co-presenting -- with Event Horizon Magazine and translator Isaac Wheeler -- the English-language debut of author Olga Onoyko. We're devoting this episode to Olga's surreal, dream-like short story, "The House Behind The Vacant Lot." Lily interviews the author and Isaac reads his translation of her story. Olga Onoyko is a 33 year old, Moscow-based musicologist by training, who works in IT. She is the author of multiple published novels and short stories. In 2007 she received the Debut award in the Fantasy genre for her novel "Surgical Intervention" (Хирургическое вмешательство), and in 2009 an encouragement award from the European Science Fiction Society. Isaac's translation of "The House Behind The Vacant Lot", written in 2003 and published in Russian in 2007, will appear in Issue 3 of literary and graphic arts periodical Event Horizon on March 21. Read the story here: https://eventhorizonmagazine.com/ More about Olga and her work here: onoyko.ru">http://olga-onoyko.ru Follow our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interlude: В каждом доме (гроб cover) by synecdoche montauk Cover Art: Vacant Lot by Erica Lambertson

On March 18 Russians will vote to elect a (possibly new) President to lead the country for the next 6 years. This week SIR changes it up, handing our mics over to three millennial, liberal-leaning Russians -– Nastya, Max, and Rita -- to discuss the personalities and platforms of all 8 candidates. During the discussion, they explain why TV is the country’s “main problem”, what kinds of gifts you get the first time you vote in Russia, why Ksenia Sobchak was more badass when she started her campaign, and why Alexey Navalny (the only Russian opposition leader covered widely in Western media), along with his call to boycott the elections, should be resisted, or at least ignored. Follow our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia Check out the are.na channel for this ep: https://www.are.na/share/XJPSNfg Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack

In Russia International Women's Day is celebrated widely every March 8 since 1917. At some point in the Soviet era, the holiday (whose original incarnation is a strongly Socialist-rooted celebration of the struggle for women's rights, gender equality, and in Russia specifically the women who initiated and comprised the 1917 February revolution) morphed into a twisted mirror-image of itself that reinforces woman's traditional social role as caretaker and patron saint of beauty, family, and the home. SIR discusses the revolution that made the holiday mainstream in Russia, how the day is celebrated today, plus the story of arguably one of Russia's most influential revolutionary/Party officials. Follow our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interludes: Феникс by ГШ, The General by Dispatch are.na: https://www.are.na/share/YVpvKmu

Russiagate unfolds: on Feb. 16, 2018. Former FBI director and current US Special Counsel Robert "the Swan" Mueller III published an "unprecedented" indictment of 13 Russian people and 3 Russian companies all related to the so-called Internet Research Agency, aka the "Troll Factory" in St. Petersburg and now all formally accused of interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections. Allow SIR to explain: what actually happened, why it matters, and why we knew all this already. Follow our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interludes: Computer Luv by Ravyn Lenae, Your Mouth by Frank Zappa are.na: https://www.are.na/share/PPVsqBi

The Russian banya -- the body/soul cleansing, health stimulating spa ritual cum social club. This week we talk about the significance of the banya in Russian culture, why it's very much not just a sauna, what kinds of banyas Russians use today (and one of their slightly frightening prototypes). Plus how to properly "steam" someone with veniki [bushels of leafy twigs, often birch or oak]. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack are.na channel: https://are.na/smith-freeman/banya-the-russian-sauna Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

We're kicking off our ongoing series on former Soviet countries with Kristaps Andrejsons, host of The Eastern Border podcast and, incidentally, a Latvian. Our conversation runs the gamut: wild boars in Riga, the three waves of National Awakening (i.e. how Latvia became a country), and the best summer festival. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Listen to Kristaps's podcast: http://theeasternborder.lv/ Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we shoot the shit with Igor Belkin, journalist, media person, "blogger", about the Russian Internet (Runet). We've got Livejournal in the early 2000s, quintessential Runet memes, and menacing Orthodox officials. Plus what it's like to be a Russian expat in America. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interlude: IAmNobody by Lin-Z Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we tell the story of Russian and American space programs -- the race to space, why "free men" should get there first, Russian bear hugs, and the (lack of) politics in space. This episode is a montage of primary source clips from archives and other corners of the internet that tell the story starting from the 1800s til the present day. And we, of course, play peanut gallery. Theme Music: Tierra Whack Interlude: Mae Jemison by Sammus Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we discuss the theory and daily practice of translation, joined by two honored guests and translators. Our first guest is Kevin Rothrock, Senior Editor and Translator at Meduza in English, who tells us about his daily work bringing independent Russian news to English speakers, and how to stealthily pick fights on Twitter. Our second guest is Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, professional independent translator of both Russian and Ukrainian poetry and prose, who tells us, among many other things, what the heck an intuitive door handle has to do with translation. You can find Kevin on Twitter @KevinRothrock and on his podcast The Russia Guy, wherever you listen to podcasts You can find Isaac on Twitter @ThreeNamesTrans and on his podcast Black Box Poetry, wherever you listen to podcasts Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interlude: More Brothers Rides by Palace Music Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we were both in NYC and took the opportunity to spend the day talking to people in Brighton Beach, aka Little Odessa, aka the neighborhood of choice for Soviet immigrants. We spoke to people from all over the former USSR (and Turkey!) who live, work, and/or were visiting Brighton, asking them about the neighborhood and their relationship to it. We tried to let them do the talking. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we select clips from some of our favorite episodes of the year. Happy New Year. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week Lily tells Smith the tale of the Russian Christmas/New Year's tree. Pagan anti-demon rituals, Peter the Great shaking and moving, a pro-tree Pravda op-ed by a party leader: Lily plots the course of how the Christmas Tree came to Russia and then ultimately became the New Year's tree. Theme Music: Tierra Whack Interludes: Guayaba (aeonfuxxx on Soundcloud) Special thanks to the scholarship of Elena Dushechkina Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

Cozy up for story time. This week we bring you a reading of two texts translated from Russian -- a short story called "Thirteen" by Alisa Ganieva and an excerpt from a novel called "The Gardener is Gone" by Lena Eltang. The short story was translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler and published in The Missing Slate. The novel is currently in the process (!) of being co-translated by Isaac and Reilly Costigan-Humes -- we're very grateful to the translators for the chance to get a sneak peek of their beautiful work and share it with our listeners. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interlude: Taylar Elizza Beth Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week we're checking in with “Russiagate”/ the “Russian matter” [российское дело]. You will learn: what Michael Flynn’s plea deal is and why there's a fuss about it; and what happened to RT America, the US branch of a multinational Russian news network. RT’s case has in incited yet another tit for tat between the US and Russian governments involving their respective “Foreign Agent” laws (which are very much not the same), the tit of which is looking to be alot more harmful than the tat. We give you the lowdown on these latest developments, plus, concordantly, a healthy dose of ethical discussion around social media and the very blankety term “fake news”. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interludes: DoNormaal Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This fall, European University at St. Petersburg was shut down under dubious circumstances. We talk with Molly Zuckerman about the school's contentious history with government and the plight of foreign students now stranded by the school's closure. Plus, she shares some good tidbits on kegels from a Russian sexologist. Theme Music: Tierra Whack Interludes: Tatarka Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

It would seem that governments are finally starting to cotton on to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The Russian government is no exception. This week we cover exactly what cryptocurrency and blockchain are, the Russian government's economic, legislative, and technological move into the crypto space, and the state of private crypto businesses in Russia. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack Interludes: Tiff The Gift Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

How did the Bolshevik Revolution and the actual establishment of the Soviet Union inspire and encourage activists and intellectuals of the African Diaspora? With what specific mechanisms of hard and soft power did the Soviet Union, from its earliest years, seek to create a ‘global Black proletariat’? We didn’t answer these questions ourselves, but thankfully someone else did! For the week leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution (Oct. 7, 2017), The African American Intellectual History Society published a series of articles online written by various scholars of Black and Russian/Soviet history and art on this very interrelationship. We present the main ideas from the articles and bring your highlights and analyses of the most compelling ones. Theme Music: Tierra Whack Interludes: SZA, Kehlani Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

How has the Russian healthcare system transformed since 1991? How much does the average Russian doctor earn now? This week we bring you an overview of healthcare in Russia today, from how insurance works to why the constitution's promise of 'free healthcare for all' isn't quite as good as it sounds in real life. Plus we're joined by our dear friend Izzy, who tells the story of her own personal saga cum cultural struggle with the Russian healthcare system when she was a wee student in St. Petersburg. Theme Music: Tierra Whack Interlude: Skwod by Nadia Rose Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

On this week's episode we bring you the political mother. We trace the history of the Soviet conception of motherhood, interview an honest-to-goodness Russian mom, and talk about three recent tragedies (Kursk, Beslan, and The Ukrainian Crisis) to which mothers responded by politicizing and organizing. Plus, we give some real practical and useful advice on how to stimulate the clitoris. Music: Tierra Whack

This week in the Petersburg studio (Lily's room) we're joined by social entrepreneur, activist, and all around inspiring human, Olya Polyakova. We talk about how she documented her arrest and 12-day detainment for peacefully protesting in June, how to best use the toilet in a 2-person prison cell, what it means to feel freedom in the city, and why it's important that Ksenia Sobchak is running for president. Follow Olya on Instagram: @PolyakovaPolyakova Watch the tour of her cell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyRw2D7eSME Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

We talk with Lily's friend Nastya all about Russian movies since perestroika. Well we were supposed to, but we lost most of the recording. So instead we bring you a baby episode about heating pads (get one!), and a theory about how The Return and Leviathan, both directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, exemplify Russia's changing relationship with The West. Fear not, in the future, we'll re-record a full episode on Russian film. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

Another variety show! This time we listen to clips from U.S. media specifically from the first year of Putin’s first term as president, resuming our peanut gallery position with light commentary and analysis. The clip topics range from Clinton and Bush’s brief overlap, to Bush musing about Putin’s soul, to the thorn in the two men’s 8 year relationship as presidents together - what to do about anti-ballistic missiles. We also check in with this week's protests in Russia, and shill for Turkish Airlines and their supreme warm buns. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This is the ryumochnaya - a humble drinking house featuring hard liquor, maybe some beer, an assortment of open-faced sandwiches, pickles and perhaps some other simple, hearty fare. Also known as the place you go to drink cheap vodka by the milliliter. We went to some of St. Petersburg's finest ones, got really drunk, and interviewed some other drunk strangers. Here's what we have to show for it. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

Rob Reiner’s latest production is an absurdly sincere piece of civilian propaganda -- the freshly minted Committee to Investigate Russia (website + trailer starring Morgan Freeman), whose advisory board consists of a hodgepodge of 'non-partisan' figures, ranging from liberals to centrists to never-Trumpers. We go through this latest iteration of Cold War II content and connect it to the larger contexts of American jingoism and Hollywood’s peculiar history of politicizing. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

With Sean Guillory of the SRB Podcast, we map out the Russian Left (not just Navalny folks!), question why Russia is always expected to mimic America, and go on some fruitful tangents about the likes of Jefferson and teen-aged John Quincy Adams. Check out Sean's podcast at seansrussiablog.org, he does good interviews. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This week’s episode is all about Russian-language rap: the history, how to think about race in a non-American paradigm, and a nice set of samples from some Russian artists. Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia

This episode we discuss three things with Lily’s dear friend Maksim: a NYT op-ed that posits Russia as America’s foil, the recent rap battle between Oxxxymiron and Gnoyniy, and the dubious arrest of theater director Kirill Serebrennikov.

On this episode we switch it up a bit and bring you a menagerie of clips; from special CIA movies made for Reagan, to the second-hand embarrassment of HRC’s “reset” button moment, to the voice of the Soviet Union in America, we give our analysis and hot takes. We discuss the hypocrisy of American exceptionalism, struggle through a clip of 2016’s final presidential debate (who’s the puppet? -__-), and get a little into how race influences how we see Russia and Russians. Also, the infamous airplane guy of episode 11 leaves a message, much to our glee.