Tales from Imperial Russia

James White

Tales from Imperial Russia is a fortnightly podcast narrating ordinary and extraordinary lives from the Russian Empire. In episodes about 10-30 minutes long, we will avoid the oft-retold stories of emperors and battles to focus on the mostly forgotten lives of individuals from an amazing array of locales, peoples, and circumstances. This podcast is written and performed by Dr James White, a professional historian. For my academic articles, please see: https://ut-ee.academia.edu/JamesWhite

  1. 14H AGO

    Episode 27: The Tsar of Thieves. The Tale of Van’ka Kain

    Abandoning his job as a domestic servant in 1735, Ivan Osipov, AKA Van'ka Kain, became one of imperial Russia's most legendary criminals, performing an array of daring heists and audacious gambits over the course of six years. However, in 1741, Kain turned coat, ratting out most of his former accomplices and establishing himself as Moscow's preeminent criminal investigator. In this episode, we follow not only Kain's story from criminal to policeman and back again, but also those of the men and women he betrayed, their testimonies to the police offering us an unparallled glimpse into crime in mid-eighteenth century Moscow.  Sources E. Akel’ev, Povsednevnaia zhizn’ vorovskogo mira Moskvy vo vremena Van’ki Kaina (Moscow: Molodaia gvardiia, 2012) E. Prikazchikova, ‘Van’ka Kain v kul’turnom prostranstve Rossii: semiotika povedeniia’, Quaestio Rossica, vol. 10, no. 1 (2022), 275-289 M. Komarov, 'Zhizn' i prokhozhdeniia Rossiiskogo Kartusha, imenuemogo Kaina, izvestnogo moshennika i togo remesla liudei syshchika. Za raskaianie v zlodeistve poluchivshego otkazni svobody; no za obrashchenie v prezhnii promysel soslannogo vechno na katorzhnuiu rabotu, prezhde v Rogervik, a potom v Sibir'. Pisannaia im samim pri Baltiiskom porte v 1764 godu' in M. Komarov, Van'ka Kain. Milord Georg, ed. V. D. Rak (Moscow: Nauka, 2019): 315-345.

    35 min

  2. 10/30/2025

    Episode 26: Spectres of Empire. The Tale of Father Ioann Solov’ev

    A ghost was plaguing the household of Father Ioann Solov'ev, the parish priest of the tiny hamlet of Lychentsy, in November 1900...floating objects, strange fires, disembodied voices, fleshy masses materialising in beds. Exorcisms, guards, the police...nothing seemed to work.  In this special Halloween episode, we look at other haunted house stories from the late Russian Empire, explaining their prominence and popularity with reference to both popular demonology and the new craze for spiritualism and the occult sweeping urban populations.  Source J. Mannherz, Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia (DeKalb: NIU Press, 2012) Voice credit Ekaterina Boltaeva as the voice of Marfa Larionova

    23 min

  3. 10/07/2025

    Episode 25: Defeating the Demon Drink. The Tale of Ivan Churikov

    Everyone in the late Russian Empire was in agreement: the country had a vodka problem. But what were its causes and how should it be dealt with? For answers, many turned to Ivan Churikov, a peasant who became a St Petersburg faith healer after suffering personal tragedy. But his attempts to form a sobriety movement involved him in an endless struggle with the Orthodox Church, one that occasionally cost him his freedom. In this episode, we follow Churikov and his struggles, looking at the alcohol policies of the imperial Russian state and the civic activism that tried to save the empire from drowning in a sea of vodka.  Sources P. Herrlinger, Holy Sobriety in Modern Russia: A Faith Healer and His Followers (Ithaca and London: Northern Illinois University Press, 2023) P. Herlihy, The Alcoholic Empire: Vodka and Politics in Late Imperial Russia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). P. Herlihy, ‘The Russian Vodka Prohibition of 1914 and Its Consequences’ in E. U. Savona, M. A. R. Kleiman, and F. Calderoni, eds., Dual Markets: Comparative Approaches to Regulation (Cham: Springer, 2017): 193-206. P. Herlihy, ‘"Joy of the Rus’": Rites and Rituals of Russian Drinking’, The Russian Review, vol. 50, no. 2 (1991): 131-147. R. J. Abbott, ‘Alcohol Control and Russian Politics, 1863-1876’, Russian History, vol. 43 (2016): 87-100. I. H. Mäkinen and T. C. Reitan, ‘Continuity and Change in Russian Alcohol Consumption from the Tsars to Transition’, Social History, vol. 31, no. 2 (2006): 160-179. D. Christian, ‘Vodka and Corruption in Russia on the Eve of Emancipation’, Slavic Review, vol. 46, no. 3/4 (1987): 471-488. I. N. Fedotova, ‘K istorii monastyrskikh tiurem v Rossii: Suzdal’skaia Spaso-Evfimieva obitel’ kak mesto lisheniia svobody (konets XVIII – nachalo XX veka)’, Intelligentsiia i mir, no. 2 (2018): 75-86.

    45 min

  4. 08/12/2025

    Episode 24: City under Siege. The Tale of Rudolph Felix Bauer

    In 1704, Colonel Rudolph Felix Bauer found himself involved in the siege of Tartu, one of the many battles of the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden. This tale tells of how Bauer came to be before the bloody walls of Tartu while also recounting the trevails of the siege itself.  Sources M. Laidre, The Great Northern War and Estonia: The Trials of Dorpat 1700-1708, trans P. Ruustal (Tallinn: Argo, 2010) R. Slavnitskii, ‘Deistviia Russikh voisk v khode osadnykh operatsii nachal’nogo perioda severnoi voiny 1700-1721’, Voennaia letopis’ otechestva, no. 6 (2018), 54-58 V. Berendsen, E. Küng, and M. Maiste, ‘Tartu rahvastik 17. sajandi lopul ja 18. sajandi algul’, Tuna, no. 1 (2010), 29-44

    40 min

  5. 12/08/2023

    Episode 23: The Other Rasputin. The Tale of Iliodor (Trufanov)

    Between 1905 and 1912, the monk Iliodor (Trufanov) set Russia ablaze with his inflammatory right-wing rhetoric, causing scandal after scandal. In this episode, we follow Iliodor's remarkable life from humble beginnings to would-be assassin of Grigorii Rasputin. Sources S. Dixon, ‘The “Mad Monk” Iliodor in Tsaritsyn’ in S. Dixon, ed., Personality and Place in Russian Culture: Essays in Memory of Lindsey Hughes (London: Modern Humanities Research Association for the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 2010), pp. 377-415. D. Smith, Rasputin (London: Pan Macmillan, 2017). M. Iu. Krapivin, ‘Deiatel’nost’ S. M. Trufanova (byshego ieromonakha Iliodora) v Sovetskoi Rossii (1918-1922) v sviazi s formirovaniem gosudarstvennoi politiki v otnoshenii pravoslavnoi tserkvi’, Vestnik tserkovnoi istorii, no. 1/2 (21/22), 2011, pp. 137-149.

    25 min

  6. 11/24/2023

    Episode 22: From Riches to Ruin. The Tale of Ivan Tolchenov

    In 1796, the merchant Ivan Tolchenov was secreted in his magnificent mansion in Dmitrov, hiding from his creditors. This episode seeks to understand how Ivan lost his enormous fortune, along the way shedding light into the lives of Russian merchants in the second half of the eighteenth century. Source David L. Ransel, A Russian Merchant’s Tale. The Life and Adventures of Ivan Alekseevich Tolchenov, Based on His Diary (Bloomington and Indianopolis: Indiana University Press, 2009)

    36 min

  7. 11/10/2023

    Episode 21: Empire of Light and Colour. The Tale of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii

    The colour photographs of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii fascinated the imperial public of the early 20th century, persuading Emperor Nicholas II to sponsor expeditions across the empire to chronicle in glorious colour daily life in his realm. In this episode, we follow the life of Prokudin-Gorskii, while also considering the development of photography in the Russian Empire. Photographs For the Library of Congress' digitalisation of Prokudin-Gorskii's pictures, please see: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=prok A good selection of Karl Bulla's photographs can be found on his Wikipedia page: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B0,_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 Sources Rossiiskaia imperiia v tsvetnykh fotografiiakh S.M. Prokudina-Gorskogo / The Russian Empire in S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky’s Color Photographs, 1906-1916 (Moscow: Al’pina Pablisher/Krasivaia kniga, 2021). W. C. Brumfield, Journeys through the Russian Empire: The Photographic Legacy of Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2020). I. Tchmyreva and E. Berezner, ‘History of Russian Photography, 1900-1938’ in Vaclav Macek, ed., The History of European Photography. 1900-2000. Vol. 1: 1900-1939 (Bratislava: Central European House of Photography, 2010), 510-553. L. A. Gerd and K. A. Vakh, ‘Odin maloizveztnyi russkii fotograf XIX veka: Gavriil Vasil’evich Riumin’, Novoe iskusstvoznanie, no. 4 (2019), pp. 32-41. M. Hughes, ‘Every Picture Tells Some Stories: Photographic Illustrations in British Travel Accounts of Russia in the Eve of World War One’, The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 92, no. 4 (2014), pp. 674-703. C. Evtuhov, ‘A. O. Karelin and Provincial Bourgeois Photography,’ in V. A. Kivelson and J. Neuberger, eds., Picturing Russia: Explorations in Visual Culture (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2008), pp. 113-119. J. E. Bowlt, ‘Life Painting and Light Painting: Photography and the Early Russian Avant-Garde’, History of Photography, vol. 24, no. 4 (2000), 273-282. N. Raab, ‘Visualising Civil Society: The Fireman and the Photographer in Late Imperial Russia, 1900-1914’, History of Photography, vol. 31, no. 2 (2007), pp. 151-164. N. A. Stanulevich, ‘K istorii sudebnoi ekspertizy dokumentov v Rossii na rubezhe XIX-XX vekov’, Fotografiia. Izobrazhenie. Dokument, no. 4 (2013), pp. 4-6. T. A. Titova, E. G. Guschina, and M. V. Vyatchina, ‘Look into the Camera: Scientists and Photographers in the Kazan Province in the End of the XIX Century’, Man in India, 96(3), (2016), pp. 821-828. M. Dikovitskaya, ‘Central Asia in Early Photographs: Russian Colonial Attitudes and Visual Culture’ in U. Tomohiko, ed., Empire, Islam, and Politics in Central Eurasia (Sapporo, 2007), pp. 99-133. Tsvetnye oskolki imperii: Diapozitivy Karla Elofa Berggrena. 1900 – nachalo 1910-kh / Colour Fragments of an Empire: Carl Elof Berggren’s Photographic Lantern Slides. 1900 – Early 1910s (Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole Muzeon, 2020).

    31 min

  8. 10/29/2023

    Episode 20: Genteel Country Lives. The Tale of the Chikhachev Family

    Andrei and Natalia Chikhachev, middling nobles, spent their lives running their small estate of Dorozhaevo in Vladimir province and raising their family. In this episode, we use their copious notes and diaries to understand what it meant to be a 'normal' provincial noble in the Russian Empire in the mid-nineteenth century, considering their work lives, their past-times, and their relationship with the world around them. Source Kate Pickering-Antonova, An Ordinary Marriage: The World of a Gentry Family in Provincial Russia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

    51 min
See All (27)

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Tales from Imperial Russia is a fortnightly podcast narrating ordinary and extraordinary lives from the Russian Empire. In episodes about 10-30 minutes long, we will avoid the oft-retold stories of emperors and battles to focus on the mostly forgotten lives of individuals from an amazing array of locales, peoples, and circumstances. This podcast is written and performed by Dr James White, a professional historian. For my academic articles, please see: https://ut-ee.academia.edu/JamesWhite

Information

  • Creator
    James White
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © James White
  • Show Website
    Tales from Imperial Russia