The Slavic Connexion

Connexions
  • 4.9 (39)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY
The Slavic Connexion

An international chat show on the politics, history, current events, and peoples of the Slavic world, sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and Clements Center for National Security. Whether you're a Slavophile, a foreign affairs junkie, or simply a curious mind, The Slavic Connexion offers insightful, accessible, and even fun discussions on the sprawling region in the context of our hyperconnected world. "It's not typical Texas..."

  1. JAN 7

    Degrees of Freedom: Women Under Serfdom in Russia

    What was life like for Russian women under serfdom? In this episode, Cullan talks with the expert on this subject, Dr. Tracy Dennison, a historian and professor at Caltech. Based on her talk by the same name, Tracy explores how societal structures shaped and limited women's choices, opportunities, and constraints under different ruling families. Thanks for listening, and Happy 2025! About the Guest Tracy Dennison studies institutions and their effects on long-term growth and development. She is especially interested in the roots of economic divergence between east and west Europe, and uses serfdom as a lens through which to examine institutional change over time. Dennison is interested in how specific societies worked in the past – how societal rules and norms affected human behavior and how and why this varied over space and time. Dennison's research to date has focused on these questions at the micro level, using local sources to investigate the ways that pre-modern entities like states, landlords, communities, and households influenced the economic, social, and demographic behavior of people in their everyday lives. In particular, she has studied estate policies and practices in imperial Russia, and the way that quasi-formal legal systems established by some wealthy landlords made it possible for their serfs to conduct property and credit transactions despite their ambiguous legal status. This was the subject of her 2011 book, The Institutional Framework of Russian Serfdom (Cambridge University Press), in which she argued that these micro-level practices had significant implications for the longer-term economic development of Russia. In her current project, Dennison is investigating these questions from a top-down perspective rather than the bottom-up approach taken previously. Comparing the abolition of serfdom in Prussia and in Russia, this research explores larger questions of political economy and state capacity and their implications for institutions and institutional change. How did the institutional structure of serfdom in central Europe differ from that in Russia and how did these differences matter to the process and outcomes of reform in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Dennison has also published on institutions and demographic behavior, comparative systems of serfdom, and on the importance of history and historical context in social science research. She is a regular contributor to Broadstreet Blog, an interdisciplinary forum which aims to bring research in historical political economy to a wider audience. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in November 11, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig Associate Producer: Basil Fedun Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Background music by Denys Brodovskyi, Alex Productions. Closing Theme by Charlie Harper Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel www.msdaniel.com

    28 min

  2. 12/02/2024

    Unlocking Change: Meet the Prague Civil Society Centre

    On this episode, host Cullan chats with Siarhei of the Prague Civil Society Centre to discuss the transformative work of the organization and the power of the connections they build across Europe and Central Asia. If you've been tuning in for a while, you probably noticed that some of our most recent episodes were also recorded in Prague, during the Centre's Unlock 2024 conference. Unlock is a civic summit showcasing the latest trends at the nexus of activism, media and technology in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The call for applications and proposals for Unlock 2025 is now open, through December 29, 2024. https://www.praguecivilsociety.org/events/open-call-unlock-2025?lang=en Thanks for listening! PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in September 26, 2024 in Prague, Czechia. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig Associate Producer: Basil Fedun Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Background music by Denys Brodovskyi, Alex Productions. Closing Theme by Charlie Harper Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel www.msdaniel.com

    31 min

  3. 10/06/2024

    The German Perspective: NATO, Ukraine, and Russian Information Operations

    On this episode, Basil speaks with Lieutenant Colonel Martin Wroblewski, PhD, a seasoned officer in the German Army with deep insights into the intricacies of European security dynamics. They delve into the German role in NATO and in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, as well as Russian information operations as they pertain to Germany. LTC Wroblewski shares his expertise on the importance of developing interoperability within NATO forces, the strategic partnership between America and Germany, the critical role of information operations in modern warfare, and strategies for enhancing resiliency in the face of evolving threats particularly in the cyber domain. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST LTC Dr. Martin Wroblewski is a native of Germany and a graduate of the University of Bonn, Germany. LTC Wroblewski joined the German Army as an active duty officer in 2016. He graduated from Infantry School in Hammelburg, German Army Officer School in Dresden and the German PSYOP Officer Qualification and Advanced Course in Mayen. Additionally, he attended various courses on Human Intelligence, Behavior Analysis, Advanced Target Audience Analysis as well as several PSYOP- and INFOOP-related trainings at the NATO School in Oberammergau. During his service at the Bundeswehr Operations Communication Center in Mayen, he served as an Information Environment Analyst and as the Sub-Unit Leader Target Audience Analysis of a Psyop Company. In 2019/2020 LTC Wroblewski was deployed with the 6th German Contingent to Enhanced Forward Presence in Rukla, Lithuania. There he held the position of Chief Information Operations. After returning from deployment his duty focus was on the refinement of TAA processes, eFP-related instructor duties, and product development in regards to hybrid threats with a regional emphasis on eastern Europe. In June 2021 he successfully completed the PSYOP Qualification Course at USAJFKSWCS. Starting in September 2021 he serves as an XO with the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) in Fort Liberty (previously Fort Bragg), NC. LTC Wroblewski holds a Master of Arts in Medieval and Modern History, Constitutional, Social and Economic History as well as Modern English Language and Literature from the University of Bonn, Germany. In 2016 he graduated from the PhD program at the University of Bonn in History after an extensive research project with the German Foreign Ministry. Before his career as an active duty officer, LTC Dr. Wroblewski had several years of experience as a private school teacher and public relations consultant. His military awards and decorations include the German and Lithuanian Deployment Medal, the German PSYOP Badge in bronze as well as other medals and awards. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in September 2024. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavx@connexions.ai and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions, Dirk Dehler, Joey Hendrixx Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel | slavx.org | connexions.ai Visit the Texas Podcast Network for more great podcasts.

    21 min

  4. 09/29/2024

    "Bad Romance": Sex, Spies, and Lies from the Cold War

    On this episode, Josh Sanborn joins Lera and Sergio to talk about his latest cultural research on spies and spy fiction from the Cold War, and the fascinating interplay between the Intelligence Community and the fiction world. In his forthcoming book project Bad Romance, Josh unpacks famed novels such as From Russia with Love and Soviet films and how the portrayal of espionage and covert action differs between the West and the USSR. Thanks for listening! About the Guest Joshua Sanborn is professor of history at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire (Oxford University Press, 2014), Drafting the Russian Nation: Military Conscription, Total War, and Mass Politics, 1905-1925 (Northern Illinois University Press, 2003), and the co-author of Gender, Sex, and the Shaping of Modern Europe, 3rd revised and expanded edition (Bloomsbury, 2022). He is currently working on a new project on scientists, spies, and the narratives created about them in the Cold War.  He teaches a variety of courses on the history of Russia and Eastern Europe, including surveys of Russian history and seminars on the global history of 1968, the Cold War, and on human rights. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Chicago at the 2022 ASEEES Convention. If you have any questions, email us at slavx@connexions.ai. PRODUCTION CREDITS Hosts: Lera Toropin, Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Closing Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Audiorezout); sound bites from "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love" Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel | www.msdaniel.com | https://connexions.ai

    29 min

  5. 09/15/2024

    Stable Division: Belarus & the Continued Battle for Democracy

    "When we think about the War in Ukraine, we should think about Belarus as well," says Ryhor Astapenia, founder and research director of the Centre for New Ideas, a Minsk-based non-partisan civil society organization promoting democratic reforms in Belarus. On this episode, Ryhor shares with us about the importance of Belarus in the European security theater, the role of independent media in promoting democracy among Belarussians, and Aleksandr Lukashenko's support for Putin's agenda and the Russian wartime economy. Thanks for listening. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit ⁠⁠https://unlockprague.com⁠⁠ for more information. PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Nicholas Pierce Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Closing Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Beat Mekanik, Audiorezout) Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com | https://connexions.ai

    20 min

  6. 09/05/2024

    "We're all in cyberspace together": Digital Literacy from Ukraine to the World

    On this episode, recorded at UNLOCK Prague 2024, SlavX host Kate speaks with Anastasiia Apetyk, a lawyer and expert on information rights and digital security. Since 2017, at the Expert Centre for Human Rights (Kyiv, Ukraine), Anastasiia has been researching security issues at the community level, problems of information and digital rights, data protection, and digital security. She advises on and develops training programs in the field of digital rights and digital security for executive authorities and local government. She is co-founder of the public organization MINZMIN where she directs the development of educational materials on digital security. She is the author of the first online course in Ukraine, Digital Rights and Child Safety. She is a Forbes Top 30 Under 30 in Ukraine. Thanks for listening! PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit ⁠https://unlockprague.com⁠ for more information. PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Beat Mekanik, Bleu "Tequila") Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

    38 min

  7. 08/25/2024

    "I tried the 'Truth' thing": Telegram, Free Speech, and the Debunking Dilemma

    In this episode, Basil and Misha sit down with Maksim Dvorovyi to discuss his work on digital advocacy in Ukraine and globally, the potential banning of Telegram due to its lack of content regulation, and the trouble with debunking as a method for countering disinformation. We hope you enjoy! ABOUT THE GUEST Maksym Dvorovyi (@dvorovyi) is a Kyiv-based digital rights and media law & policy expert, currently legal counsel with the NGO Digital Security Lab Ukraine. Since 2015, he has been actively engaged in media law and policy reform in Ukraine including the tracks of public service broadcasting, traditional media and platform regulation. He also organized, judged, participated in, and coached teams for various moot court competitions in public international law and international human rights law, such as Jessup, Telders, and Price. He is also on LinkedIn. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit https://unlockprague.com for more information. PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Host/Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Audiorezout) Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

    21 min

  8. 08/13/2024

    It's Complicated: North Macedonia, Historiography, and Indigenous Nations

    In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Keith Brown, a distinguished anthropologist from Arizona State University's Melikian Center. Dr. Brown takes us on a deep dive into the rich and often contentious history of Macedonia, exploring the complexities of historiography and the narratives that shape our understanding of the Balkan region. Join us as Dr. Brown shares his unique journey into the study of Macedonia, revealing how personal and historical narratives intertwine in the pursuit of knowledge. ABOUT THE GUEST Keith Brown is the Director of the Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, and Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. During 2021-22 he was on research leave as a Core Fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago and a BA in classics from Oxford University. His work focuses on history, culture and politics in the Western Balkans, with a particular emphasis on 20th century Macedonia. He has spent extended time in the region, and his published works include The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation (Princeton University Press, 2003) and Loyal Unto Death: Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia (Indiana University Press, 2013). PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 02, 2023 at the ASEEES Convention in Philadelphia. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Host/Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Host/Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Blue Dot Sessions) Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

    38 min
See All (212)

4.9
out of 5
39 Ratings

About

An international chat show on the politics, history, current events, and peoples of the Slavic world, sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and Clements Center for National Security. Whether you're a Slavophile, a foreign affairs junkie, or simply a curious mind, The Slavic Connexion offers insightful, accessible, and even fun discussions on the sprawling region in the context of our hyperconnected world. "It's not typical Texas..."

Information

  • Creator
    Connexions
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    212
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Connexions
  • Show Website
    The Slavic Connexion

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada