NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS

Yasha & Evgenia
  • 4.7 (39)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

THE NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS POD. We are from your future. www.nefariousrussians.com

  1. 2H AGO

    Putin conquers Hollywood

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss Wizard of the Kremlin, a new film about Putin’s rise to power, where Jude Law plays Putin. Yeah, Jude Law. While formally it’s a pretty bad film that feels like an illustrated wikipedia article, we were still surprised by it. Because, for a mainstream film, it offered a fairly honest and factual portrayal of the preconditions to Putin’s rise to power and why his reestablishment of the power vertical in Russia was popular. We didn’t expect much and it exceeded our (low) expectations on that front. This is maybe the first western film about the Soviets/ Russians that shows them not as caricatures but with a bit of humanity and respect. This feels like a seismic shift — Did Putin conquer Hollywood or does reality increasingly have a pro-Putin bias?

    20 sec

  2. MAY 15

    PROGRESS PROPAGANDA

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com I talk to Samuel Miller McDonald about his new book on the history of the idea of progress and how this idea has been used to justify parasitic super-stratified societies that have been denuding and killing our world, going back into antiquity. Pretty much everyone believes in the notion of progress these days. It’s safe to say that progress is a sort of religious belief that unifies all ideologies, even capitalism and communism. And that’s the problem. Check out the book Samuel wrote: Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It. It’s a really wonderful book. I’d go straight to the first chapter. —Yasha I’m doing these weekly Vampire Valley streams about technology as part of my research for the Vampire Valley doc series I’m working on. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to the Vampire Valley doc project, you will automatically get an annual sub.

    2 min

  3. MAY 14

    Assassins & Precogs

    The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss their favorite topics: fame, movies, morality of media, power, cults, collapse, similarities between the Soviet Union and the United States… We also discuss Evgenia’s ongoing precog abilities: she sensed that there would be a White House correspondents’ dinner shooting the morning before it happened and talked about it. Due to technical issues (aka sabotage), the episode cuts off mid-sentence. We apologize and promise to hold those responsible (Yasha) accountable. —NF We’ll be doing a NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS LIVE event at the KGB Bar in June. Look out for an announcement soon. And, as always, support Vampire Valley if you can! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

    56 min
  4. Silicon Valley's war on children

    MAY 9

    Silicon Valley's war on children

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com For this Vamp Valley stream, I speak to Josh Golin about how commercialization and consumerist brainwashing of children, already dominant in American society before the internet, has been very consciously turbocharged by the tech overlords that mediate our reality. We discuss problems facing children in the age of the internet: alienation, bullying, sexual harassment, addiction, self-hate, suicide, destruction of critical thinking — all them being knowingly inflicted on kids just to keep them on these platforms as long as possible, wasting their lives and destroying their minds in the name of better ad metrics and rank consumerism. We also talk about attempts to regulate social media, the power of the tech lobby, and the baffling attempt of “left-prog” influencer Taylor Lorenz to protect vampiric mind control monopolies from even the tiniest bit of democratic control. I’m doing these streams to talk to people about the tech that’s destroying our minds and destroying our world — as part of my research for a doc series I’m working on, Vampire Valley. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to Vampire Valley, you will automatically get an annual sub. Josh Golin is an Executive Director at Fairplay. They’re great. Check them out here.

    4 min
  5. REVOLT AGAINST AI/Joe Costello

    MAY 2

    REVOLT AGAINST AI/Joe Costello

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com Today I chat with Joe Costello about the backlash to data centers and why he thinks this national grassroots movement just might be the very first time Americans are engaging in politics in many, many decades. Joe recently published a great book — The Politics of Ape and Machine. Also check out his newsletter: Life in the 21st Century. I’m making a doc series about the internet called Vampire Valley. The first ep will look at data centers. It should be out closer to May. If you want to help fund this film, give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com. Joe’s been on the show a few times before. Check him here:

    2 min

  6. APR 7

    Chatting about movies, liberalism, and American collapse

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com Married with podcast, we catch up on some topics dear to our hearts. Among things discussed: Evgenia’s films, the ghettoization of feminist (and minority) filmmaking in a liberal society, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kathryn Bigelow, Sophia Coppola…Then we move on to discussing the saga of the Feiyue sneaker and how it illustrates the rise of China and American/European collapse and hubris. It all ties together. Trust us. Have a great week. Pray with us that Trump does not nuke the world. Praying is all we got left. 🙏

    1 min
  7. GETTING DRONED

    APR 6

    GETTING DRONED

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com For this vamp valley stream, I had Peter Korotaev on to talk about drones and war. Drones, which I see as very much related to the internet, have made big leaps in battlefield adoption in the last few years: first in the Russian-Ukraine war and now in the Israeli-American war on Iran. The United States pioneered drone technology. In fact, as I mentioned on the stream, the same ARPA program that funded the internet was at the same time funding research into drone technology for use in the Vietnam War…a small helicopter operated by a remote control so big it barely fit on an Army jeep. But even though the U.S. security state has been pumping money into drone technology for more than half a century, it hadn’t explored the use of drone technology to its fullest potential yet. It’s been up to peripheral states like Ukraine and Iran (and also Israel) to take drone warfare to the next level. And what’s happening on the periphery of the empire is going to be coming home soon…there is no doubt about it. Drone tech is just too easy to use, too effective…like smartphones. It makes me think of Philip K. Dick’s wonderful novella, Second Variety, which is about autonomous robotic weapons that were designed to kill people…until they ran out of people and started fighting each other. I’m pretty sure Second Variety inspired Terminator, even though it was never credited. Anyway, Peter writes the great Events in Ukraine newsletter. I highly recommend reading his stuff. He’s a funny writer and covers the subject with the respect and black humor that it requires. See you next week! I’m doing these streams every week, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too. Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

    3 min

  8. MAR 21

    The Politics of Ape and Machine w/Joe Costello

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com For this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m publishing a talk that Evgenia and I did with Joe Costello about his wonderful new book, The Politics of Ape and Machine. We’re in the middle of another industrial power grab. We talked to Joe to make sense of the situation. We talked about AI, the parasitic internet, industrialization’s destruction of democracy, the politics of technology, what it means to be monkeys who think they’re in control of the known universe… Joe thinks that the AI boom we’re in potentially offers a historic opportunity to transcend our entrenched, stagnant politics: the much-promised automation and the reality of computerized crapification of broad sectors of society and further centralized control will make mass reorganization of politics not just a possibility but a necessity — an opportunity that hasn’t been seen in many generations. Will people rise to the challenge? How would you bet? This talk took place on November 23, 2025 in Manhattan at the KGB Bar. This is the first time it is being published on this pacification tech we call the internet. For those who don’t know, Joe Costello has been on our podcast many times and I’ve republished his work before. He’s worked in politics all of his life and he’s one of the most clear thinkers and writers today on politics and on the meaning of democracy in our age of terminal industrialization. Buy his book! And check out his newsletter: Life In the 21st Century. —Yasha *** I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too. Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

    3 min
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4.7
out of 5
39 Ratings

About

THE NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS POD. We are from your future. www.nefariousrussians.com

Information

  • Creator
    Yasha & Evgenia
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    178
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Yasha Levine
  • Show Website
    NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS

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