Shows
She's In Russia108: "Pogrom"Are riots good? Are protests good? Plus Lily gives the etymology of the word pogrom.2020-05-3149 min
She's In Russia107: Ukrainian War PropFamily history and Ukraine's war-time propaganda machine in Lugansk.2020-05-2454 min
She's In Russia106: Telegram SagaLily gets updates on coronavirus in Russia from America and tells the story of Telegram's failed blockchain platform.2020-05-1853 min
She's In Russia105: Potato HealingPetersburg doesn’t care about corona, Russian medicine, Soviet nostalgia and Ivan Chai.2020-04-261h 00
She's In Russia104: Krestos VoskresRussian Orthodox Easter greetings and cake, Lily registers her new car.2020-04-191h 02
She's In Russia103: My Brilliant FriendLily's finally reading Ferrante. Also a small COVID-19 in Russia update. And a tour of an abandoned experimental soviet neighborhood built in the late 1920s (Кондратьевский Жилмассив//Kondratyevsky Residential Area?)2020-04-121h 04
She's In Russia102: CoronareunionIn these times of troubles, SIR is back to update you on Russia’s response to COVID-19.2020-04-051h 14
She's In RussiaUndefined HiatusUndefined Hiatus by Olivia Capozzalo and Smith Freeman2019-06-1314 min
She's In Russia101: An Evening with NorsteinLily went to see an artistic evening with animator Yuri Norstein, best known for his movies Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales.2019-05-3047 min
She's In Russia100: Eurotrash RennovationLily returns to St. Petersburg. We talk about Soviet interior design, the Mongol Yoke and ordering Kosher on Aeroflot.2019-05-2345 min
She's In Russia99: Taking a ShvitzWe tell the tale of the legendary 10th St. baths in New York. Also known as The Shvitz or the Russian and Turkish Baths or simply The Baths, the place has been co-owned by two Soviet immigrants since 1995, bringing its own particular breed of bath-spa culture to its devoted clientele.2019-05-1641 min
She's In Russia98: Tragic GorboWe watched Werner Herzog's latest documentary, Meeting Gorbachev.Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev wast the last general secretary and only president of the Soviet Union. He's known for supporting nuclear disarmament, causing mass chaos and having a birthmark on his balding head.2019-05-0859 min
She's In Russia97: Severe RussophobiaFALSE CLAIM: SIR is run by Putin trollsFACT: SIR is run by two brilliant lady humans who are here to dispel myths about RussiaRussian Embassy's report The Russiagate Hysteria: a Case of Severe Russophobia: https://washington.mid.ru/en/press-centre/news/russian_embassy_special_report/2019-04-3043 min
She's In Russia96: Pink Beets ft. Olia HerculesWe talked to Ukrainian-born, London-based chef and cookbook author Olia Hercules about some of her delicious family recipes, summer kitchens, Georgian food you only get in Georgia and dishes from her childhood in Cyprus. Check out Olia's cookbooks: https://oliahercules.com/books/Follow Olia: https://www.instagram.com/oliahercules/?hl=enEpisode photo from Olia's cookbook Mamushka, taken by Kris Kirkham2019-04-2657 min
She's In Russia95: Viking Voyage ft. Polya ShubinaSpecial guest and dear friend Polya once sailed across the North Atlantic ocean on a viking-style ship. Now's she's written a book about it based on her notes and drawings from the onboard. We talk about the voyage, how the crew slept, ate, socialized and went to the bathroom on an open wooden ship at sea. Plus a bit about sex ed and drug prevention in Russian schools. *11 days left* to pre-order Polya's book by contributing: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-i-sailed-a-viking-ship-across-the-ocean#/2019-04-161h 04
She's In Russia94: How Now MaddowDissecting Rachel Maddow's screen vom and crimes against journalism.Related episodes:Troll Factory indictment https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/37-indict-meAnnexation of Crimea https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/episode-11-crimea-it-existed-before-20142018 elections https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/39-maybe-putin-wont-be-president-anymore *Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaShop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/2019-04-091h 03
She's In Russia93: Vyborg ExpressLily went to the great medieval city of Vyborg and gawked at abandoned buildings and Finnish tourists. *Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaShop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/2019-04-0234 min
She's In Russia92: Elite TerrorWhy the right loves Solzhenitsyn and his Gulag writings.Anna Akhmatova's everyday life of squalor, drama and paranoia during the Terror. *Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaShop for new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/Watch ContraPoints: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNvsIonJdJ5E4EXMa65VYpA2019-03-261h 15
She's In Russia91: Ladies' DecameronYulia Voznesenskaia was part of the Leningrad dissident women's movement that formed in the 1970s. Later, as an emigre in Germany, she wrote the Women's Decameron — the story of ten women quarantined in a Soviet maternity ward for ten days, telling each other tales. *Support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaShop new Russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/2019-03-1948 min
She's In Russia90: Death BlinyWhat happened to all the death-commemorating and erotic traditions of everyone's favorite bliny-consuming, effigy-burning holiday, Maslenitsa? Here's the history of the week-long, slavic-pagan-christian, pre-Lenten celebration, plus several bliny recipes from a real Russian.2019-03-1256 min
She's In Russia89: Surkov CircusPopularly referred to as the puppet master and the shadowy man, Vladislav Surkov is back on the public stage with a manifesto on what he happily refers to as Putin's Russia. We break down the ideas he introduces in his latest article and trace how the man himself, specifically in the West, came to be known as the mastermind behind modern Russian politics.2019-03-051h 02
She's In Russia88: Sidewalk TalkIcicles falling from buildings kill people in Russia every year, but this winter, walking outside in St. Petersburg is even scarier than usual.buy russian fashion: https://www.depop.com/fortochka/2019-02-2630 min
She's In Russia87: Soviet MultikiSIR is joined by Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka, Vinni Pukh and Hedgehog in the Fog to discuss myths, techniques, legendary figures and beloved classics of Soviet animation.Watch all the cartoons we reference (plus ones we don't reference): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLFDtUKjvwX2P50tlMeyrtyx7KHPevbFW2019-02-191h 05
She's In Russia86: Borsch Phantom ft. Alissa TimoshkinaFounder of London supper club KinoVino Alissa Timoshkina talks about why Russian-Soviet cuisine is so hard to define, plus shares memories of her childhood kitchen in Siberia and beautiful, mouth-watering descriptions of some favorite foods. Pre-order Alissa's cookbook Salt and Time — Recipes from a Russian kitchen: https://amzn.to/2DBnR34Alissa is on Instagram @borsch_and_no_tears2019-02-1246 min
She's In Russia85: Domestic Violence ft. Yulia GorbunovaWe talk with Yulia Gorbunova, a researcher in the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, and author of a recently published report on domestic violence in Russia and the state's response to it. report in english: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/russia1018_web3.pdfreport in russian: https://www.hrw.org/ru/report/2018/10/25/323648resources for survivors of domestic violence in Russia:http://anna-center.ru/index.php/ru/https://nasiliu.net/https://www.facebook.com/anokitez/Episode art by Rebecca Hendin for HRW2019-02-0554 min
She's In Russia84: StolovayaThe history of collective dining and the soviet cafeteria — utopias of factory kitchens and kitchen-less apartments, the science of soviet food consumption and where the design of the stolovaya as we know it actually came from. If you missed Fortochka, our Russian fashion pop-up at the beginning of December, you are in luck. We are selling off the remaining inventory, follow our ig: https://www.instagram.com/fortochka_/.2019-01-2950 min
She's In Russia83: Quality RussiansWhy BuzzFeed news and Rachel Maddow suck and a little update on Russian president Putin and Belarusian president Lukashenko's holiday meetups.2019-01-2235 min
She's In Russia82: Donbass, the movieMaybe the only critical analysis of the new movie Donbass (Dir. Sergei Loznitsa) that you're gonna get, folks (in English, at least).This non-documentary, allegedly based on real events and YouTube videos, is set in the eastern regions of Ukraine (collectively referred to as Donbass) — which are currently fighting a war with the western regions of Ukraine (collectively referred to as Ukraine). This movie was in part funded by the Ukrainian government. Separately, here's a short, independently made doc about every day life in Donbass (by Irina Lashkevich and Dan Levi) (Engl. subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA242Bx...2019-01-1553 min
She's In Russia81: Boys TownThe failings of Michael McFaul, Boys Town scandals, and why Lily is probably not a spy. Help us out and email this guy at Buzzfeed about how much you love our little podcast: https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/podcast-suggestions-20192019-01-0936 min
She's In Russia80: Tsvetaeva New YearThis fine New Year we read and discuss texts by and about 19th c. Russian/Soviet/queer/polyglot poet Marina Tsvetaeva. Read Tsvetaeva's poem New Year, translated by Caroline Lemak Brickman: http://hypocritereader.com/26/new-year2019-01-0251 min
She's In Russia79: Ored Recordings ft. Bulat KhalilovThe co-creator of the ethnographic recording label Ored Recordings (@ored-recordings-1), Bulat Khalilov, talks to Smith about traditional music from various ethnic groups from the Caucasus. The ep includes lots of music, so best to listen with headphones.Listen to and support Ored Recordings: https://oredrecordings.bandcamp.com/Episode image taken from this article about Ored Recordings: http://inrussia.com/understanding-circassian-folklore2018-12-2557 min
She's In Russia78: Merch Perch ft. Sergei PakhotinThe creator of streetwear merch producers Sputnik1985, Sergei Pakhotin, talks to Lily about why he's not a designer, the importance of subtle irony in political commentary, DIY punks in Belarus and what makes Gosha Rubchinsky an artist. Website: https://sputnik1985.com/Episode image taken from Sputnik1985 ig2018-12-1846 min
She's In Russia77: Comic Sans ft. Andrei KonyaevThe history of standup comedy, reality TV, and what makes media in Russia independent. Our very special guest is Andrei Konyaev, founder and editor in chief of N+1, co-host of Kuji Podcast, math professor and humor expert.N+1: https://nplus1.ru/N+1 FB page (in English): https://www.facebook.com/einsteinsmama/Kuji: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8xpGAv8Oz7iMPgMw9j0LA2018-12-1252 min
She's In Russia76: How Propaganda Works ft. Tamara EidelmanHistorian, teacher, and author Tamara Eidelman talks to us about her recently-published book Как Работает Пропаганда (How Propaganda Works), published by Individuum.Russian-speaking SIR listeners! You can read Tamara's book for free here: https://bookmate.app.link/tamaraAll, you can also use the promo code TAMARA to subscribe to the Bookmate app for a free *month* of reading any book they have (some are in English!). Just don't forget to unsubscribe at the end of 30 days if you don't want to actually be subscribed for money: https://bookmate.com/code?promo=TAMARAThe book is also available in print in Russia, check your local book store.2018-11-2745 min
She's In Russia75: Et Tu, Russia?We are doing a popup of new Russian fashion designers on Dec 8th & 9th at 332 E 4th St, New York, NY. Follow things: https://www.instagram.com/fortochka_, http://fortochka.site/.This week: Gossip, slander, facts about the sexual harassment case that led to Meduza's Editor in Chief Ivan Kolpakov resigning last week. Episode image lifted from lenta.ru2018-11-2043 min
She's In Russia74: Gop-stopWe are doing a non-digital project, wherein we sell clothes made by Russian designers for two days in December in New York City: fortochka.siteWhy do slavs squat? The eternal question. The history of the gopnik phenomenon. Plus we trace the emergence of the gopnik image/meme from Runet—>Slavic internet—> Western internet—> global fashion trend.this episode was written up in MEL: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/slav-squat-meme-history-russia-gopnik(idk who made the episode image, i got it from the internet, good image tho!)2018-11-131h 05
She's In Russia73: The Babushka SocietyTwo friends meet Baba Yaga and her army of babushkas in modern day St. Petersburg.A radio drama made in collaboration with Benita Klavis (Benjamin Davis and Nikita Klimov). Written by Ben, produced by SIR. Featuring the voice talents of: Elliot Davis, Ben, Nikita, Smith, and LilyEpisode art by Nikita.Ben (author) and Nikita (illustrator) have also just published a book, the King of Fu, a surreal, dark humor-filled poetic memoir. You can get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2YYL6S Or directly from the publisher: https://www.nadablank.com/copy-of-epressYou can also read/see...2018-11-0625 min
She's In Russia72: Bryansky Les ft. Laura WilliamsLast month we trekked to a small village deep in the woods near the Ukrainian border to visit a certain legendary American and her horses. This episode is dedicated to the life, work, and loved ones of Laura Williams.Episode photo is a young Laura, taken by her husband Igor Shpilenok (presumably).If you would like to read Laura's book: https://www.amazon.com/Storks-Nest-Life-Russian-Countryside/dp/1555916295"2018-10-3059 min
She's In Russia71: American Made ft. GraceSchool shootings, how their symbolism and aesthetics continue to echo Columbine, and whether or not they're preventable. This week's ep is unfortunately apropos of the mass murder at the Kerch Polytechnic College on Oct. 17.If you'd like to send money to help fund the treatment of those injured in the attack, you can do that here (sorry, it's in Russian): https://www.sberbank.ru/ru/about/kerch2018-10-2351 min
She's In Russia70: Attention DvorThe mystical St. Petersburg courtyard, the rural homestead, the royal court. This week we talk about the architectural and emotional history of the Russian dvor.patreon.com/shesinrussiaMusic: (theme music) Shit Happens by Tierra Whack, Русский Ковчег by Монеточка, Шоколадное кафе by Тупые2018-10-161h 03
She's In Russia69: Kadyrov, Don't Call Me ft. ZukhraJoined by our amazing special guest, Caucasus and MMA expert, Zukhra, we talk about how people from the North Caucasus relate to larger Russia, Khabib vs. Connor, why you shouldn't insult Caucasian people (the real ones), and everyday racism in Russian housing.2018-10-1045 min
She's In Russia68: Tweedle D' SkripalSuper recognizers come one come all! The plot thickens in the case of the helpless Russian tourists visiting the lovely town of Salisbury.https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-10-0248 min
She's In Russia67: Dacha SanThe Russian dacha wasn’t always а one-family weekend house symbolizing a return to the land and folksy country virtues. Lily tells Smith the more complicated story.Main knowledge source for this ep: Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha, 1710–2000 by Stephen Lovell2018-09-2558 min
She's In Russia66: Streets of St. Beetlesbug ft. PashaSmith came to St. Petersburg and we went around recording our trials and tribulations.2018-09-1943 min
She's In Russia65: Yanka(Best to listen with headphones, as this episode is in stereo)We tell the story (and listen to the music) of musician and poet Yanka Dyagileva and the late 1980s-early 1990s Siberian punk-rock scene she was at the center of. Listen to all the music from this episode: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLFDtUKjvwX0tq-FOBtZHbsDvNqw6nkXlSupport us plz: patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-09-111h 24
She's In Russia64: Kitchen Table ft. Nastya PankinaA discussion in Lily's kitchen about race paradigms, Gosha Rubchinskiy, censorship in Thaw-era film, and why Russia is the greatest country on earth.2018-09-031h 18
She's In Russia63: TerribleWe give our very in depth and diverging two cents on Keith Gessen's new novel A Terrible Country. There are spoilers, be warned.SPOILERS: 50:16 - 55:01 and 56:49 - 58:47Support us plz: patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-08-281h 05
She's In Russia62: Expat ScumbagsAn informal conversation where we talk about (among other things) a particular type of male expat in Russia, their relationship to women and sex, and the time Lily revealed herself to be nothing better than a capitalist parasite.2018-08-2155 min
She's In Russia61: Whipping Boy, Telegram pt. 2Part two of a two part series on the saga of Telegram in Russia. This week we give you a news update on the case, explain encryption, discuss one of the heroes of this story, Pavel Durov, and raise the question (and the various theories) of why, really, Telegram is being blockedFor this series we spoke to a multitude of people more important and knowledgeable than us. A huge thank you to Mikhail Klimarev, Tanya Lokot, Damir Gainutdinov, Matthew Green, Philip Kulin, Anna Fomina, and Max Olenichev. Also thank you to Andrei for his voiceover work, and to Yulia Drobova...2018-08-151h 13
She's In Russia60: Bear with a Stick, Telegram pt. 1Part one of a two part series on the saga of Telegram in Russia. This part is the one where we tell you more generally how the internet is regulated in Russia, why we care about Telegram, and how it (did it?) got blocked in Russia, legally and technically speaking.For this series we spoke to a multitude of people more important and knowledgeable than us. A huge thank you to Mikhail Klimarev, Tanya Lokot, Damir Gainutdinov, Philip Kulin, Anna Fomina, and Max Olenichev. Also thank you to Andrei for his voiceover work, and to Yulia Drobova for the incredible...2018-08-071h 29
She's In Russia59: Prison Tattoos ft. Mark BullenWe learn about the history of the Russian-speaking mafia and its intricate system of prison tattoos speaking with a specialist in the subject, Mark Bullen, a US-based former UK cop. Mark wrote a book documenting Russian prison tattoos and organized crime called Thief in Law, you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Thief-Law-Russian-Russian-Speaking-Organized/dp/0764355988/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528954355&sr=8-1&keywords=thief+in+law+mark+bullenMark's site: https://www.markgbullen.com/Or find him on Twitter @markgbullenSupport SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-07-3145 min
She's In Russia58: Unnamed PeninsulaLily visits a certain well-known Russian-speaking peninsula and learns that since its annexation, things have changed. And mostly not for the better. For a more in-depth legal/historical overview of Crimea, listen to our episode https://soundcloud.com/shes-in-russia/episode-11-crimea-it-existed-before-2014https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-07-2444 min
She's In Russia57: Telman’s MarketThe story of Moscow’s (in)famous Cherkizon market, the 90s born “city within a city” known for its cheap prices, über-wealthy owner Telman Ismailov, rampant corruption, and horrible living and working conditions.https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-07-171h 02
She's In Russia56: We Are Not RussiaBudapest local Zsolt tells Lily and her dear friend Liz about growing up in Soviet-occupied Hungary, why everything that's Russian is bad, and how Hungarian prime minister Orban Victor's feelings towards Russia have shifted since his days as a "young buck" on the early 90s political scene.https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-07-1041 min
She's In Russia55: I'll Ask HerBefore the ever-encroaching Euro-Americans got their grubby hands on Alaska, Russian frontiersmen were colonizing the peninsula with the help of a fur trade-bead racket. Smith tells Lily the story.patreon.com/shesinrussia2018-07-0349 min
She's In Russia54: Grand ft. Katerina NovikovaWe talk with head of press for The Bolshoi Theater, Katya Novikova, about the cultural significance of the institution, Ballet Nureyev, and how the theater used to be overrun with cats.You can watch Bolshoi production in real time in movie theaters around the world, keep an eye on this list: https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/about/relays/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaPodcasts from Meduza: https://meduza.io/podcastsGlagolev FM: http://glagolev.fm/Arzamas: https://arzamas.academy/radio2018-06-2647 min
She's In Russia53: Men Can't Sew ft. Alissa KlotsHello, yes, we have a launched a Patreon, support SIR: https://www.patreon.com/shesinrussiaEuropean University professor Alissa Klots talks to us about early Soviet domestic labor and post-Stalinist discourses on aging. More about Alissa: https://eu.spb.ru/en/history/faculty/17377-klots-alisa2018-06-1951 min
She's In Russia52: Lily Feels FunnyLily and Smith talk about dating without language, parallel lives, and romanticizing America.2018-06-1240 min
She's In Russia51: Malicious Hooligan ft. Slava MogutinArtist, activist, and writer Slava Mogutin talks to us about being exiled from Russia, outing Zhirinovsky, and the fetishization of military uniforms.Transcript of the episode: https://medium.com/shes-in-russia/malicious-hooligan-interview-with-slava-mogutin-2c529cc183b5Slava's website: http://slavamogutin.com/Get Slava's latest book of photography, Bros & Brosephines: http://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/bros-brosephines/Get Pictures & Words: https://www.amazon.com/Pictures-Words-5-Slava-Mogutin/dp/1976191742Episode image: Slava Mogutin by Paul Mpagi Sepuya ( taken from Slava's Instagram)2018-06-0543 min
She's In Russia50: MIRVelous ft. Alicia DressmanNuclear policy specialist Alicia Dressman talks to us about ballistic missiles, Cold War weaponry, and what "the Russia threat" means to her.Follow Alicia: twitter.com/thedelphivision2018-05-2947 min
She's In Russia49: Offended Sensibilites ft. Alisa GanievaA conversation with award-winning author Alisa Ganieva about her upcoming neo-noir detective novel Offended Sensibilities and the formation of a new kind of past-focused patriotism in Russia. A reading of a chapter from the book, translated into English by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler.The translated text is published in the quarterly literary journal Apofenie. You can find it at https://www.apofenie.com/fiction/2018/5/1/an-excerpt-from-offended-sensibilitiesFollow Isaac: https://twitter.com/ThreeNamesTrans2018-05-2251 min
She's In Russia48: Victory Day On Palace SquareOn May 9, Lily went out into the city and collected stories from people celebrating Victory Day. On that day, people in Russia and much of the former USSR celebrate Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945 and the end of the Great Patriotic War.2018-05-1547 min
She's In Russia47: Golden Boy TsoiThis week we listen to music by 1980s Leningrad legend/cult figure Viktor Tsoi and his band Kino. Plus we tell some meaty stories about Tsoi's life and the late Soviet / early Perestroika rock scene.2018-05-071h 05
She's In Russia46: Elena Kostyuchenko at ColumbiaNovaya Gazeta's Elena Kostyuchenko on why she decided to report on Chechnya, what exactly foreigners misunderstand about Russian media censorship, and why her journalism isn't trying to change people.This week we respond to a talk Smith went to earlier this month at Columbia University between Elena, who is the Harriman Institute’s Paul Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellow, and the World Editor of BuzzFeed News, Miriam Elder.Special thanks to the Harriman Institute for letting us use the audio for the show.2018-05-0156 min
She's In Russia45: Where's Lily?Smith asks Lily about her life in Russia. Lily talks about why she feels she has to explain basic bitch feminism all the time, the pecularities of black American cultural appropriation in Russia, and how she got broken up with for being a sugar mama. As a bonus, Lily debuts some new voices she's been practicing.2018-04-2450 min
She's In Russia44: Moscow's Trash CollapseIn the suburbs of Moscow people have been fighting with local government to solve what has now clearly become a region-wide garbage management crisis. To make matters worse, it's in the largest urban area of a country that, at least on the official level, doesn't recycle.This week Lily tells Smith what she learned about Moscow Oblast's trash problem from talking with people at a protest in Lobnya, one of the several Moscow suburbs that held trash-related protests on April 14, in honor of the regional governor's birthday.2018-04-1948 min
She's In Russia43: Lenin on the Lower East SideOn top of an unassuming building on the LES of Manhattan there is an 18-foot tall copper statue of Vladimir Lenin, gesturing to Wall Street.This week Smith tells Lily what she learned about the statue’s journey from post-Soviet Russia to New York — and what it has come to symbolize there — from speaking with the statue’s co-owners and residents of the neighborhood. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whack2018-04-0638 min
She's In Russia42: KemerovoThis week SIR tells the story of the recent tragic fire in Kemerovo through voices from the city.On Sunday March 25, a fire broke out in a mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, killing 64 people, mostly children, who had come to see the movie Sherlock Gnomes and celebrate the start of their Spring break. The tragedy has been filling the Russian internet and media space for the past week, occupying the minds of people across the country who are mourning with the city.2018-04-0345 min
She's In Russia41: Russian Soul Inspectors ft. Hannah GaisWe've got Hannah Gais on to talk about the phrase the "Russian soul." We cover the phrase's origin and subsequent adoption by the West, its contemporary uses amongst unhinged Twitter personalities, and how it is Russia has excellent sushi despite being a landlocked country.Read Hannah's article on the "Russian Soul" in The Baffler: https://thebaffler.com/this-american-carnage/whos-afraid-of-the-russian-soul-gaisFollow her on twitter at @hannahgais and go to her website to check out her other writing, https://hannahgais.com/Theme music: Shit Happens by Tierra WhackSubscribe to our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-03-2734 min
She's In Russia40: The House Behind the Vacant LotThis week we are co-presenting -- with Event Horizon Magazine and translator Isaac Wheeler -- the English-language debut of author Olga Onoyko. We're devoting this episode to Olga's surreal, dream-like short story, "The House Behind The Vacant Lot." Lily interviews the author and Isaac reads his translation of her story. Olga Onoyko is a 33 year old, Moscow-based musicologist by training, who works in IT. She is the author of multiple published novels and short stories. In 2007 she received the Debut award in the Fantasy genre for her novel "Surgical Intervention" (Хирургическое вмешательство), and in 2009 an encouragement award from the European Science Fiction Society.Isaac's translatio...2018-03-2045 min
She's In Russia39: Maybe Putin Won't Be President AnymoreOn March 18 Russians will vote to elect a (possibly new) President to lead the country for the next 6 years. This week SIR changes it up, handing our mics over to three millennial, liberal-leaning Russians -– Nastya, Max, and Rita -- to discuss the personalities and platforms of all 8 candidates.During the discussion, they explain why TV is the country’s “main problem”, what kinds of gifts you get the first time you vote in Russia, why Ksenia Sobchak was more badass when she started her campaign, and why Alexey Navalny (the only Russian opposition leader covered widely in Western media), along wi...2018-03-1351 min
She's In Russia38: Women's Day HoorayIn Russia International Women's Day is celebrated widely every March 8 since 1917. At some point in the Soviet era, the holiday (whose original incarnation is a strongly Socialist-rooted celebration of the struggle for women's rights, gender equality, and in Russia specifically the women who initiated and comprised the 1917 February revolution) morphed into a twisted mirror-image of itself that reinforces woman's traditional social role as caretaker and patron saint of beauty, family, and the home. SIR discusses the revolution that made the holiday mainstream in Russia, how the day is celebrated today, plus the story of arguably one of Russia's most influential...2018-03-0641 min
She's In Russia37: Indict MeRussiagate unfolds: on Feb. 16, 2018. Former FBI director and current US Special Counsel Robert "the Swan" Mueller III published an "unprecedented" indictment of 13 Russian people and 3 Russian companies all related to the so-called Internet Research Agency, aka the "Troll Factory" in St. Petersburg and now all formally accused of interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections.Allow SIR to explain: what actually happened, why it matters, and why we knew all this already.Follow our Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussiaTheme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra WhackInterludes: Computer Luv by Ravyn Lenae, Your Mouth by Frank Zappaare.na: https://www.are.na...2018-02-2752 min
She's In Russia36: We Love BanyaThe Russian banya -- the body/soul cleansing, health stimulating spa ritual cum social club. This week we talk about the significance of the banya in Russian culture, why it's very much not just a sauna, what kinds of banyas Russians use today (and one of their slightly frightening prototypes). Plus how to properly "steam" someone with veniki [bushels of leafy twigs, often birch or oak]. Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra Whackare.na channel: https://are.na/smith-freeman/banya-the-russian-saunaTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-02-2052 min
She's In Russia35: Latvia ft. Kristaps AndrejsonsWe're kicking off our ongoing series on former Soviet countries with Kristaps Andrejsons, host of The Eastern Border podcast and, incidentally, a Latvian.Our conversation runs the gamut: wild boars in Riga, the three waves of National Awakening (i.e. how Latvia became a country), and the best summer festival.Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra WhackListen to Kristaps's podcast: http://theeasternborder.lv/Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-02-1334 min
She's In Russia34: Surfing The Net ft. Igor BelkinThis week we shoot the shit with Igor Belkin, journalist, media person, "blogger", about the Russian Internet (Runet). We've got Livejournal in the early 2000s, quintessential Runet memes, and menacing Orthodox officials. Plus what it's like to be a Russian expat in America.Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra WhackInterlude: IAmNobody by Lin-ZTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-01-3037 min
She's In Russia33: Space CadetsThis week we tell the story of Russian and American space programs -- the race to space, why "free men" should get there first, Russian bear hugs, and the (lack of) politics in space.This episode is a montage of primary source clips from archives and other corners of the internet that tell the story starting from the 1800s til the present day. And we, of course, play peanut gallery.Theme Music: Tierra WhackInterlude: Mae Jemison by SammusTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-01-2344 min
She's In Russia32: Translation Station ft. Kevin Rothrock & Isaac WheelerThis week we discuss the theory and daily practice of translation, joined by two honored guests and translators. Our first guest is Kevin Rothrock, Senior Editor and Translator at Meduza in English, who tells us about his daily work bringing independent Russian news to English speakers, and how to stealthily pick fights on Twitter. Our second guest is Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, professional independent translator of both Russian and Ukrainian poetry and prose, who tells us, among many other things, what the heck an intuitive door handle has to do with translation.You can find Kevin on Twitter @KevinRothrock and on...2018-01-1653 min
She's In Russia31: Beaches Go To BrightonThis week we were both in NYC and took the opportunity to spend the day talking to people in Brighton Beach, aka Little Odessa, aka the neighborhood of choice for Soviet immigrants. We spoke to people from all over the former USSR (and Turkey!) who live, work, and/or were visiting Brighton, asking them about the neighborhood and their relationship to it. We tried to let them do the talking.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-01-0941 min
She's In RussiaTaking a break this weekTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2018-01-0203 min
She's In Russia30: 2017 Round UpThis week we select clips from some of our favorite episodes of the year. Happy New Year.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-12-2759 min
She's In Russia29: Bourgeoisie TreeThis week Lily tells Smith the tale of the Russian Christmas/New Year's tree. Pagan anti-demon rituals, Peter the Great shaking and moving, a pro-tree Pravda op-ed by a party leader: Lily plots the course of how the Christmas Tree came to Russia and then ultimately became the New Year's tree.Theme Music: Tierra WhackInterludes: Guayaba (aeonfuxxx on Soundcloud)Special thanks to the scholarship of Elena DushechkinaTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-12-1939 min
She's In Russia28: Reading Russian RainbowCozy up for story time. This week we bring you a reading of two texts translated from Russian -- a short story called "Thirteen" by Alisa Ganieva and an excerpt from a novel called "The Gardener is Gone" by Lena Eltang. The short story was translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler and published in The Missing Slate. The novel is currently in the process (!) of being co-translated by Isaac and Reilly Costigan-Humes -- we're very grateful to the translators for the chance to get a sneak peek of their beautiful work and share it with our listeners. Theme Music: Shit Happens...2017-12-1250 min
She's In Russia27: Tit4TatThis week we're checking in with “Russiagate”/ the “Russian matter” [российское дело]. You will learn: what Michael Flynn’s plea deal is and why there's a fuss about it; and what happened to RT America, the US branch of a multinational Russian news network. RT’s case has in incited yet another tit for tat between the US and Russian governments involving their respective “Foreign Agent” laws (which are very much not the same), the tit of which is looking to be alot more harmful than the tat. We give you the lowdown on these latest developments, plus, concordantly, a healthy dose of ethical discussion around s...2017-12-0544 min
She's In Russia26: Small Shuttered Palace ft. Molly ZuckermanThis fall, European University at St. Petersburg was shut down under dubious circumstances. We talk with Molly Zuckerman about the school's contentious history with government and the plight of foreign students now stranded by the school's closure. Plus, she shares some good tidbits on kegels from a Russian sexologist.Theme Music: Tierra WhackInterludes: TatarkaTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-11-2841 min
She's In Russia25: Bloc Chain BitchesIt would seem that governments are finally starting to cotton on to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The Russian government is no exception. This week we cover exactly what cryptocurrency and blockchain are, the Russian government's economic, legislative, and technological move into the crypto space, and the state of private crypto businesses in Russia.Theme Music: Shit Happens by Tierra WhackInterludes: Tiff The GiftTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-11-2150 min
She's In Russia24: Black October Roundtable (of us)How did the Bolshevik Revolution and the actual establishment of the Soviet Union inspire and encourage activists and intellectuals of the African Diaspora? With what specific mechanisms of hard and soft power did the Soviet Union, from its earliest years, seek to create a ‘global Black proletariat’?We didn’t answer these questions ourselves, but thankfully someone else did! For the week leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution (Oct. 7, 2017), The African American Intellectual History Society published a series of articles online written by various scholars of Black and Russian/Soviet history and art on this very interr...2017-11-1445 min
She's In Russia23: Healthcare Bear StareHow has the Russian healthcare system transformed since 1991? How much does the average Russian doctor earn now? This week we bring you an overview of healthcare in Russia today, from how insurance works to why the constitution's promise of 'free healthcare for all' isn't quite as good as it sounds in real life.Plus we're joined by our dear friend Izzy, who tells the story of her own personal saga cum cultural struggle with the Russian healthcare system when she was a wee student in St. Petersburg.Theme Music: Tierra WhackInterlude: Skwod by Nadia RoseTelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-11-0741 min
She's In Russia22: Moms in The MotherlandOn this week's episode we bring you the political mother. We trace the history of the Soviet conception of motherhood, interview an honest-to-goodness Russian mom, and talk about three recent tragedies (Kursk, Beslan, and The Ukrainian Crisis) to which mothers responded by politicizing and organizing.Plus, we give some real practical and useful advice on how to stimulate the clitoris.Music: Tierra Whack2017-10-3157 min
She's In Russia21: How To Be A Human and Not Fuck Up ft. Olya PolyakovaThis week in the Petersburg studio (Lily's room) we're joined by social entrepreneur, activist, and all around inspiring human, Olya Polyakova. We talk about how she documented her arrest and 12-day detainment for peacefully protesting in June, how to best use the toilet in a 2-person prison cell, what it means to feel freedom in the city, and why it's important that Ksenia Sobchak is running for president.Follow Olya on Instagram: @PolyakovaPolyakovaWatch the tour of her cell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyRw2D7eSMETelegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-10-2445 min
She's In Russia20: Mini LeviathanWe talk with Lily's friend Nastya all about Russian movies since perestroika. Well we were supposed to, but we lost most of the recording. So instead we bring you a baby episode about heating pads (get one!), and a theory about how The Return and Leviathan, both directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, exemplify Russia's changing relationship with The West.Fear not, in the future, we'll re-record a full episode on Russian film.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-10-1713 min
She's In Russia19: Baby's First YearAnother variety show! This time we listen to clips from U.S. media specifically from the first year of Putin’s first term as president, resuming our peanut gallery position with light commentary and analysis. The clip topics range from Clinton and Bush’s brief overlap, to Bush musing about Putin’s soul, to the thorn in the two men’s 8 year relationship as presidents together - what to do about anti-ballistic missiles. We also check in with this week's protests in Russia, and shill for Turkish Airlines and their supreme warm buns.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-10-1048 min
She's In Russia18: Ryumochnaya Tour, 2017This is the ryumochnaya - a humble drinking house featuring hard liquor, maybe some beer, an assortment of open-faced sandwiches, pickles and perhaps some other simple, hearty fare. Also known as the place you go to drink cheap vodka by the milliliter. We went to some of St. Petersburg's finest ones, got really drunk, and interviewed some other drunk strangers. Here's what we have to show for it.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-10-0344 min
She's In Russia17: Stand By Me (and James Clapper)Rob Reiner’s latest production is an absurdly sincere piece of civilian propaganda -- the freshly minted Committee to Investigate Russia (website + trailer starring Morgan Freeman), whose advisory board consists of a hodgepodge of 'non-partisan' figures, ranging from liberals to centrists to never-Trumpers. We go through this latest iteration of Cold War II content and connect it to the larger contexts of American jingoism and Hollywood’s peculiar history of politicizing.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-09-2658 min
She's In Russia16: Russia and America Are Different Countries ft. Sean GuilloryWith Sean Guillory of the SRB Podcast, we map out the Russian Left (not just Navalny folks!), question why Russia is always expected to mimic America, and go on some fruitful tangents about the likes of Jefferson and teen-aged John Quincy Adams. Check out Sean's podcast at seansrussiablog.org, he does good interviews.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-09-1953 min
She's In Russia15: Russian Rap "Rial Tolk"This week’s episode is all about Russian-language rap: the history, how to think about race in a non-American paradigm, and a nice set of samples from some Russian artists.Telegram channel: https://t.me/shesinrussia2017-09-1244 minShe's In Russia12: Rasputin PeasantryIt's 1905 and this is the story of how a Siberian peasant mystic w/ apparently real healing powers and a propensity for debauchery and assault befriended the last royal family of Russia (and contributed to their demise). Scandal, intrigue, murder - and all because the heir to the Russian throne was a 'bleeder'. Also, Lily is outed as a decadent cosmopolitan and Smith intercepts an unrequited love/catcall.2017-08-2245 min
She's In RussiaEpisode 11: Crimea, It Existed Before 2014Wait, was the annexation of Crimea illegal per international law? To answer this question, we start at the beginning -- the 15th century, when Crimea was ruled by the ottoman empire and was the center for the Slavic slave trade -- and end at present day. The Ukrainian crisis and the annexation of Crimea mark the beginning of the so-called Cold War II. On this week’s episode we answer the questions: What laws did the Russian government break in annexing Crimea? How do we balance the will of the Crimean people against opposing international legality? And how does Putin us...2017-08-151h 16
She's In RussiaEpisode 9: She's in AmericaChanging up the format for this week, we decided to do a little check in with American politics, in case you need help keeping up. Plus some stories from Lily’s daily life in Russia. Smith presents the meat of the episode with several hand-selected moments from the absurd mayhem that is US politics this past week. Topics include Trump & 40,000 Boy Scouts, everyone and his brother crooning over “The Maverick” McCain (aka when you get sick, people forget all the bad things you did), how America is slapping Russia’s wrist this time, and of course the shenanigans of The Moochste...2017-08-011h 06
She's In RussiaEpisode 8: Khrushchev and His ApartmentsOn this episode Lily tells Smith about the housing crisis in the Soviet Union and how Nikita Khrushchev sought to solve it, namely by building lots of prefabricated concrete apartment buildings all over the USSR, known collectively as Khrushchevki. The proposed demolition of many of these very buildings is the subject of an ongoing debate in Moscow today, with multiple generations of residents coming out to protest the destruction of their homes, and their impending relocation.We talk about what these rather humble constructions have come to represent over half a century, the concept (and reality) of privacy in a...2017-07-2551 min