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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

109: Ukraine Explain

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

110: Everybody hates Russia

In May of 2013 Edward Snowden leaks thousands of documents to reporters demonstrating the breadth of surveillance by the NSA on the American people. In June, he lands in Moscow seeking asylum from a government infamous for its poor record on human rights.
 
What ensues is a series of American-Russian political reactions, an absurd novel authored by Snowden's own pro-bono lawyer, and Putin’s patronizing praise for the NSA-whistleblower -- "he's a warrior for human rights."
 
Cover art by Sam Woo Staar
Theme music is "Shit Happens" by Tierra Whack

Episode 1: Putin and Snowden Probably Never Met

Yes, Trump seems to be some kind of horrible stimulus-response automata, with a weirdly specific vendetta against [most] people. But maybe he's not wrong when he says all this Russia stuff is a witch-hunt. Automata get it right sometimes, just by chance I think. 
 
On this episode we discuss the Russia Meddling Investigation (Trump, Putin, Hacking, Collusion) and all of its entanglements, try to sort through the burgeoning toxicity of the word "Russia," and give Rachel Maddow a piece of our minds.
 
Cover art by Sam Woo Staar
Theme music is "Shit Happens" by Tierra Whack

Episode 3: Russian Witch-Hunt Lite

Between 2015 and 2017 Oliver Stone met and chatted with President Putin on film, the result of which is The Putin Interviews, a 4-part series that aired on Showtime (US) and Channel 1 (Russia) this month. Joined by Gracie, our first guest (!), we react to the spectacle of this production, discuss Stone’s interviewing skills, and the unfortunate charm of the Russian President. 

Cover art by Sam Woo Staar
Theme music is "Shit Happens" by Tierra Whack

Episode 4: Oliver Stone Likes Putin's Judo Statue

The topic for this week is writer/journalist Masha Gessen’s 2016 book Where the Jews Aren't: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan, Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region (despite our nitpicking in the episode, we very much recommend reading this book). Via our discussion of Gessen’s text, Soviet Jews and Jewish identity, we try to connect and articulate a larger theme in Soviet/Russian history of absence and the unfinished, unreal, and failed positive projections that attempt to fill these absences.


Theme music is "Shit Happens" by Tierra Whack

Episode 10: Soviet Absence and Where The Jews Aren't

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

16: Russia and America Are Different Countries ft. Sean Guillory

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.

46: Elena Kostyuchenko at Columbia

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.

She's In Russia

47: Golden Boy Tsoi

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

49: Offended Sensibilites ft. Alisa Ganieva

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

50: MIRVelous ft. Alicia Dressman

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): 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/

61: Whipping Boy, Telegram pt. 2

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.

62: Expat Scumbags

(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

65: Yanka

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!)

74: Gop-stop

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.

76: How Propaganda Works ft. Tamara Eidelman

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

78: Merch Perch ft. Sergei Pakhotin

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

79: Ored Recordings ft. Bulat Khalilov

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

86: Borsch Phantom ft. Alissa Timoshkina

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

87: Soviet Multiki

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/

94: How Now Maddow

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/

97: Severe Russophobia

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

100: Eurotrash Rennovation

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

101: An Evening with Norstein

Undefined Hiatus

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

102: Coronareunion

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?)

103: My Brilliant Friend

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

104: Krestos Voskres

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

105: Potato Healing

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

106: Telegram Saga

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

107: Ukrainian War Prop

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

108: "Pogrom"

A podcast where two best friends — one in St. Petersburg and the other in Brooklyn — call each other and talk about Russia.

She's In Russia

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