This week, Cameron dives into Frederick Wiseman’s 2002 film “The Last Letter,” a dramatization of one chapter of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate: the final letter Anna Semionova writes her son, Viktor Shtrum, from a Jewish ghetto.

We’ll get into how Wiseman adapts this troubling, poignant chapter into film, why I think this chapter is the best encapsulation of Grossman’s ideas in Life and Fate, and some thoughts on why he remains so provocative today. 

Quick note: At one point in this episode I misspeak and say that the Vlasovite Russian Liberation Army was entirely Russian, which was not the case. It was primarily made of of Russian former Red Army soldiers, but did include Soviet defectors of other ethnicities more broadly.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, you and Cameron get into some PREP WORK for an upcoming episode about Frederick Wiseman’s 2002 film “The Last Letter,” which dramatizes a chapter of Vassily Grossman’s Life and Fate. 

In preparation for that episode, we’ll read that dramatized chapter — Part 1, Chapter 18, Anna Semyonova’s final letter to her son, Viktor Shtrum — along with two other letters Grossman wrote to his mother after her death. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, Dr. José Vergara returns to the podcast to talk about Sasha Sokolov’s A School for Fools. The novel, first published in English in 1977, follows student so-and-so (and his double) as he attempts to tell events of his life. The novel doesn’t follow a linear plot — or even an easy-to-distinguish narrator — and puts you on your toes as you meander between stories.

Dr. Vergara is an associate professor of Russian in the Bryn Mawr College’s Department of Russian. He is the author of All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature, a co-editor of Reimagining Nabokov: Pedagogies for the 21st Century, and aa co-editor of the digital annotated edition of Sasha Sokolov’s Between Dog and Wolf.

Link to Encyclopedia of the Dog: https://encyclopediaofthedog.com/

The Embodied Language of Sasha Sokolov’s A School for Fools by José Vergara: https://doi.org/10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.97.3.0426

Sasha Sokolov: ‘Here Comes Everybody’ Meets ‘Those Who Came’ by José Vergara: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv1fkgbqh.9

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron takes on the back half of Andrei Platonov’s Chevengur, covering chapters 25-43. As our characters finally arrive in the town of Chevengur, we go from a picaresque romp around the newly-Soviet countryside into the dirty work of actually building Communism. 

“Danger and Deliverance: Reading Andrei Platonov” by Angela Livingstone

“Chevengur: On the Road with Bolshevik Utopia” by David Bethea in The Shape of Apocalypse in Modern Russian Fiction

“Chevengur: Buried in the Family Plot” by Elior Borenstein in Men without Women: Masculinity and Revolution in Russian Fiction, 1917-1929

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron returns to the beginning of Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Ukrainian Trilogy with “Zvenihora.” The film, released in 1928, explores a thousand years of Ukrainian history — spanning from Varangian invasion to the rise of the Soviet Union. The film is a fascinating take on Soviet film, mashing together Ukrainian culture and the new, Soviet reality.

You may have noticed this episode is two hours long….so, I decided to look into why I was finding inconsistent information on Dovzhenko’s life in the episode on “Earth.” Turns out, there’s a good reason for that. Oh, boy, do we get into that in this episode.

Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s 1939 autobiography

My notes on George Liber’s Alexander Dovzhenko: A Life in Soviet Film

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, we see that every author starts somewhere in Anton Chekhov, Earliest Stories: Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880-1882. To talk about Chekhov’s earliest published stories, Cameron sits down with Elena Michajlowska and Rosamund Bartlett. The pair not only edited the collection, but also oversaw the unusual editing process that involved 83 other translators across the world.

They’ll talk about where Chekhov was this early in his career, the editing process and what kinds of stories we find among this juvanalia. 

Book tickets for Rosamund and Elena’s event at Pushkin House here.

Follow the Anton Chekhov Foundation on Instagram @antonchekhovfoundation 

Read more on the foundation’s blog here.

Check out their website antonchekhovfoundation.org

Learn more about the Early Chekhov Translation Project here

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, Cameron talks a little bit about director Sergei Parajanov’s “Sayat Nova” (also known as The Color of Pomegranates), and five other films he really liked this year. 

Want to see the video version of this episode? Check it out here: https://youtu.be/khXaVt0ilFc

Also, sorry, the name of the theater is Dreamland Cinema. I forgot to say that in the video. 

An Analysis of the Color of Pomegranates by YouTuber Blythe

Sinners and the Death of Black art by YouTube F. D. Signifier

Goodnight Irene, dir. by Sterlin Harjo

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, Cameron dives into the final entry into Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Silent Trilogy, “Earth” (1930). The film’s deceptively simple plot—of a tractor delivery to a collectivizing village in Ukraine is followed by the murder of a local Bolshevik organizer—doesn’t hinder its avant-garde stylings, employing a montage of loose logical associations better described as dream logic, moving from people to fruit to threshing in a way that demands your attention. 

Yeah, that’s right — I’m arguing that a socialist realist work about tractors is super interesting. A novel concept for the podcast, I know. 

You can watch Earth (1930) in excellent quality here: “Earth” (1930) x biju

Offscreen Dreams and Collective Synthesis in Dovzhenko’s Earth by Elizabeth A. Papazian

All in the Foreground: A Study of Dovzhenko’s Earth by Gilberto Perez

Dovzhenko: Folk Tale and Revolution by Gilberto Perez

Death and life on Alexander Dovzhenko by Jonathan Rosenbaum

The Dovzhenko Papers by Marco Carynnyk

Who is Hidden behind the Figure of a Genius? The Context of Dovzhenko’s Work by Anna Tsymbal 

Subversions in Dovzhenko’s Earth by Romana M. Bahry

“Ukranian masterpieces: Earth (1930) - Dovzhenko”

Earth: Analysis of Film Form, Auteur Characteristics and Context

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Ally Pitts — host of A Russian & Soviet Movie Podcast — joins Cameron to talk about the book Not Russian by Mikhail Shevelev. The book follows veteran journalist Pavel Vladimirovich as an old friend’s sudden reappearance at the head of a terror attack forces him to reflect on his history as a Russian journalist and how things turned out this way. 

You can find Ally on his Twitter @Alistair_Pitts and on Instagram under @ally_pitts_movies_etc. You can find A Russian & Soviet Movie podcast anywhere you listen to your audio. 

Our prior episode with Ally on Anna Karenina film adaptations.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron dives into Andrei Platonov’s Chevengur, covering chapters 1 through 25. Through the late Russian Empire into the early Soviet Union, Sasha Dvanov is finally orphaned when his fisherman father drowns in an attempt to understand his all-knowing, deathless fish. Growing up in the shuffling shadow of the new world, he joins the Bolshevik party and seeks to spread communism. 

This episode covers his adventures trying to find out if the peasants have, after the abdication of the Tsar, suddenly begun to embrace communist lives. From anarchist militias to a Bolshevik Fyodor Dostoevsky, he finds little to approve of in the countryside.

Check out our old episode covering The Cow and the Third Son.

A Companion to Andrei Platonov’s “The Foundation Pit” by Thomas Seyfrid.

Time out of line: Sequence and plot in Andrei Platonov’s Chevengur by by Hallie A. White

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron returns to Vasily Grossman, covering his first novel of World War II, The People Immortal. The novel follows the Red Army through the early days of the war: losing battles, ceding ever more ground, and quickly losing hope. 

Although this novel doesn’t contain the philosophical and critical heights of his later two novels, The People Immortal yet captures Grossman’s foundational commitment to telling the truth. The truth of the Red Army being beaten back, the fact that some—tired of the abuses of the Soviet Union—welcomed the invaders, and what awaited people overtaken by the Wehrmacht. 

An early work, less mature, and yet one well worth reading.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, Cameron dives into Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic and Hai Fan’s Delicious Hunger, trying to probe the question plaguing recent episodes: “What is the value of art during wartime?”

Deaf Republic tells an all-too-familiar parable of a town under occupation, subjected to abuse and murder, and how the people there chose their own forms of resistance to occupation. 

Delicious Hunger tackles the issue from another angle: Hai Fan is the pen name for Ang Tiam Huat, a guerilla who fought for the Malaysian Communist Party for over a decade. His book fictionalizes the stories and struggles of his comrades during their years in the rainforest. 

Hai Fan’s interview during Ethos Books’ launch party for Delicious Hunger.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Since we have the time, I wanted to take a step back and discuss the ever-evolving reason for this podcast. It's hard to talk about "just" literature right now. But I think it's still worthwhile. We'll go over that and what's coming up next.

This week, Cameron continues speaking about Yevgenia Belorusets’ work with War Diary and also explores the experience of women living through war in Merce Rodoreda’s The Time of Doves. 

War Diary catalogues the first 40 days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capturing the turbulence and violence while never forgetting to focus on the human element. Belorusets’ writing is a powerful call against apathy and a reminder to not forget what is human in man. 

The Time of Doves follows Natalia, a Catalan woman in a new marriage in the years prior, during and after the Spanish Civil War. Rodoreda’s writing depicts the anxiety of being a woman — subject to an overly-expectant husband, keeping house and kids while earning rent money. The flow-of-consciousness style gives you an intimate look into Natalia’s experiences, sometimes blatantly and sometimes merely hinting at the things in her subconscious. 

Read the entries of War Diary at https://www.isolarii.com/kyiv

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron talks about unreliable narrators in Yevgenia Belorusets’ Lucky Breaks and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, posing an unusual argument: what if lying to your reader was a good thing?

Belorusets is a Ukrainian writer whose work focuses on the people marginalized by society and takes that eye toward the East, writing stories of women from the Donbas region after war broke out in 2014. Her work brings a light to stories often left untold — and even poses questions about the morality of doing so. 

Yevgenia Belorusets’ website

“The Complaint Against Language” in Wartime Ukraine: A Conversation with Yevgenia Belorusets, interview by Eugene Ostashevsky

Yevgenia Belorusets Focus On Ukraine, Creative Horizons (video, 2024)

One Day More — Yevgenia Belorusets’ visit to Brussels

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, in For Your Consideration, Cameron dives into Belarusian writer Alhierd Bacharevič’s Alindarka’s Children and Laguna-Pueblo-American writer Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. Both novels explore people native to a land that is now, in different ways, hostile to them. 

Alindarka’s Children follows Avi and Sia’s fairy tale-like journey escaping a camp where they’re fed “vitamins” and taught to speak the correct Lingo, rejecting their own language. Their trip is beset by an unstable father, who insistantly passed their native Leid, a forest witch, a “corrected” hunter and other dangers. Written in both English and Scots to capture the Russian and Belarusian of the original, the novel challenges the reader’s understanding of linguistic and cultural preservation. 

Ceremony is downstream of Marmon Silko’s brief attempt to write a humorous story about the native WW2 veterans of her childhood, who often drank heavily to deal with their trauma. As the wrote, though, she found that it really wasn’t very funny at all. Her exploration of Tayo’s PTSD, and the struggle to find a way forward, is a profoundly empathetic approach to everyone involved. 

Alhierd Bacharevič: “Belarus is the place where literary subjects are just lying under our feet.”

Special Problems in Teaching Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony” by Paula Gunn Allen

I have lost everything: The impact of homeless sweeps - Propublica

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron dives into William T. Vollmann’s Europe Central and Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. The uniting theme this week: reflection and memory. Both novels cast a long shadow over his life, so it’s time to untangle exactly why that is. 

Can Europe Central be cleanly read as a series of parables? Is it appropriate to turn Hitler into a sort-of fairy tale? Is it a red flag that Cameron has read Norwegian Wood six times? Tune in to find your answers. 

“Shostakovich in Love: William T. Vollmann’s Europe Central” by Peter G. Christiansen

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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This week, Cameron dives solo into two books: Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me by Teffi and In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien. He’ll pull apart their authors’ mutual love for taking a creative license to their own lives.

Major themes: Emotional truth, social expectations, Vietnam

The interview with Tim O’Brien I read from.

The documentary on My Lai I mentioned.

Seymour Hersh’s article on My Lai 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

Pick up a copy of The Story of Sonechka here.

This week, Cameron dives into Marina Tsvetaeva’s The Story of Sonechka, a recollection of her relationship with the actress Sonia Holliday in Moscow, 1919. The story — one of the clearest examples of queer literature we’ve had on the podcast — reflects not only Marina and Sonia themselves, but also questions on relationships, memory and how we understand each other. 

Joining him to talk about the novel is Inessa Fishbeyn and C. D. C. Reeve, who translated The Story of Sonechka into English for the first time. 

Fishbeyn is an independent writer and translator of Russian literature, born and educated in Kazan, Russia. 

Reeve is DKE Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he specializes in ancient Greek philosophy and has translated many of the works of Plato and Aristotle and written books, commentaries, and essays on them. 

Major themes: Love Triangles, Queer literature, Knowing the other

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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If you'd like to join our monthly book club, you can join our discord here.

This week, Cameron dives into Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych’s The Moscoviad, a picaresque-cum-magical realist novel following the poet Otto von F. as he spends one day trying to accomplish a few chores around Moscow: a visit to a meeting, a reunion with a sort-of girlfriend, and a gift for his friend’s children. 

This journey takes him to beer halls, into the sewers, into the attention of the KGB and beyond. Set in the very late Soviet Union, Andrukhovych tackles the place of colonized subject in imperial core, the uneasy “friendship of peoples,” and life in a failing empire. 

Joining him to talk about the novel is Dr. Vitaly Chernetsky. A professor at the University of Kansas, Chernetsky is the author of the book Mapping Postcommunist Cultures: Russia and Ukraine in the Context of Globalization. In addition to The Moscoviad, he has translated into English Yuri Andrukovych’s Twelve Circles, Sophia Andrukovych’s Felix Austria, along with two poetry collections, scholarly articles and historical documents. 

He is the president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and has previously served as the director of the University of Kansas’ Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, the president of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies, and the president of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 

Major themes: Empire, beer vending machines, subverted machismo

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Cameron dives into the poetry of Vsevolod Nekrasov, joined by Bela Shayevich and Ainsley Morse who collected and translated works spanning much of his life in I Live I See: Selected Poems.

Born in the USSR in 1934 and writing—mostly unofficially—through the end of his life in 2009 now in the Russian Federation, Vsevolod Nekrasov’s work is largely minimalist and deploys repetition like a musical motif. Some works span pages, while others are no more than a word reflecting itself. His work demands to be read aloud, to a crowd or even just one person. 

Ainsley Morse is an associate professor in UC San Diego’s department of literature. She’s a scholar of 20th and 21st century literature and culture of the post-war Soviet period, particularly unofficial or “underground” poetry, as well as the avant-garde, children's literature and contemporary poetry. She also translates from Russian, Ukrainian, and Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian. 

Bela Shayevich is a Soviet American writer and translator. She is best known for her translation of 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexi-ye-vich’s Secondhand Time, for which she was awarded the TA First Translation Prize. She has also translated Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. Her writing has appeared in n+1, Jewish Currents, and Harper’s Magazine. She teaches in the Department of Translation at the University of Iowa. 

Major themes: Repetition, Making words mean something, visual poetry

1:36:40 - Elena Kostyuchenko’s I Love Russia 

1:37:10 - Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, The Art of Fiction No. 267

1:39:40 - Goat Song by Konstantin Vaginov

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Cameron ascends into the towering heights of imperial politics in Yaroslav Barsukov’s Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov. The novel follows Shea Ashcroft, an imperial minister whose refusal to gas protesting citizenry has earned him a reassignment to a border region to oversee a fantastical military project. With no one truly on his side and managing strange technologies, Ashcrofts finds himself increasingly out of his depth.

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory includes and expands on Barsukov’s earlier novella Tower of Mud and Straw. It’s been nominated for a Nebula Award and received a Kirkus Reviews star.

Joining Cameron to talk about the novel is Yaroslav himself. 

Born and raised in Moscow and now living in Austria for quite some time, Yaroslav’s background is in physics and software engineering. His writing career stems from game design, in a manner of speaking. He took up his pen around 2014 after quite enjoying the work of translating a game’s mythology for a pitch

Major themes: Suspicions of war, alien technologies, memory

10:18 - Barsukov’s interview with the podcast “From the Lighthouse”

26:54 - First correction I’ve had to issue in a while — I misremembered the name of the film, which is actually Protozanov’s “Aelita,” not “Anta Odeli Uta,” which is a phrase in the film. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com.

This week, Cameron dives back into the work of Leo Tolstoy to talk about one of his later works, Hadji Murat. He’s joined by podcast returnee Dr. Tatyana Gershkovich, whose book Art in Doubt analyzes Tolstoy and Vladimir Nakokov’s approaches to skepticism, to talk about the work, Tolstoy’s work What is Art?, and discuss how his approaches to “true” and “untrue” art affect the novel. 

Gershkovich is the William S. Dietrich II Associate Professor of Russian Studies at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the author of Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds, published by Northwestern University Press. She’s also written essays published in PMLA, the Slavic and Eastern European Journal, the Journal of the History of Ideas, the Paris Review, and more.

Major themes: True and untrue art, aesthetic responsiveness, Perceptions of warfare

01:11 - Check out our episode on Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata with Dr. Tatyana Gershkovich.

01:25 - Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds by Dr. Tatyana Gershkovich

58:35 - Silhouettes of Russian Writers: Literary and Philosophical Essays by Yuli Aikhenvald

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Cameron revisits Baqytgul Sarmekova’s To Hell With Poets with the help of the collection’s translator, Mirgul Kali. Together, they’ll dive back into how Sarmekova explores both Kazakh society and more universal themes through violence, disappointment and hope. Plus, learn a little more about Sarmekova herself as well as some of the peculiarities of translating from Kazakh into English. 

Mirgul Kali is a literary translator working from Kazakh language. Her translations of short stories by classic and contemporary Kazakh writers have appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Electric Literature, The Massachusetts Review, Gulf Coast, Words Without Borders, and other publications. A graduate of MFA program in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, she received a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and a PEN Translates award for her translation of Baqytgul Sarmekova’s To Hell with Poets, a short story collection published by Tilted Axis Press in March 2024.

01:03:49 - Sins of the Mother: Unsettling Matrilineal Inheritance in East Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus

Major themes: Kazakh cultural context, thematic universality, blonde dyed Lady Hope

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Show Notes:

This week, Cameron dives into the collection I Burned at the Feast: Selected Poems of Arseny Tarkovsky. You have almost certainly heard of virtuosic filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, but his father might be less familiar to you. Yet, you may still have heard his work — Tarkovsky the younger includes recordings of Arseny reading his own poetry in Mirror and Stalker. 

To get into the nitty-gritty of Arseny Tarkovsky’s ranging poetry about life, death, WWII, family, and his contemporaries, Cameron’s joined by Philip J. Metres and Dimitri Psurtsev, who collected and translated the poems within. 

Philip J. Metres is a poet, scholar, translator, essayist, and peacebuilder. He is the author of twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge, Shrapnel Maps, The Sound of Listening, and Sand Opera. His work has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Watson Foundation. He has been awarded the Adrienne Rich Award, three Arab American Book Awards, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and the Hunt Prize. Philip has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.” He is professor of English and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at John Carroll University. He is also Core Faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  

Dmitri Psurtsev is a Russian poet and translator of British and American prose-writers and poets. He has written five books of poetry — Ex Roma Tertia, Tengiz Notebook, Between, Tired Happiness, and Murka and Other Poems — and translated numerous books from English. Dimitri teaches translation at Moscow State Linguistic University.

Major themes: Sort-of immortality, Evolving conceptions of death, Competitive poets

01:31:53 - Check out Dimitri’s most recent work here (poetry in Russian) 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Cameron will dive into the novel Cecil the Lion Had to Die by Ukrainian historian, journalist, and novelist Olena Stiazhkina — a novel diving into the intricacies of family life and identity formation through the late Soviet Union, the chaotic years following, and into the early years of the war. 

He’s joined by Dominique Hoffman, who translated the novel, and has a great wealth of knowledge to share about the book, its characters, Olena herself and the context of its writing. 

Hoffman is a translator of Ukrainian fiction and non-fiction. Her work includes short stories, long form journalism, a full history of Ukraine in global context and novels. Her most recent publication is titled The Wild West of Eastern Europe: a Ukrainian Guide on Breaking Free from Empire by Pavlo Kazarin, winner of Ukraine's non-fiction book of the year. She has a particular interest in the intersections of literature and history.

Major themes: Material culture, clashing languages, forming oneself

Pick up a copy of the book yourself here!

07:16 - Writing in a Time of War: A Conversation with Ukrainian Historian and Novelist Olena Stizhkina

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Cameron gets into Avdotya Panaeva’s The Talnikov Family with its translator Fiona Bell. The novel, set in 1820s St. Petersburg, follows Natasha Talnikova’s life in an abusive household, setting readers into some of the lesser-read side of Imperial Russian life. 

Bell is a writer and scholar from St. Petersburg, Florida. She has published English-language translations of the Russian filmmaker Nataliya Meshchaninova, the Belarusian writer Tatsiana Zamirovskaya, and other Russophone authors. She is completing a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University, where studies the Russian racial imaginary as it was elaborated in the nineteenth-century literary canon, in works by writers like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

Major themes: Defamiliarization, Russian racial imaginary, Purported universality

18:11 - Check out our episode on Nikolai Cherneshevsky’s What Is To Be Done? 

30:04 - Some books on family abolition – Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care by M. E. O’Brien; Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation by Sophie Lewis

33:35 - As I’m editing this, I think it’s worthwhile to point to contemporary examples: the term “parent’s rights,” which so often really means “a parent’s unabridged sovereignty over a child,” has been deployed extensively throughout the U.S. (as well as other places) to justify cutting off a minor’s ability to choose what books they can read (if they’re legally allowed to go into a library at all), what music they can listen to, what friends they can or cannot have.

This is a complicated subject because adults have more experience — frankly, because they probably got to make those mistakes themselves — which they can and do use to guide children well. 

Yet this belief is also deployed in service of forcing children into a mold. Going back to the wave of restrictions on what books minors are allowed to read, you see parental (or non-parent activist) opposition to topics relating to sexuality, race, class, etc. because, well, they perceive it as an outside influence which will “turn” their child into something else. This perspective makes children into little more than objects to be shaped, not humans to be respectfully guided as they grow into the person they become. 

01:07:21 - The First Russian by Jennifer Wilson; 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Our Christmas gift to you is a non-clickbait title. Unusual for December, huh?

TL;DR:

Matt is going to be stepping back from the podcast for the time being.

Cameron will be continuing to produce episodes going forward, shifting the focus toward interviewing translators and authors about their work.

Will the boys ride again? It's an open question. Listen to the podcast for the full story.

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into the short story “The Performance,” from Sergei Dovlatov’s book The Zone. Get ready to dive into the most underrepresented point-of-view in the Soviet camp system: the guards. Well, kind of. Get ready to get stagnant and talk a bit about the state of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, but mostly about a play in a prison camp where all the old Bolsheviks are played by prisoners. Ideological confusion abounds. 

Major themes: The real no-termers, dirty reality & brilliant falsehood, theater of absurdity

06:29 - The Russians by Hedgewick Smith

06:39 - Antiheroes in a Post-Heroic Age: Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Makanin, and Cold War Malaise by Angela Brintlinger

08:12 - Part 1 of our two-part series on Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina (I won’t link the second part here, because Part 2 has more listens than Part 1. Who are you people listening to just Part 2? Show yourselves. Explain.)

8:15 - Our episode on Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales. 

27:43 - Unfortunately it’s only available in Russian, but check out the Prep Guide for the episode on our website for a relevant except

32:50 - Philosophy experts please don’t come for my neck. Also, for laypeople: you should be aware that this idea was not specifically applied to the progression of history, but was rather applied to gaining knowledge. The idea, however, later came to be applied more broadly by others. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron get into their last Office Hours of the year, tackling the future of literature, whether or not Tolstoy is still relevant, which Russian literature icon would win in a rap battle and — most importantly — the tale of John Moritsugu, a man who tricked PBS into funding filth. God bless public broadcasting. 

Major themes: Raskolnikov the rap god, The future of art, Tricking PBS

05:41 - That publisher being Spuyten Duyvil, whose fantastic website you should visit. 

06:31 - The Talnikov Family by Avdotya Panaeva, translated by Fiona Bell

06:56- Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets

07:11 - Alindarka’s Children by Alhierd Bacharevic

31:09 - Super secret show notes link

49:20 - Terminal USA dir. John Moritsugu

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron learn about narrative-causes and narrative-effects in The UnSimple, a novella by Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko and translated by Uilliam Blacker. Set in the Carpathians through the first half of the 20th century, the story follows Anna, Franz, Anna, Sebastian, Anna, and Anna — no, that’s not a typo — as their picaresque lives overlap with the earthly gods known as the UnSimple. Grab your glass of gin, and get ready to get really confused. 

Major themes: We can never escape Benedict Anderson, Bai-narrative, Quasi-history

02:13 - Ukrainian Literature, volume 2

05:25 - Here are the interviews I’ll be referencing throughout the episode:

Taras Prokhasko: “Literature is a Lonely Business”

Taras Prokhasko: The Ukrainian idea is connected with gentle sitting

Taras Prokhasko, writer: Ukrainian literature is still at the level of domestic literature

Talking at the shelter about what matters. Taras Prokhasko. 

06:02 - Taras Prokhasko’s bio on the White Chalk of Days website

08:48 - Uilliam Blacker’s website

09:09 - Earth Gods: Writings from before the war

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dig into the short story collection To Hell WIth Poets, authored by Kazakh writer Baqytgul Sarmekova and translated by Mirgul Kali. The collection, published in English by Tilted Axis Press in 2024, explores rural-urban divides (with a focus on the dissatisfaction life doles out on both sides), troubled people, sexual exploitation, and the indulgence of nostalgia. Although the entire collection is worthwhile, they’ll be covering the stories “The Night the Rose Wept,” “To Hell with Poets” parts 1 and 2, as well as “The Taming of Aqtory.” Grab your qurt and tune in! 

Major themes: Aul literature, Looking for satisfaction, Having two faces

01:49 - To Hell With Poets was actually published earlier this year, not last. I think I got this mixed up with the collection’s English PEN Translates award, which it did receive in 2023.

05:28 - Turkoslavia’s website.

06:34 - Baqytgul Sarmekova speaking on Tilted Axis Press’ Instagram.

10:37 - Mirgul Kali on the Harshaneeyam podcast

20:12 - An interview with Mirgul Kali and Baqytgul Sarmekova by Alma Review

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Amazon⁠!

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron host Office Hours, speaking about the wider state of reading as well as some non-Slavic lit they’ve been getting in to. Tune in to find their opinions about Lament for Julia by Susan Taubes and Z by Vassilis Vassilikos, whether or not literary analysis has any meaning at all, and whether we’re too concerned with what straight men are reading. Grab your extra credit and tune in! 

Major themes: A.I. bait, straight men and novels, TikTok killed the author-star

15:06 - As an example of what I’m talking about here: Playing Cops: Militia Member Aids Police in Arresting Protester at Portland Alt-Right Rally by Arun Gupta

36:06 - Piss Christ

53:06 - “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books”

01:08:08 - The Combahee River Collective

“This focusing upon our own oppression is embodied in the concept of identity politics. We believe that the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else’s oppression. In the case of Black women this is a particularly repugnant, dangerous, threatening, and therefore revolutionary concept because it is obvious from looking at all the political movements that have preceded us that anyone is more worthy of liberation than ourselves. We reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough.”

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark film Strike! (1925) to get a better look into his foundational ideas around montage and film composition amidst a tragic tale of a failed strike. Yes, they will be talking about the cow scene for most of the episode. Not sure what we’re talking about? You’ll have to tune in to find out. 

Major themes: Cow slaughter, Influencing the audience, Everything is montage

01:30 - Mosfilm’s youtube channel actually does not have Strike!, but it does have many of Eisenstein’s other works. You can find decent versions of Strike! posted by other Youtube channels, though.  

03:21 - Film Form: Essays in Film Theory by Sergei Eistenstein, ed. and trans. by Jay Leyda

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Andriy Sodomora’s short story collection The Tears & Smiles of Things with the help of its translators Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi. The collection draws together Sodomora’s reflections on life, ancient texts, and the difficulties of translation. The book holds the subtitle “Stories, Sketches, Meditations.” It’s never easy to tell which is which — if indeed a clear delineation can be made at all — but Jaszi and Ivashkiv do their best to help the pair untangle it. 

Roman Ivashkiv teaches Slavic languages, literatures, and cultures at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. His research interests include translation, comparative literature, and language pedagogy. Currently, he is writing a monograph on transmesis (i.e., fictional representation of translation and translators) in contemporary Ukrainian literature and film. 

Sabrina Jaszi is a translator of Uzbek, Russophone, and Ukrainian literature based in Oakland, CA. She is a co-founder of the Turkoslavia translation collective and journal, both dedicated to Turkic and Slavic literature in translation. Currently, she is writing a dissertation on modern Central Asian literature at UC Berkeley. 

Major themes: Reading antiquity, Tears and smiles, Translating translators

We have included links where you can purchase a copy of The Tears & Smiles of Things later in these notes. 

25:02 - “Andriy Sodomora: “There are two paths that a translator can choose before their journey into the world of foreign languages: The first, long and difficult, will lead to the author, the other, shorter one, - leads to the reader, who seeks instant enjoyment.” by Bogdana Romantsova 

25:40 - *Room without a Shadow, excuse me

01:09:30 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

01:09:38 - Timothy Snyder’s history of Ukraine Yale courses on Youtube

01:10:02 - Victoria Amelina, whose book Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary is set to be published in February 2025. 

01:10:12 - The publication section of Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute.

01:10:15 - Lost Horse Press

01:11:22 - Stanislav Aseyev’s In Isolation: Dispatches from the Occupied Donbas

01:12:10 - There isn’t a lot on Sukhbat Aflatuni, but here’s a review of one of his novels by translator Lisa Hayden. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron talk Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, dropping the nuclear bomb (a timely conversation), and torturing your roommates by cooking cabbage. They’ll also be getting into a topic that everyone has been dying to know more about: Jordan Peterson Academy. Well…maybe not, no one has asked us about it, but Cameron is dying to know how they got his email. Get read to get real anti-intellectual and tune in! 

Major themes: Lackluster dystopias, Cabbage torture, Jordan Peterson Academy

6:45 - It Can’t Happen Here is indeed authored by Sinclair Lewis.

41:42 - Politely and calmly discussing 1984

43:07 - Actually, his Master’s was in medical botany, but his PhD was in nutritional ethnomedicine.

50:06 - “Controversial professor Jordan Peterson retires from tenured position at U of T” by Lauren Alexander, Tahmeed Shafiq

1:03:42 “Churchill’s policies to blame for millions of Indian famine deaths, study says” by Bard Wilkinson

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron are down with the sickness of Schulzomania, covering parts of the short story collection “The Street of Crocodiles” by Polish-Jewish literary superstar Bruno Schulz. They’ll be talking about “Visitation,” “Tailor’s Dummies,” and the eponymous “The Street of Crocodiles,” delving deep into Schulz’s surreal vision of his family and city. Order versus chaos, taking the formation of matter into our own hands, seductive tickling — we’ve got it all here! Get ready for it to get real confusing. 

Major themes: Torturing matter, Doomed eroticism, Unfinished modernity

01:51 - 1973, not later ‘70s. “The Hourglass Sanatorium.”

07:37 - “The Battle Over Bruno Schulz’s Final Works” by Adam Kirsch

30:42 - “Thinking about Absurdity with Bruno Schulz: Paradox and Potential” by Shlomit Gorin

51:27 - “Bruno Schulz and Seductive Discourse” by Jerzy Jarzębski

57:31 - “Are Crocodiles Flawless? The Reptiles Haven’t Changed in 200 Million Years” by Elizabeth Gamillo but counterpoint: “Modern Crocodiles Are Evolving at a Rapid Rate” by Riley Black

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron chart new territory by covering the novella Devil's Yard by Yugoslav writer, poet, and diplomat (at varying times) Ivo Andrić. Covering a story within a story, they’ll have plenty to say about the construction of narrative, storytelling from the core and periphery of empire, and what’s up with everybody talking about eyes, huh? Grab your prison blanket, find a safe spot to sleep in the yard, and tune in! 

Major themes: Narrative confusion, Residue of truth, The eyes have it

10:35 - “Narrative and Narrative Structure in Ivo Andric’s Devil’s Yard” by Mary P. Coote

00:00 - “Ivo Andric in English Translation” by Albert B. Lord

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Pick up a copy of The Czech Manuscripts here.

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Professor David L. Cooper to talk about his new book The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth. In the book, Dr. Cooper takes a new look at the so-called Czech Manuscripts — several forged literary works that played a large role in 19th Century Czech national identity-building — using several approaches to tackle what trends shaped them and how they were treated in turn. 

David L. Cooper is Associate Professor and Head of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A specialist in Czech and Russian literatures, his research is in the areas of nationalism in literature, forgery and mystification, translation history and translation studies, and history of criticism. David has published translations of Slovak folktales and a critical edition of the poems of the Czech 19th-century forged manuscripts, The Queen’s Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts with Other Forgeries of the Czech Revival (Ann Arbor, 2018).

Major themes: National identity, forgery or fiction, more medieval poetry

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Pick up a copy of Ochre & Rust from Green Linden Press’ website.

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron tackle some of the work of Sergey Gandlevsky, translated by Philip J. Metres and collected in Ochre & Rust. Tune in to hear more about one of Russia’s most celebrated modern poets, self-described outsider who drifted around the edges of the USSR (and, later, the Russian Federation) and cataloged his thoughts and experiences in his poems. 

Philip Metres is a poet, scholar, translator, essayist, and peacebuilder. He is the author of twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge (2024), Ochre & Rust: New Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky (2023), Shrapnel Maps (2020), The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance (2018), and Sand Opera (2015). His work has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Watson Foundation. He has been awarded the Adrienne Rich Award, three Arab American Book Awards, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and the Hunt Prize. Philip has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.” He is professor of English and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at John Carroll University. He is also Core Faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  

You can find more from Philip on his website and see some other links he’s shared on his linktree. 

Major themes: Prodigious drinking, After the USSR’s dissolution, Andrei Bolkonsky returns

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

You can pick up a copy of Dr. Maya Vinokour’s book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture here. 

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with Dr. Maya Vinokour to talk about her book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture and touch on Daniil Kharms’ short story “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink.” 

Dr. Vinokour is Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian & Slavic Studies at New York University and the author of Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture. Her interests include Stalinism and Nazism, late-Soviet science fiction, post-Soviet media, and the global Far Right. She recently published an article in Jacobin on a phenomenon she calls "lifestyle fascism."

Major themes: Flow, cosmic symbology, energy reserves

39:45 - “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink” by Daniil Kharms

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

They said it couldn’t be done; they said it was too much work; they say it was simply too much Grossman. (The ‘they’ here is Matt and Cameron, to be clear). This week, more than 7 months after starting their Life and Fate series, Matt and Cameron proved them (us) wrong by covering Chapters 49 through 61 of Part 3. It’s time to say goodbye to characters we’ve followed across nearly 900 pages (or around 1700 pages if you also read Stalingrad), with many of them going out on notes both painful and poignant. But the novel’s end does not imply the end of Grossman’s characters — you’ll get what we mean soon enough. 

Major themes: Bureaucracy, Stalingrad, the meaning of Life and Fate

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron stay in Stalingrad to the bitter end, covering Chapters 19 to 48 in Part 3 of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate. Stalin’s phone calls, the 6th Army’s surrender, and senseless kindness oh my! It’s all coming together. Get your horsemeat and get ready to tune in.

Major themes: Unrewarded kindness, family ties, the State and the individual

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into the 1924 film Aelita, directed by Yakov Protazanov, to learn more about very early Soviet sci-fi, New Economic Policy anxiety, and Martian socialist revolution. It’s the most fun you didn’t know you could have with a silent film. Get your plans for your rocket ship, write “Anta Odeli Uta” on your window, and tune in!

Major themes: Is popular media art?, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Sugar, 

12:51 - Cinema and Soviet Society: From the Revolution to the Death of Stalin by Peter Kenez

16:38 - “Women as Princesses or Comrades: Ambivalence in Yakov Protazanov’s ‘Aelita’ “ by Peter Christensen

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron return to the salt mines of Reddit to address some of the internet’s most asked questions, such as “Can atheists understand Dostoevsky?” and “Does Crime and Punishment ever get interesting?” Alongside that, they’ll also be talking about some novels and works they’d like to cover but don’t work with the normal format.

Major themes: Pierre winky face, Dostoevsky and atheists, Laurus

29:08 - We all make mistakes in the heat of passion, Jimbo. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron finish the encirclement of Paulus’ 6th Army in Stalingrad as they cover Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate from Part 2, Chapter 51 through Part 3, Chapter 18. After fighting from the back foot for months — exhausting all those still on the front line, civilian and soldier alike — it’s time for the USSR to swing two great hammers down into the fascist forces. Despite their victory, all is not well for the Red Army.

Major themes: Madonna and babe, redemptive humanism, gossip

29:08 - We all make mistakes in the heat of passion, Jimbo. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron get into Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s recently published collection of short stories “The Body of the Soul.” In particular, they’ll be covering “The Dragon and the Phoenix,” “A Man in a Mountainous Landscape,” and “Woof-woof.” They’ll be getting into the dynamics of building communities, death as a part of life, and the immaterial emotions we tie into our toys. 

Major themes: Death, dogs, the essential immortality of the soul

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron take a trip into the stacks to review and -- more importantly -- rank their back catalogue. Everything from Gogol's "The Nose" to Life and Fate, they'll be putting it under the microscope and giving you their thoughts on where it falls from S-tier to F-tier (which, of course, stands for: 'What were we f'ing thinking?). Plus you'll get some insight into every time they almost ended the podcast.

Major themes: reflection, tier lists, angry listener feedback

29:08 - We all make mistakes in the heat of passion, Jimbo. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks to Dominique for their thoughts in this episode.

This week, Matt and Cameron keep up the pace in Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate, covering Part 2, chapters 21 through 50. They’ll be covering everything from Klimov’s All Quiet on the Western Front moment in Battlefield Stalingrad to the death camps that take up much of the latter chapters for this part. Get ready to get sad, and tune in. 

Major themes: Why fight wars, no step on snake, not the purge exactly

01:02:19 - “Art and Politics” by William T. Vollman

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with Dr. Maya Vinokour to talk about her book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture and touch on Daniil Kharms’ short story “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink.” 

Dr. Vinokour is Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian & Slavic Studies at New York University and the author of Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture. Her interests include Stalinism and Nazism, late-Soviet science fiction, post-Soviet media, and the global Far Right. She recently published an article in Jacobin on a phenomenon she calls "lifestyle fascism."

Major themes: Flow, cosmic symbology, energy reserves

39:45 - “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink” by Daniil Kharms

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron decide to see what insights Book-Twitter has to offer by reading and reacting to some choice passages from Hit Reverse: New Ideas From Old Books by Jash Dholani. If you’ve ever read H.P. Lovecraft and decided, “yeah, I should get my views on governance from this guy,” boy is this the book for you. 

Head to visitmagnitogorsk.com to book your tour today! 

10:37 - “How Julius Evola Became the Internet’s Favorite Fascist” by Morgan Jones

56:01 - E.B. White and William Strunk, not E.B. Strunk lmao.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron continue their quest through Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate, covering Part 1, chs.61-70 along with Part 2, chs. 1-20. They’ll be going into greater depth about the state of Grossman’s world, the nature of fascism, and will dive a little bit into the nature of science in the USSR. 

Major themes: Provocative moral questions, totalitarian ideology, World War 2 worship

01:57 - Find “Life and Fate - Chapter A Day Read Along” anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever! 

3:52 - Sorry about the weird noises over this part! Tried to re-record it, but the issue kept popping back up. 

31:44 - This example comes to mind due to Jacob Geller’s video essay “Who’s Afraid of Modern Art?”

48:36 - Cesare is actually from the Island of Martinique, but was a French speaker. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dig into Ivan Bunin’s popular short story “Light Breathing” to talk about narrative chronology, whether Bunin really is the emigree Gorky, and why exactly every Slavic literature class makes its students read this piece at least once. 

Major themes: Philosopher ships, respecting tomes, the emigree Gorky 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron take some time to recap the syllabus to students in Office Hours. They’ll be recapping the Life and Fate Read Along so far, talk about Dostoevsky on Instagram, and then spend far too much time talking about the one, the only novel of its kind: Empress Theresa. 

Major themes: Read Along recap, Dosteovsky-gram, Empress Theresa

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron stay on the Life and Fate grind, covering Part 1’s chapters 32 through 60. Time to talk hospital tours, tank corp organization, and front-line commissars oh my! Get your canteen full of carefully boiled water and tune in! 

They’ll be briefly recapping the events covered in these chapters, but for a complete play-by-play, check out our daily read along episodes: the current’s month’s chapters will be in our main feed, and all previous month’s chapters can be found under Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate Read Along (available wherever you already listen to The Slavic Literature Pod). 

Major themes: Rehumanizing routine, totalizing systems and their believers, GrossmanGPT

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Professor David Cooper to talk about his new book The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth. In the book, Dr. Cooper takes a new look at the so-called Czech Manuscripts — several forged literary works that played a large role in 19th Century Czech national identity-building — using several approaches to tackle what trends shaped them and how they were treated in turn. 

Pick up a copy of The Czech Manuscripts here.

David L. Cooper is Associate Professor and Head of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A specialist in Czech and Russian literatures, his research is in the areas of nationalism in literature, forgery and mystification, translation history and translation studies, and history of criticism. David has published translations of Slovak folktales and a critical edition of the poems of the Czech 19th-century forged manuscripts, The Queen’s Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts with Other Forgeries of the Czech Revival (Ann Arbor, 2018).

Major themes: National identity, forgery or fiction, more medieval poetry

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Major themes: Dissertations, fears of sea monsters, DostoevskyGPT

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

You can sign up for our email list here, where we are currently sending daily analysis emails as part of our Life and Fate read along

This week, Matt and Cameron — after numerous daily episodes — start outlining some of the main themes covered in Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate, chapters 1-31, and talk a little (read: a lot) more about his life. Grab your flak vest and get ready for some front-line reporting, it’s time for the Gross-cast. 

Major themes: A wolfish era, memorialization not valorization, emerging identities

23:59 - “Free at Last: Vasily Grossman and the Battle for Stalingrad” by Carol Garrard and John Garrard

For more about Grossman’s life, we have sourced Alexandra Popoff’s book “Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century” quite heavily in producing this episode. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Pick up a copy of it here.

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Pick up a copy of Ochre & Rust from Green Linden Press’ website.

This week, Matt and Cameron tackle some of the work of Sergey Gandlevsky, translated by Philip J. Metres and collected in Ochre & Rust. Tune in to hear more about one of Russia’s most celebrated modern poets, self-described outsider who drifted around the edges of the USSR (and, later, the Russian Federation) and cataloged his thoughts and experiences in his poems. 

Philip Metres is a poet, scholar, translator, essayist, and peacebuilder. He is the author of twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge (2024), Ochre & Rust: New Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky (2023), Shrapnel Maps (2020), The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance (2018), and Sand Opera (2015). His work has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Watson Foundation. He has been awarded the Adrienne Rich Award, three Arab American Book Awards, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and the Hunt Prize. Philip has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.” He is professor of English and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at John Carroll University. He is also Core Faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  

You can find more from Philip on his website and see some other links he’s shared on his linktree. 

Major themes: Prodigious drinking, After the USSR’s dissolution, Andrei Bolkonsky returns

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 5 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks to Gabe and TomBombadillo for their thoughts in this episode.

This week, Matt and Cameron cover the short story “The Sulphur Spring” by the author Nadezhda Durova, and investigate its depiction of indigenous peoples, its ambiguous relationships, and sulphur as a health benefit for ungrateful children. Yep, it's a wide-ranging one. Grab your spring water and tune in!

Major themes: Improvised speaking, sulpher water, ambiguous relationships

07:54 - The (Un)making of a Man: Aleksandr Aleksandrov/Nadezhda Durova by Ruth Averbach

32:08 - It’s 1 verst to .66 miles, so bit of an overestimation there.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 4 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks to Leah, Ines, and Gabe for their thoughts in this episode.

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 3 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks to Leah and Mike Shaw for their thoughts in this episode.

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 2 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks to Leah, Sally, nattyboi24, Mike Shaw, Emma for their thoughts in this episode.

(If you think Cameron sounds worse than usual, it's because he rawdogged the recording into a laptop mic in an apparently abandoned part of the news station.)

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 1 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.

If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

Thanks for nattyboi 24 for their thoughts in this episode.

(If you think Cameron sounds worse than usual, it's because he rawdogged the recording into a laptop mic on his work patio.)

Note: This is a re-run of Vasily Grossman's "The Sistine Madonna."

Matt and Cameron have finished reading Stalingrad, but they aren’t yet done with Grossman. This week, they tackle his short story “The Sistine Madonna.” Written before the publication of Stalingrad and after he began to write Life and Fate, “The Sistine Madonna” is a piece about beauty, desperation, and hope for the future. Oh, and thermonuclear war. It covers a lot of ground. Grab your Bibles to track the religious analogies and tune in!

Major themes: Thanking our supporters, being thankful for our back catalog, good riddance to 2023

Check out our original airing of "The Sistine Madonna" for all the time-accurate show notes.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

So why are we asking for the money? To answer that, we recorded several short episodes covering our purpose (as we see it), how we plan to spend the money, and how we're looking to expand into the future.

This week, we'll talking about what's coming next for us. Of course, we'll be touching on our upcoming Life and Fate Read Along -- but it doesn't stop there. Tune in to find out.

Major themes: VASILY GROSSMAN VASILY GROSSMAN VASILY GROSSMAN

If you're interested in supporting us, you can do so here. We're calling it SAVE OUR SHOW, because we're asking for help paying for all the software, tools, and people who make this podcast work -- and to help us continue to do it well into the future.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

So why are we asking for the money? To answer that, we recorded several short episodes covering our purpose (as we see it), how we plan to spend the money, and how we're looking to expand into the future.

This week, we'll talking through what we intend to use your money for: for the tools we use, to help make our job more sustainable by hiring people to take on some of the tasks we've done for years now, and so on.

Major themes: sustainability and off-loading

If you're interested in supporting us, you can do so here. We're calling it SAVE OUR SHOW, because we're asking for help paying for all the software, tools, and people who make this podcast work -- and to help us continue to do it well into the future.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

So why are we asking for the money? To answer that, we recorded several short episodes covering our purpose (as we see it), how we plan to spend the money, and how we're looking to expand into the future.

This week, we'll covering the first point: what is the point of the Slavic Literature Pod and why have we been doing this for three years?

Major themes: good lord it's been three years

If you're interested in supporting us, you can do so here. We're calling it SAVE OUR SHOW, because we're asking for help paying for all the software, tools, and people who make this podcast work -- and to help us continue to do it well into the future.

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron wrap up Mikhail Bulgakov’s Soviet-era masterpiece The Master and Margarita, covering chapters 26 to the epilogue. Come see the Devil and a representative of Yeshua Ha-Nozri hack out the fate of our eponymous characters, as the Moscow investigators finally try to put a pin into this whole “magic” thing. 

Major themes: Comedy in translation, Ivan as creative process, PG shootouts for Americans

01:35 - “Soviet-era” literature, I should say 

04:03 - Covering “The Best Ever Death Metal Band from Denton” on I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats

14:55 - Clearly not beautiful enough for Matt to recall it much, though

41:13 - “‘The Master and Margarita’ as Creative Process” by Pierre Hart

52:22 - Two weeks before, sue me

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron finish the last three parts of Guzel Yakhina’s A Volga Tale, discuss fairytales as history, talk about best character Vaska, and think about billiards as a metaphor for World War II. Join us as we think about just what does the Volga mean. 

Major themes: Knowing The Big Lie, WWII as billiards, rivers as historical force 

43:56 - Part 1 of our series on Fyodor Gladkov’s Cement. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, it’s time for Office Hours, which Matt and Cameron are contractually obliged to hold at least once per quarter. This episode they’ll be revealing a little something-something that you should look forward to, talk about violence and discomfort in media, and spend a little time on Reddit. Just another day on campus.

Major themes: The Home Depot-Lowe’s spectrum, violence in media, Crime and Punishment and CCTV

04:40 - Our interview with Robert Chandler

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Content warning: there will be a brief mention of rape from 12:20 to 12:28. 

This week, Matt and Cameron get into their tuxes for a Devil’s Ball celebrated all the way from across the skies to the distorted apartments of Moscow, covering chapters 19 through 25 of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. They’ll be talking sex, they’ll be talking fairytale morality, and you bet they’ll be talking about dismembered heads. All in all, fairly normal things when you’re celebrating with hell’s annual ball. 

Major themes: Eroticism as individuality, fairytales as moral clarity, alternative afterlives 

21:26 - “Margarita’s Orgasms: Reading the Erotic in Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita.” by Zachary Johnson

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Content Warning: there are mentions of rape around 10:55-12:30 and 27:45-28:10

This week, Matt and Cameron lace up their sailing shoes and dig into Guzel Yakhina’s sophomore novel A Volga Tale. Hop on your skiff and let’s get discussing!

Major themes: Fairy tales, women with “K” names, justified societal shunning

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

01:51 - A link to Part 1 of our episodes covering Guzel Yakhina’s Zuleikha.

23:52 - Korenizatsiia

27:10 - Laurus by Evgeny Vodolazkin

41:00 - I wish Cameron pronounced “dictates” differently

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and YouTube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron explore Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris. They talk genre, they talk the meaning of the soul, and they draw a couple points from — hold on, what do you mean he wrote a book about it? I did all this research and he just…he just wrote a book? Okay, that’s fine. Well, they’ll cover what he has to say, where they agree and disagree, and what it means to become human. 

Major themes: The only genre is film, ears: the road to the soul, “just be happy doing chores”

02:43 - 1968, not 1969. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Dslaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron track the (alleged) Devil’s progress through Moscow through his debut at the Variety Theatre and beyond in Chapters 10-18 of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. Grab your hidden speculative currency and turn in to follow the aftermath of Woland’s arrival, his magic tricks, and — finally — the arrival of The Master into the plot. 

Major themes: Referential mania, a theoretical Margarita, Is the Soviet Man actually new?

13:45 - Nathan for you clip

Ending - Bojack and Daniel

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron tackle “Signs and Symbols” by Vladimir Nabokov and are joined in this effort by Drs. José Vergara and Sara Karpukhin. Dr. Vergara is both a returning podcast guest and an Assistant Professor of Russian on the Myra T. Cooley Lectureship at Bryn Mawr College, and Dr. Karpukhin is a Lecturer in Russian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both of them, who co-edited a new collection on Nabokov which you can get here, shared a lot of insights on reading not just this piece, but on approaching Nabokov as a whole. 

Note: This podcast contains some discussions of suicide. Skip sections 5:10 - 5:21 and 34:40 - 34:52 if you would rather not listen to that.

Major themes: Reparative epistemology, The ol' New Yorker switcheroo, Open access scholarship

8:08 - “Symbols and Signs” in The New Yorker

47:14 - Dr. Vergara’s student website

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron debut the first episode of a new series we’re calling “Office Hours.” Sit down with us as we catch up about our lives, talk about Matt’s thoughts on Reddit and bookstagram, and stray into Cameron’s fascination with a particular alternate history author. We recorded this episode while sipping on Espresso Martinis, per the request of our supporter Kaitlin.

Major themes: What is fiction anyway?, Rodion “Richard” Raskolnikov, Suspicious Civil War literature

2:59 - First mis-speak of the episode and I wasn’t even drunk yet. “IBM” not “IGM.”

3:08 - A fun little tale of Hobby Lobby, stolen artifacts, and tangentially ISIS

30:55 - Politely and Calmly Discussing 1984

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron kick off their next big read, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, covering chapters one through nine. Join us as we talk about how the devil definitely doesn’t exist according to the USSR, how the devil definitely does exist according to the Devil, and the true story of the Gospels (at least, if you believe the Devil). Oh, also there’s a lot to say about Soviet life. And, somehow, all these features come together much more neatly than you’d expect. But you’ll have to tune in to learn how. 

Major themes: Speculating on currency, writing in the USSR, The Devil as chance

02:31 - Our episode on Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Morphine”

02:33 - Our episode on “Heart of a Dog” by Bulgakov

11:08 - A quick background on the Komsomol

39:58 - Check out our episode on Leviathan here

42:38 - “Satan in Moscow: An Approach to Master and Margarita“ by A. C. Wright

43:52 - “Neither God nor Devil: A New Theological Approach to Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita” by Hannah Schneider

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into a work that’s been on the sidelines for far too long: The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy, along with the extremely helpful Dr. Tatyana Gershkovich. She is the author of Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds (Northwestern UP, 2022), and essays published in PMLA, The Slavic and Eastern European Journal, the Journal of the History of Ideas, the Paris Review, and more. Come along with us to understand the unreliability of the narrator.

Major themes: Moral Tracts, suspicious reading, bad marriages

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into the short story “The Performance,” from Sergei Dovlatov’s book The Zone. Get ready to dive into the most underrepresented point-of-view in the Soviet camp system: the guards. Well, kind of. Get ready to get stagnant and talk a bit about the state of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, but mostly about a play in a prison camp where all the old Bolsheviks are played by prisoners. Ideological confusion abounds. 

Major themes: The real no-termers, dirty reality & brilliant falsehood, theater of absurdity

06:29 - The Russians by Hedgewick Smith

06:39 - Antiheroes in a Post-Heroic Age: Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Makanin, and Cold War Malaise by Angela Brintlinger

08:12 - Part 1 of our two-part series on Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina (I won’t link the second part here, because Part 2 has more listens than Part 1. Who are you people listening to just Part 2? Show yourselves. Explain.)

8:15 - Our episode on Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales. 

27:43 - Unfortunately it’s only available in Russian, but check out the Prep Guide for the episode on our website for a relevant except

32:50 - Philosophy experts please don’t come for my neck. Also, for laypeople: you should be aware that this idea was not specifically applied to the progression of history, but was rather applied to gaining knowledge. The idea, however, later came to be applied more broadly by others. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

A quick note: this episode will contain some references to suicide throughout along with one mention of rape.  

This week, Matt and Cameron quietly consider the movie Leviathan (2014), directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, while standing on the edge of a cliff. Come along as they talk about a dismal family story that may or not have a lot to do with the biblical Book of Job and institutions of good and evil. Grab an entire bottle of vodka and your military surplus AK-style rifle, then tune in! 

Major themes: “It’s a bleak boy,” Job’s lament, God in silence

01:36 - Watch This Tonight 

2:26 - A little info on Marvin Heemeyer’s rampage

49:45 - Check out our episode on Solzhenitsyn’s “Matryona’s House.”

56:21 - I was actually thinking of “Roy Medvedev.” 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron get into something a little more modern with a short story from Ukrainian writer and translator Sophia Andrukhovych, “An Out-Of-Tune Piano, An Accordion.” Come join in as they debate the meaning of the fantasy or dream (or maybe terrifying reality?) of a woman named Viola as she stumbles upon a sort of danse macabre in the midst of worrying about her dying husband, Renat. 

Major themes: Dreams, Cats = good/bad?, “Diseased predator”

02:04 - The White Chalk of Days

26:45 - Sophia Andrukhovych In Dialogue With Orhan Pamuk

28:58 - A Curse on Dostoevsky

40:32 - Symphonie Fantastique

41:13 - A composer, I should have said

42:42 - Watch this Tonight w/ our own Matt Gerasimovich

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Show Notes:

Apologies for Cameron’s audio quality. This episode was recorded on a back-up microphone in a Reno bathroom.  

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into an author you may not have heard of before in the short story On the Way: A Sketch by Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya. They talk childhood, imagining the fantastical, and why don’t we remember one of the highest paid authors of the late 19th century in Russia. Grab your thoughts on the past and tune in!

Major Themes: Whose Interiority Was it Anyway?, Nostalgia, Childhood

47:50 - The website for The White Chalk of Days, check the “works” section to find the text for next week’s read

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

This week, Matt and Cameron say “sayonara” to Tipsy Tolstoy and “come on in” to The Slavic Literature Pod. RIP to having a valid reason to reference drunkenness on our resumes. Plus we address some questions you may have about the change. 

08:53 - CarolynMarieReads' Youtube channel

09:21 - Shae McMullin's Instagram

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Note: This is a re-run of The Captain’s Daughter by Aleksandr Pushkin

It’s week 4 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in October of 2021.

Major themes: Is it really fatalist?, My boy Pugachev, Benedict Anderson will never leave us alone

04:52 - It’s “Farmer’s Daughter” by Rodney Atkins, if anyone’s wondering. 

35:09 - “Alexandr Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter: A Poetics of Violence” by Alexander Groce

39:08 - Plotting History: The Russian Historical Novel in the Imperial Age by Dan Ungurianu 

39: 54 - “Between Nation and Empire: Aleksandr Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter” by Irina Anisimova

47:45 - Close, but no dice. It’s The History of Pugachev

54: 52 - “Grinev the Trickster: Reading the Paradoxes of Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter” by Polina Rikoun

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

Note: This is a re-run of The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry

It’s week 2 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in June of 2022.

Major themes: The Time Between Dog and Wolf, Re-writing the past, Toasting to art  

35:30 - To avoid spoilers, go to 36:42

51:59 - The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry (click on the “Buy” button to see a list of places where you can purchase this book)

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

Note: This is a re-run of Zuleikha (parts 1 and 2) by Guzel Yakhina.

It’s week 1 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in April of 2021. 

Major themes: Forest spirits, Vestigial pagan folklore, and Dekulakization.

03:51 - Here’s a link to the article that I heavily cited in this episode: Fear and Belief in the USSR’s “Great Terror”: Response to Arrest, 1935-1939.

51:20 - Much of the information in this section is pulled from Lynne Viola’s paper “The Campaign to Eliminate the Kulak as a Class, Winter 1929-1930: A Reevaluation of the Legislation”.

53:30 - “The Soviet War Against ‘Fifth Columnists’: The Case Against Chechnya, 1942-4” by Jeffrey Burds. See especially the section “Germany and Japan: Intelligence and Sabotage Networks, 1935-41.” 

13:20 - Again pulled from Burds’s article, these are the characteristics of “bandit nations”:

1. borderland elements, with close kinship or ethnic ties to foreign-based emigration
2. Foreign use of those elements for espionage and other seditious acts within the USSR
3. strong religious traditions
4. sustained by ‘heroic’ historical movement of insurrectionary elements
5. operates on hostile terrain that facilitates concealment

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

Some quick updates before we head into our June break:

HERE IS THE LISTENER SURVEY!

The music used in this episode, and for the last time in a new release, was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Please go show them some love and buy their albums if you’re able. 

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This week, Matt and Cameron actually finish War and Peace by covering both epilogues. Did you want to find out what happened to the characters? Too bad! It’s time for more argumentation about history. Well, okay, there’s a little bit of character wrap-up. But most of it, predictably, is about farming. Just another day with Tolstoy. 

Major themes: Better History, Questionable Theories, Live Laugh Love Levin

00:58 - I meant to say “75 serving” and “120 serving,” which is far less than 100 pounds. Good God, could you imagine, though? 

10:18 - An apiologist, apparently. 

23:18 - The Machete Order for Star Wars

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron finish War and Peace!! Well, minus the epilogue. Tune in to hear about the meeting of old acquaintances, the passing of old friends, and the quiet night at the end of a war. Book 4, Part 4. It’s the end of a true epic, in the most literary sense of the word. Be there or be square. 

Major themes: PTSD = Cool Dude, Super Friendship, Laws of History

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron continue Napoleon’s invasion into Imperial Russia into its final phase: a slow, deadly retreat accompanied by irregular warfare in War & Peace’s Part 3 of Book 4. This is what Cameron studied for a potion of his degree and he is going to make that your problem in this episode. Follow along as we catch up with the youngest Rostov, Petya, as he finally deploys in the theater of war, and also find Pierre turning monastic during a death march. Nothing but good times, so grab your scavenged shoes found along a retreat route and tune in!

Major themes: Guerilla Warfare, Spying = Being Mean, A Prosaic Prisoner

03:07 - I’d apologize for my Yreka slander, but I’m actually not sorry. 

04:20 - I was trying to think of inter-state (between state), intra-state (between a state and a non-state actor in the former’s borders), and extra-state (between a state and a non-state actor outside its borders) warfare.

17:42 - Not to say this was a novel introduction of “rules of warfare.” Many places in many times had put similar thought into conducting warfare, but I mean to say this particular period has an outsized place in influencing modern thought. 

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron move away from particular characters and start talking about the long arc of history in Book 4, Part 2 of War and Peace. As the French army retreats from Moscow, it’s the perfect time to ask the question: hey, wait, was everyone wrong about calling Stalingrad the Soviet War and Peace? You’ll have to listen to find out. Plus we’ll learn about the function of pain in Tolstoy’s work, which will really lighten the mood. Grab your water for a long march back to Paris, then tune in! 

Major themes: The Function of Pain, Pierre’s Thiccness, Dialoguing with Stalingrad 

26:45 - “Revisiting the Dialectic of Pain and Truth: War and Peace and The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by David Rosenshield

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron start on Book 4, Part 1 (after diverging from our original plan to combine parts 1 and 2) and do a deep dive on how we can really analyze wisdom, on the horror of war collapsing into peace, and whether self-sacrifice can ever be a true ideal of Christianity. That’s right, it’s the big ideas section! Well - the whole book is the big ideals section, but this is a great survey of some of Tolstoy’s most interesting ideas. Grab your Youtube video of Slavoj Zizek and tune in! 

Major themes: Collapsing War and Peace Together, The Nature of Wisom, The Banality of Evil

15:12 - I meant to say “Andrei,” not “Nikolai” here

18:48 - “Cry” not “die”

26:30 - Well, the prisoner per capita ratio is still high in China - just nowhere near as high as the U.S. 

30:20 - I learned this in class sometime back, so I’m going to hedge this claim a bit. Here are some comparative numbers on draft dodging, but I’m unclear on how they got to these numbers (analyzing data from the U.S. gov vs. independent analyses) so I won’t say this is a definitive answer. If I can locate a study or similar research that uses a consistent methodology to analyze draft dodging these two periods, I’ll add it here. 

51:57 - Some more information about Dostoevsky’s almost-execution

53:24 - Surprisingly, I was right. 

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron fiddle while Moscow burns. They finish Book 3 of War and Peace by finally engaging with the direct interaction of war and society. Unfortunately for the population of Moscow, that comes as their city burns. Why that is? Well - Tolstoy has some opinions. (Unsurprisingly, those opinions begin with the fact that Moscow is mostly built of wood, which may have something to do with the fire). Grab your least flammable cocktail and tune in! 

Major themes: Hanging’ With the Enemy, The Force of History, Burning Moscow

06:55 - The Achilles Paradox

30:40 - Vive L’Espanol 

31:51 - Historically, I mean.

34:43 - I, personally, stand behind “The Long 20th Century.” But that’s only because the guy who wrote it was a professor of mine, and once spent an entire class lecturing on how a certain shade of green showed a) where Portuguese immigrants have gone and b) the implications of finding that green in places like Hawaii (sugar farming and resultant imperialist takeover, in that case). 

41:29 - I think it’s actually usually translated as “money changers” instead of “money lenders.” 

57:54 - Unfortunately for Matt, I get to edit these episodes and I have all the power. 

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron continue Part 2, Book 3 of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Get your sabers ready, we’re about to head into one of the defining battles of 1812. Well - at least as Tolstoy would have you believe. And - for once - Marya appears in a scene without 2-3 pages of the narrator ragging on her looks. Who would have thought we’d come this far? Get your victory drink of choice ready, and tune in!

Major themes: Beating Peasants, War Crimes, Losing Your Way to Victory

22:35 - My bad, I was thinking of the Church of Christ, Scientist, not Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have two aunts who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, you’d think I’d know that haha.

39:12 - The conditions of Napoleon’s exile. 

40:17 -The False Dmitry I 

54:48 - I’m pretty sure, but not 100% confident that this is what Matt is talking about. 

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This week, Matt and Cameron continue their slog through Book 3 of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, covering part 1. Get ready for more teen marriage plots, a little elucidation on Tolstoy’s thoughts on doctors, and the funniest section for Pierre so far. And trust us - that last bit jumped over a high bar. Grab your copies of the Book of Revelations and tune in!

Major themes: More Teen Marriage Plots, Too Hot to be Godly, Anti Doctor Content

12:21 - As Eric Blaire, a.k.a. George Orwell, explored in “Shooting an Elephant.” Also a lot to explore about colonialism and perspectives on the racialized Other there, but that’s a different conversation.

40:32 - Here’s an Atlantic article about it. Happened around 20-ish years earlier.

46:52 - The exact quote is: “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment.”

51:27 - Here’s a bit more information about that event. 

52:54 - Revelations 13:18, KJV: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” In War & Peace “the Beast” is understood to be the anti-Christ. I, personally, have my doubts in that interpretation of the text - anti-Christs appear in several places, but the Beast only appears here; furthermore, the beast is never referred to as an “anti-Christ.” If I’m recalling correctly - the notion of the anti-Christ is never referred to in the Book of Revelations at all. I think it’s a concept from The Book of John. But also I’m just a person who read the Bible growing up, I’m not a scholar or anything.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Parts 4 and 5 in Book 2 of War and Peace. If you read Anna Karenina and thought, I like these hunting scenes 500 pages in but I wish they were more brutal and had more undertones about the aristocracy - don’t worry, we’ve got you covered here. And Natasha’s upcoming marriage comes under pressure. Grab your finest elopement garments and strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Major themes: "Uncles," Kissin’ Cousins, Elopement but it’s Kidnapping.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Book 2, part 3 of War and Peace to find the answer to an important question: is life over once you turn 31? And it’s time to turn a little religious and a little conspiratorial with Princess Marya and Count Pierre. Nothing better than covering two years of life in around 100 pages. Grab your finest soiree attire, some champagne, and tune in!

Major themes: Hottie or Nottie, Gnarled Trees, Illuminist Freemasonry

05:51 - Hollywood Access is, of course, legally distinct from Access Hollywood. Please don’t fire me, NBC.

08:10 - He just like me fr

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Book 2 of War and Peace and cover parts 1 & 2. In this part, we get the honor (you might say) of getting to compare child marriage plots, duels, and bullying of my! Grab your kvass of choice and get ready to get into War and Peace.

Major themes: Child marriage, duels, battle plans

21:11 - National Treasure, truly the greatest American contribution to the arts.

36:03 - Ritualized Violence Russian Style: The Duel in Russian Culture and Literature by Irina Reyfman

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron finish up the first section of War and Peace by covering Book 1, Part 3. They’ll be delving more into the Kuragin family and their shared habits (and even some shared facial expressions), and keeping up with the military boys as they meet their idols…and have very different reactions than expected. Grab your reluctant wedding champagne and tune in! 

Major themes: The Pettiness of Great Men, Bad Fathers, Vacant Expressions 

02:53 - Ohio actually has produced seven presidents. And, yes, I did learn this from a Phil Ochs song. I’m not apologetic. He may not be from Ohio, but he’s its best export. 

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron turn to the war part of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace in Part II of Book 1. Grab your field rations and greatcoats as we follow Andrei, Nikolai, and company into battle with the French. And although this seems to be the opposite…perhaps the battles parallel the “peace” of Moscow society more than it first appears. You’ll have to tune in to find out.

Interested in the video version of this podcast? Find it ⁠here⁠.

Major themes: Strawberry-Flavored Koumiss, Luck, Four Lads and a Cannon

08:18 - *The Great Bear Incident of 1804, it should be.

09:02 - Imperial Russian Hussars

28:13 - Minor point of order - I mixed up Ippolit and Anatole Kuragin. Ippolit is an acquaintance of Bilibin, the Russian Ambassador we met earlier; while Anatole is the Kuragin involved in the bear incident.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron kick off their longest series ever: Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. This episode they’ll be reading Part 1 of Book 1 (don’t worry there are only four books and two epilogues) and get into the nitty gritty of peace. But at risk of engaging with too many clichés, the maneuvers of peace (and mostly the soiree) can be just as complex as war. Grab your koumiss and tune in!

Interested in the video version of this podcast? Find it ⁠here⁠.

Major themes: Big Heineken, Dangerous Neighborhoods, Felines

00:56 - *Cue Curb Your Enthusiasm theme music*

04:19 - Although Spotify does offer video podcasting, we unfortunately aren’t able to offer it on that platform! You can check out our Youtube channel if you would like to see the video versions of our podcasts.

10:47 - Big L on my part. Elder Bolkonsky is Nikolai Bolkonsky, while the younger is Andrei Bolkonsky. That being said, Andrei’s son will be named Nikolai in a later part so the joke stands if you shift it a generation.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with author Bob Blaisdell to talk about his new book Chekov Becomes Chekov: The Emergence of a Literary Genius. Bob was a wonderful person to chat with and learn from - and we hope you all take as much away from the conversation as we did.

Bob Blaisdell is Professor of English at the City University of New York’s Kingsborough Community College and also the author of Creating Anna Karenina. He is a reviewer for the the Los Angeles Review of Books, Russian Life magazine, and Tolstoy Studies Journal, and the editor of more than three dozen Dover literature and poetry collections, including a collection of Chekhov's love stories, and the forthcoming Conversations with Karl Ove Knausgaard (University Press of Mississippi).

Major themes: Deadlines, Fake Marriages, and Watermelons

12:01 - “Amateurs wait for inspiration. Professionals just get up and go to work.” from Stephen King’s On Writing

12:10 - Referring to On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron discuss the imminent future of the podcast and spend some time reflecting on two years of Tipsy Tolstoy.

03:41 - Our Linktree. Find the link to our Discord there.

05:51 - Third Space Theory 

20:53 - Find our TikTok here, now with content!

21:35 - I’ve been informed by some TikTok users that this is simply called an “audio.” Fascinating.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with Robert Chandler, a prolific translator of many authors including our own beloved Grossman. Robert Chandler’s translations from Russian, mostly for NYRB Classics and Vintage Classics, include works by Alexander Pushkin and Nikolay Leskov; collections of stories and memoirs by Teffi; and novels and stories by Vasily Grossman, Andrey Platonov and Hamid Ismailov. He is the main translator of three anthologies of Russian literature for Penguin Classics: of short stories, magic tales and poetry. His most recent publications are Pushkin’s Peter the Great’s African and Vasily Grossman’s The People Immortal, both co-translated with his wife Elizabeth. His next publication will be Platonov’s long novel Chevengur. 

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron bring you a shorter one (finally)! They’ll be covering - at long, long last - “The Shot” by Aleksandr Pushkin. Tune in to hear stories of officer intrigue, duels fought and left unfought, and the existential terror of being cornered at a party by the a dude whose main hobby is shooting handguns into his own wall. Switch out the beer for a kvass or water for this one because - say it with me - alcohol and firearms don’t mix. Enjoy!

Major themes: Psychological Duels, Byronic Subversions, and Cherry Pits

02:03 - Oculus Founder Says He’s Working on an Exploding VR Headset that Actually Kills Players if They Lose

06:00 - While the whole Russian Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters, only 32 of them are technically letters.

08:00 - Faro

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Matt and Cameron have finished reading Stalingrad, but they aren’t yet done with Grossman. This week, they tackle his short story “The Sistine Madonna.” Written before the publication of Stalingrad and after he began to write Life and Fate, “The Sistine Madonna” is a piece about beauty, desperation, and hope for the future. Oh, and thermonuclear war. It covers a lot of ground. Grab your Bibles to track the religious analogies and tune in!

Major themes: Non-religious Christianity, Aesthetic anti-Sovietism, Eternal Beauty

03:49 - Okay, I was close, but the beer is actually called “St. Pauli”

06:03 - Nicaragua, I mean

8:09 - Check out The Sistine Madonna here

08:56 - “The Sistine Madonna” by Vasily Grossman

10:19 - I have once again switched Stalin and JFK’s death date, as I am want to do. Stalin died in 1953.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron finish up Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad as we close the story of Rodimtsev’s embattled Guards Regiment in the city of Stalingrad and close out (for now!) the stories of the people we’ve been following for months now. We’ll be talking about Feminist perspectives on the work, de-mythologization of warfare, and spending some time drinking our feelings out about our favorite character, Pyotr Vavilov. Grab your copy of Stalingrad, your preferred celebratory drink, and tune in!

Major themes: Motherhood, the soldier as adolescent, the spirit of the worker at war

04:30 - Sorry about the bells, those are my housemate’s kittens.

05:50 - The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

05:52 - Love of Worker Bees by Alexandra Kollontai

07:20 - Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

47:49 - Slight correction, the Wehrmacht was not the organization that implemented the Final Solution proper, although their units were involved in the “shoah by bullet.”

50:49 - Nestor Makhno

51:39 - “Ukraine without Jews” by Vasily Grossman

01:02:14 - It’s the Old Testament prophet Elijah that is taken to heaven in a whirlwind.

01:15:36 - “The Myth of Stalingrad in Soviet Literature, 1942 - 1963” by Ian Garner

01:15:36 - “Stalingrad in Popular Memory - The Battle Remembered” - WW2TV w/ Ian Garner

01:15:39 - Stalingrad Lives! by Ian Garner

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron close in on the end of Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad and talk about the actual battle in the city. We jump around from the Soviet reinforcements crossing the Volga to Wehrmacht soldiers celebrating their victory a little too early. As always, the story of war is really the story of the humans there and Grossman will never let us forget that. Find some looted booze and tune in!

Major themes: Byzantium Marxism and Postmodernism Oh My!, Political alienation, The Gros-Cast

05:38 - The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin by Adam Hochschild

06:39 - Tipsy Tolstoy takes on Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron continue on to the Third and Final part of Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad! After 800 pages, we finally approach…the Battle of Stalingrad. Well, the best things come to those who wait. Grab your wartime moonshine of preference, get a move on toward the city, and don’t forget to tune in!

Major themes: Labyrinth of plots but make it depressing, Defamiliarization in art, The Origin of Tomatoes

00:51 - Check out Puppet Combo’s Night Shit! Since it’s now October (if, indeed, you’re reading this in October), I’m ready to start shilling for indie developers I love. If you really want to get scared, check out more of Puppet Combo or my personal favorite dev, Kitty Horror Show.

01:35 - Check out this article about the event

06:06 - Ooh! The name of the book is “Rising Up and Rising Down,” but I was close.

08:31 - We’re all gonna go ahead and ignore the mic change here.

01:00:56 - Luckily for Matt, we still can’t afford to have all our episodes edited so this one was only heard in-house.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron finish out Part 7 of Stalingrad, learning more about the emotional aftermath of the Shaposhnikov family and friends’ losses - and, naturally, are introduced to an entirely new character. It’s time to learn about coal mining, babey. Grab your helmet-mounted flashlight, a boring tool, and get ready to get deep into some soot.

Major themes: Tank Corps time babey, Legendary pettiness, Grossman’s Cement,

06:24 *sister for being bad at art

10:45 - Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century by Alexandra Popoff

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron finally arrive to the subject of the book Stalingrad - which is, of course, the actual battle of Stalingrad. It only took us a breezy 500 pages to get here. Oh! But I forgot - we have about 50 more pages of the war from the German perspective first. Grossman doesn’t let you have anything easily. Get your drink, find shelter from the bombs, and tune in!

Major themes: Sponsored by water, Perspectives on Nazi-era Germany,

08:57 - Some examples from our much maligned friend (by which I mean, website we malign a lot), Reddit. 

20:26 - For any German-speakers out there, I apologize for my pronunciation.

38:29 - If you have the time, you should give Hunter S. Thompson’s eulogy for Richard Nixon a read.

39:47 - The work is called “Discourse on Colonialism” by Aime Cesaire, linked here. Although I have my quibbles with some particulars, on the whole I think the work is an important read for those who study history.

40:35 - Adam Hochschild as a whole is worth reading, but one of his most notable works is King Leopold’s Ghost. This book covers the events I mention. By the way - the number of dead Congolese people I gave is extremely low. Hochchild’s book estimates the number to be around 10 million dead. Grossman’s point about Hitler should perhaps be extended to the colonialist powers that have trod tens of millions of people in the Global South underfoot.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron get a little over halfway into Grossman’s Stalingrad, covering more themes from the homefront - spending more time with Pavel Andreyev the factory worker and Marusya Shaposhnikova, organizational investigator. Learn a little more about the place of art in the USSR and how every unhappy family is unlike in their own way in Part 5 of our series on Stalingrad. Grab your thoughts on the two truths, sit down, and tune in!

Major themes: Cement 2: Grossman Boogaloo, Soviet HR, Zhenya’s Untrue Art

See our book list here!

01:09 - I forgot the funniest part of this story which was when we turned on the local radio station and the announcer said, “We have a great diversity of music on this station, just like the great diversity of….Grateful Dead fans out here,” before launching into a Grateful Dead song. Truly iconic.

01:28 - The town name is actually Whiskeytown, my mistake.

01:30 - Also Coffee Creek.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron dive back into the family life of the Shaposhnikovs, so we’ll call this episode “Mothers and Daughters.” Also…well, Viktor meets someone on the side in Moscow. We’ll see how that goes. Grab your drink of choice when family dinner is getting contentious and tune in!

Major themes: Cowboy movies and Soviet Literature, x, r/menwritingwomen

14:40 - It is in fact the largest tank battle of all time! All in all, there were 8,000 tanks involved, not counting troops, aircraft, other mechanized units, and artillery.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron continue on with the set-up to the siege of Stalingrad, following more of Viktor Shtrum as well as Commissar Nikolai Krymov in their respective adventures in Moscow and on the Eastern Front. We’ll be getting into the nitty-gritty on the idea of Grossman as a “soviet Tolstoy” so grab your finest wartime moonshine and tune in to hear our incendiary hot takes!

Major themes: Soviet Tolstoy(?), Genuflecting Grossmans, What Makes the Soviet Union? 

Take a look at our World War 2 book list here! Have some ideas for other books to go on the list? Email them to tipsytolstoy@gmail.com.

31:32 - Vasily Grossman: A Writer at War, ed.s Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova

31:43 - The Road, ed. Robert Chandler

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron continue to dig their trench and get ready for the oncoming siege of Stalingrad in Part 2 of their 10 Part series on Stalingrad. We’ll be learning a little more about Grossman’s life and will follow Grossman’s masterful depiction of the first years of World War 2 on Soviet territory. Get the hidden moonshine out of the cellar, fry up the last of the Doktorskaya kalbasa, and tune in!

Major themes: Erasure of civilians in war, Call of Duty, Ideology and science

Like last time, the list is too long, but follow this link to see the book recommendations. 

22:49 - Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century by Alexandra Popoff

42:52 - My mistake! Stepan Spiridonov is not Seryozha’s father - Seryozha’s father is Alexandra’s son Dmitri, who has so far not appeared in this book.

58:03 - The title is actually Novel with Cocaine, not Man with Cocaine

58:44 - “Brutal Games: Call of Duty and Cultural Narratives of World War 2” by Debra Ramsay

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron kick off their biggest podcast series ever with one of the most obscure choices possible for such a venture: Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman. Stalingrad is the first book in a dilogy, followed by the much more famous Life and Fate, which covers the siege of the city of Stalingrad by the German Wehrmacht in World War 2. We’re going to be dealing with a whole cast of characters here and their varied experiences of the war so get a pencil and paper, get ready to start diagramming family trees, and tune in!

Major themes: Getting off-topic, Ways of looking at truth, Polyphony

Quick note: this week, I had too many shownotes and the word count exceeded the maximum allowed in the description. To see the full shownotes as well as the recommended reading list, please check out this google document. 

03:17 - Not even five minutes in and my first blunder. Professor Rauchway also taught his course on WW2 alongside Professor Ari Kelman.

04:58 - I hate to come for Matt, but my brief reading seems to imply that they mean it in the latter sense.

11:38 - Mea culpa, I got the year wrong here. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor happened on December 7th, 1941, and the US would be involved in the war militarily from 1942 to 1945.

12:49 - Listen to “Politely and Calmly Discussing 1984” here or anywhere else you listen to your podcasts.

13:01 - Guernica

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Follow Dr. Vegara’s twitter here, check out his website, and don’t forget to pick up a copy of his new book, All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature. 

This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Dr. José Vergara to talk about - drum roll please - two books: Envy by Yuri Olesha as well as All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature by Dr. Vergara. We had a wonderful chance to go over the plot of a neurotic would-be clerk in Envy, while also getting to look at the work through the lens of Joycean influence. Get your Jameson, get envious of the New Soviet Man, and tune in!

Major themes: Cheap but nutritious sausage, Ophelia the destroyer, Soviet ambivalence

06:19 - Fool that I am, I got this wrong. It’s a 35-kopek sausage.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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Check out our illustrator Caryoln's Instagram, YouTube, and portfolio!

This week, Matt and Cameron talk though some updates for the podcast and reflect on the journey that's taken them here.

The music used in this episode was “bella ciao,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

Kristina's Website, The Orchard

This week, Matt and Cameron do something a little unusual - for once, they’re intentionally talking around a work rather than examining it in detail. That’s because - in a Tipsy Tolstoy first - we’re being joined by the author of The Orchard, Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry. We had a wide-ranging conversation that covers her journey as an author, the inspirations and thoughts that led to The Orchard in its current form, as well as what’s next for Gorcheva-Newberry. It was a super fascinating conversation so you don’t want to miss out! Grab your blackest bread and even blacker tea, then be sure to tune in!

Major themes: The Time Between Dog and Wolf, Re-writing the past, Toasting to art

34:35 - To avoid spoilers, go to 35:47

51:14 - The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron wrap up part 3 of Eugene Onegin with the help of the Gothic (in research focus) Dr. Katherine Bowers. Not only will we be wrapping up Parts 7 and 8 of this novel in verse, Dr. Bowers will also be covering Tatyana’s dream from our previous episode. The topics will be wide-ranging and the education, constant. Be sure to tune in and have as much fun as we did recording this.

Major themes: Onegin is a simp, All Gothic All the Way Down, Buy Dr. Bowers' Book

More information about Dr. Bowers can be found on her website.

02:45 - Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic by Dr. Katherine Bowers

04:19 - William Morris

13:32 - Revealing too much familiarity with the folkways of fanfiction.net, perhaps.

27:40 “Unpacking Viazemskii’s Khalat: The Technologies of Dilettantism in Early Nineteenth-Century Russian Literary Culture” by Dr. Katherine Bowers. (Access Post Print version here)

36:16 - “Ghost Writers: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave” by Dr. Katherine Bowers

42:32 - Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic by Dr. Katherine Bowers

49:21 - “Pushkin’s Tatiana” by Caryl Emerson

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron dive into one of the greatest duels in all of Russian literature* in Part 2 of Aleksandr Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. We’ll be examining the particulars of dueling etiquette of the era as well as Pushkin’s relationship to his contemporary poets - it’s always exciting in the 19th Century, babey. Grab your finest winter-time wine and tune in!

* According to Matt, anyway.

Major themes: Pushkin teaches us PUA, Dueling etiquette, “Russian to the core”

06:54 - *200 years ago

40:17 - Vasily Zhukovsky

44:47 - Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic by Dr. Katherine Bowers

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

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This week, Matt and Cameron kick off a mini-series to get the mood up with Chapters 1 through 3 of Eugene Onegin! In it, we’ll be following…well, some of Eugene’s story as the narrator wanders back and forth between explaining our protagonist’s life and the narrator’s own lost loves (both in terms of people and passions). Get ready for your soirees tonight, use all 30 brushes in your cabinet, and grab a drink for this entertaining read!

Major themes: Terpsichorean foot, Russian Nobility, It’s Napoleon all the way down

11:48 - “Russian God” by Piotr Vyazemsky

14:53 - Strasbourg Pie

19:49 “Wholesale Failure/Day Gaunt” by Days N Daze

35:46 - “Dressing Gown Farewell” by Piotr Vyazemsky

53:29 - “Loins” lmao

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by the knowledgeable Dr. Kate Holland to cover the epilogue of Crime and Punishment as well as discuss some of the overarching themes of the book as a whole. After the dark, dark time that is Part 6, we finally get to kick back and spend some time with Raskolnikov in Siberia and his ups, his downs (mostly his downs) as he and the people around him try to figure out what comes next. Grab your choicest homebrewed booze and tune in!

Major themes: Reddit Theme Analysis, Raskolnikov’s dream is just Twitter, A Thoughtful and Sensitive Napoeleon

01:14 - Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity eds. Katherine Bowers and Kate Holland

02:50 - Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: A Reader’s Guide by Deborah Martinsen

03:33 - Approaches to Teaching Crime and Punishment by Michael Katz and Alexander Burry

04:27 - “Book Panel. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: A Reader’s Guide by Deborah Martinsen” with speakers Kate Holland, Marcia Morris, Katherine Bowers, Greta Matzner-Gore, Ronald Meyer, and Erica Drennan.

08:28 - “Raskolnikov’s mother” I mean

20:24 - Mikhail Bakhtin

23:24 - “In Defense of the Epilogue of “Crime and Punishment ” “ by David Matual

24:02 - “The Improbable Poetics of Crime and Punishment by Greta Matzner-Gore can be found in Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity

39:17 - Bildungsroman

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

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Content warning for this Episode: Child abuse, pedophilia, sexual assault, and suicide.

This week, Matt and Cameron are happily joined once again by Dr. Kaitlin Shirley to cover the final part of Crime and Punishment (minus the epilogue!). And wow is her expertise needed to cover this whopper of a section. Among a bucket of unpleasantry, we’ll be wrapping up Svidrigailov’s story and start to bring Raskolnikov’s own story to its conclusion. Normally I’d make a joke here, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate for this one. Grab a drink to cope and tune in.

You can also find Dr. Kaitlin Shirley as Dostoevsky or Doesn’t She in the following places: dostoevskyordoesntshe.com | Twitter @doestoevsky_txt | Instagram @dostoevskyordoesntshe | Tumblr | The link to the Dostoevsky Book Club can be found here!

Major themes: Dunia keeps that MF thang on her, Comparisons to the Meek One, Getting to a Full Yeltsin.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron slow things down a bit and attend a funeral in part 5 of Crime and Punishment. This time we’ll start by recommending that you grab your cheapest wine or liquor because we are going to be spending some significant time in Luzhin’s POV in this part. Pay attention to the things that he, ironically, doesn’t. Perhaps it would be crass to tell you to enjoy this part - but kick back and tune into this wake gone very, very wrong anyway!

Major themes: Self-Deception, The power of Sonia’s worldview, funeral parties.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron spend some time with unpleasant people in Part 4 of Crime and Punishment as Svidrigailov appears and everything is worse now. Awkward family dinners, debating your fiance into loving you, and telling your only friend to drown herself ahoy! Many things get weird in this part. Sit down, find the light of God as Dostoevsky would want, and turn in!

Quick note: the section between 28:40 - 30:05 is an advertisement. Subscribe to LingoPie here! And you can purchase books on Libro.fm here.

Major themes: Strange Men in your Bedroom, Financial Security, Reasonable Expectations for a Fiancé

10:12 - Send it to tipsytolstoy@gmail.com

43:36: History.com coverage of the My Lai Massacre.

47:12 - Sonya, SIlent No More: A Response To the Woman Question in Doestoevsky’s Crime and Punishment by Elizabeth Blake

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

For Refugees

-Ukrainian Relief Efforts are fundraisers which GoFundMe has collected in one place after verifying that the money is going where the fund claims that it is. These funds have a variety of purposes, so you can look for an individual organization or purpose.

-The International Rescue Committee works to assist refugees all over the globe. This link will support the IRC infrastructure currently on the ground in Poland.

-Polish Humanitarian Action provides support to internally displaced Ukrainians as well as those refugees who have come to Poland.

Medical Aid

-Voice of Children is a Ukrainian organization that was formed in 2015 to provide psychological help to children affected by war.

-United Help Ukraine focuses on raises awareness on the war in Ukraine (their primary goal prior to the invasion) as well as distributing food and medical supplies to people affected by the war.

For Journalists

-The Kyiv Independent is a recently launched organization that emerged from the staff from the long-running Kyiv Post, which was shut down by its owner last November.

-Free Press Unlimited, an organziation that supports free and independent journalism around the world.

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into family dynamics in Part 3 of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Along with Luzhin, now Pulcheria and Dunia enter the scene to see their beloved son/brother - only to find him rather different than they remember. Grab your bottom-shelf beer and sit down, we’re about to see the fundamental separation of the human heart from those around us.

Major themes: Hot Petersburg Summer, Regretting your drunk behavior, regretting your sober behavior*

*That sober behavior being writing an article justifying your own act of premeditated murder several months ago

07:26 - “Bill, Bill. I got your note…I ask you just one thing, Just give Europe to Russia.”

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron continue with Part 2 of our Crime and Punishment series, now with a very heavy emphasis on punishment. Grab some black tea and a beer, then join us as we discuss Raskolnikov’s psychosomatic torture and his attemps to confess all while Razumikhin continues to be the best friend alive. And you know it wouldn’t be Dostoevsky without a death or two in the mix!

Don’t forget to read “Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity," a collection edited by Katherine Bowers and Kate Holland!

Major themes: Dostoevsky and Rationalism, Are ideas real?,

01:24 - The Committee by Sonahhal Ibrahim, if you’re wondering.

04:30 - Here’s a link to our Discord, if you’d like to join!

04:56 - Here’s a link to our website!

24:38 - Now that I’m editing, my phrasing strikes me as confusing. To be clear, while I’m conflating the actual Crystal Palace and the cafe in Crime and Punishment, they are very much different places.

34:28 - “The Improbable Poetics of Crime and Punishment” by Greta Matzner-Gore

42:43 - Holden Caulfield, not Caulfeld, I should note. Also you should read Franny and Zooey by Salinger. Granted, it’s been years since I read Franny and Zooey, but the novel occupies the same place that Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood or Tim O’Brien’s July, July do for me. Novels that discuss…youth, meaning, age - not a theme, but rather a central topic of all the book. I don’t know how to describe it but for a young man who struggled deeply with ideas of meaning and authenticity, it meant a lot to me.

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook

This week, Matt and Cameron are kicking off our Crime and Punishment series in a bloody fashion! They’ll be speaking with Dr. Katherine Bowers - an associate professor at the University of British Columbia and vice-president of the North American Dostoevsky Society- about Crime and Punishment’s relationship to narrative, to contemporary crime reporting, and oh so much more! Dostoevsky is an author that absolutely needs no introduction, so grab a stakan of vodka and start dreaming about horses - it’s Crime time, babey.

Quick note: the section between 25:30 - 28:40 is an advertisement. Subscribe to LingoPie here! And you can purchase books on Libro.fm here.

Major themes: Poking at a rotten tooth, Razumikhin the Superman, The Drunkards

01:21 - “Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity” eds. Katherine Bowers and Kate Holland

04:10: “The Rise of Crime and Punishment from the Air of the Media” by Konstantine Klioutchkine

05:05 - “Feuilleton”

08:33 - 150ish, close enough

09:06 - Crime and Punishment: When Raskolnikov leaves the police station, he loses his limp; this is a subtle allusion to the fact that he may be the real Keyser Söze.

What is To be Done: After obtaining all seven infinity stones, Rakhmetov uses his newfound power to eliminate all food that isn’t black rye bread and ham.

Zuleikha: Zuleikha is almost killed by the invading Nazi Zombies - but at the last moment, Yuzuf and Ignatov return with their newly-acquired AKMs and blow the crowd away. Zuleikha throws away her cigar and drops a one-liner as the movie fades to black.