This episode is an interview given by UkraineWorld’s chief editor and host of the Explaining Ukraine podcast Volodymyr Yermolenko to "Die Kulturmittler", a podcast by ifa, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, a German organisation for international cultural relations. Together, we look at the past year and how Ukrainian civil society and the cultural scene have developed during the war in Ukraine. Original publication: https://www.ifa.de/podcast-ukraines-cultural-scene-after-a-year-of-war-with-volodymyr-yermolenko/

Explaining Ukraine

Ukraine’s cultural scene after a year of the full-scale war. Die Kulturmittler podcast | Ep. 194

Askold Melnyczuk is a prominent American writer of Ukrainian descent, and author of books What Is Told; Ambassador of the Dead; House of Widows; The Man Who Would Not Bow, and others. His novels have earned honors as a New York Times Notable, an LA Times Best Books of the Year, and an Editor’s Choice by the American Library Association’s Booklist. Melnyczuk has also translated numerous Ukrainian authors into English. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld, speaks to Askold Melnyczuk about Ukrainian literature today, about culture facing death and suffering, and the Ukrainian diaspora in North America. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the oldest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Support our humanitarian trips to the frontline areas: Paypal - ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

Askold Melnyczuk - on Ukrainian literature, diaspora, and culture during the war

David Rieff is a famous intellectual and war correspondent. He is the author of many books, including Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West; A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis; At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention; The Reproach of Hunger: Food, Justice, and Money in the Twenty-First Century; In Praise of Forgetting: The Ironies of Historical Memory, and numerous others. He is also the editor of the journals and notebooks of his mother, Susan Sontag, published after her death. He is currently living between New York and Argentina, but regularly visits Ukraine. 

Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld, speaks to David Rieff about the role played by Ukraine and the Ukrainian struggle in the world today. 

Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current Russian war against Ukraine a focal point of our joint reflection on the world’s present, past, and future. We try to see the light through and despite the current darkness. 

UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs.

Support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld

Ukraine in the world today - with David Rieff

Olesya Khromeychuk is a Ukrainian historian and head of the Ukrainian Institute in London. She is also the author of the heartbreaking book "The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister", in which she tells the story of her brother Volodymyr, who was killed by the Russians on the frontline in 2017. 

In this episode, UkraineWorld’s chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko speaks with Olesya Khromeychuk about her experience of writing this book and working with the pain of the loss of her own brother at war. We also talk about how Ukrainian culture is presented abroad and about the most important “entry points” into Ukrainian literature and history. 

UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs.

Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld. We provide exclusive content for our patrons. You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

Writing about our dead - with Olesya Khromeychuk

You probably all know the Black Square, a famous avant-garde painting that has radically changed the way we think about art.

You’ve probably heard that this painting was created by Kazymyr Malevych, a “Russian painter”. But he was not Russian. He comes from Polish and Ukrainian descent, and the Ukrainian sources of his creativity and thinking are huge.

In this episode, we will try to explain why it is important to look at Malevych as a Ukrainian artist.

Our guest is Tetyana Filevska, a Ukrainian art historian, the creative director of the Ukrainian Institute, the country’s major cultural diplomacy institution.

She is interviewed by Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar and journalist, an expert at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, and a lecturer at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.

Malevych: the Ukrainian avant-garde genius

Ukrainian modernist literature is one of the golden ages of Ukrainian cultural history. In this episode, we’ll explore why that is—and why the questions raised during this period, spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries, remain deeply relevant today.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Rostyslav Semkiv, a Ukrainian literary scholar, associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and director of the publishing house Smoloskyp. 

Writers mentioned in this podcast: Modernists - Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Olha Kobylianska, Vasyl Stefanyk. Others: Ivan Franko, Marko Vovchok, Olena Pchilka, Vasyl Stus, Serhiy Zhadan, Kateryna Kalytko and others. 

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.

The Surprising Brilliance of Ukrainian Modernist Literature - with Rostyslav Semkiv

In this episode, we will explore the life and works of Oleksandra Ekster, a prominent Ukrainian avant-garde artist of the early 20th century. We will discuss cubofuturism, the cultural identity of Kyiv, the role of women in Ukrainian art, and the connections between Ukrainian and European avant-garde art.

Our guest for this episode is Anna Lodygina, a Ukrainian art historian and journalist. She recently published a book in Ukrainian titled "Stories of Ukrainian Artists: Oleksandra Ekster." This conversation is moderated by Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar and journalist, author of the podcast "L’Ukraine face a la guerre" (Ukraine facing the war) in French, and head of international outreach at Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast of UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine.

You can support our work on https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. 
Your support is crucial for us as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontline areas in Ukraine, where we provide support for both soldiers and civilians. You can donate via PayPal, ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.


Exploring Ukrainian avant-garde: Oleksandra Ekster

A podcast by UkraineWorld.org, a multimedia project about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine. Explaining Ukraine, its politics, society and its culture. Support us: patreon.com/ukraineworld

New tracks tagged #Ukrainian culture