First we follow the Russian rulers from Rurik to Putin. From there, we will cover all aspects of Russian and Soviet history as well as the histories of all of the countries that were part of the USSR and the Russian Empire. Hopefully, the podcast can help you understand the policies of Vladimir Putin, and Russia. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly donation, click this link - https://www.buzzsprout.com/385372/support
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Sep 27, 2026 · 23:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a two-part series on the Soviet Khrushchev Thaw and what awaited the millions of prisoners returning from the gulags. Support the show
Sep 13, 2026 · 23:24
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the forced policy of Russification thrust upon nations within the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union such as Poland, Finland, Ukraine,…
Aug 30, 2026 · 24:46
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish up the series on the heads of the Soviet secret police. Support the show
Aug 16, 2026 · 23:48
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the men who would lead the brutal Soviet Secret Police from its beginnings in 1917 as the Cheka. Support the show
Aug 2, 2026 · 23:12
Send us Fan Mail Today, we end our series revisiting some of the great leaders in Russian history with Catherine the Great. Support the show
Jul 19, 2026 · 23:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we revisit the life and times of Ivan Grozny, also known as Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible Support the show
Jul 5, 2026 · 28:32
Send us Fan Mail Today, our podcast is an interview with author of the book Reign of Secrets and former Ambassador to Denmark James P. Cain. Hint, Vladimir Putin is an important…
Jun 28, 2026 · 25:05
Send us Fan Mail Today, we revisit the life and times of one of the most influential Russian leaders of all time, Peter the Great. Support the show
Jun 7, 2026 · 25:15
Send us Fan Mail Today's episode will focus on looking at Stalin psychologically to determine whether he had suffered from mental illness and what experiences led him to the…
May 24, 2026 · 23:09
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish the two-part story about Leon Trotsky, beginning in 1917 and ending with his assassination by Ramon Mercader in 1940. Support the show
May 10, 2026 · 23:57
Send us Fan Mail Today, we revisit the life of Leon Trotsky with our focus being on who he was as a person and how he became the revolutionary that would help the Bolsheviks take…
Apr 26, 2026 · 23:16
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the final battle of the European p[art of World War II. We will focus on the human suffering instead of the actual battle. Support the show
Apr 12, 2026 · 23:13
Send us Fan Mail Today, we will cover the rebellion of the soldiers stationed at the naval base of Kronstadt, this time against the Bolsheviks who they helped get into power in…
Mar 29, 2026 · 24:40
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss those men (and some women) who had influence over the Tsars of Russia starting with Ivan I. Support the show
Mar 16, 2026 · 23:40
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the history of one of Russia's oldest cities, Veliky Novgorod. Support the show
Mar 1, 2026 · 26:09
Send us Fan Mail Today we cover the 719 year dynasty that lasted from 862 with the arrival of the Viking Varangian, Rurik and ended in 1598 with the death of Feodor I. Support…
Feb 17, 2026 · 23:58
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the Russian Imperial Era which began under the reign of Peter the Great in 1721 and ended with the abdication of Nicholas II in February 1917.…
Feb 1, 2026 · 23:08
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the first Cold War and introduce the beginning of the second Cold War, this time with Russia instead of the Soviet Union. Support…
Jan 18, 2026 · 23:42
Send us Fan Mail Today we cover the tensions between the USSR and the US as well as the start of detente. We will also briefly cover the border conflict between the USSR and…
Jan 4, 2026 · 23:09
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the Korean War and other Cold War activities that the US and the USSR dabbled in. Support the show
Dec 22, 2025 · 23:11
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a multipart series on the Cold War, a battle of ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union. Support the show
Dec 7, 2025 · 23:02
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the autobiography of the Archpriest Avvakum Petrov, the man who was one of the leaders of the schismatic Old Believers, born from the denial of…
Nov 23, 2025 · 24:17
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the women in Russia who helped bring about the revolutions that would bring down the Romanov dynasty. Support the show
Nov 16, 2025 · 3:08
Send us Fan Mail Just wanted to let everyone know what's up with the podcast and when the next episode will be uploaded and what to expect in the episode after that. Support the…
Nov 2, 2025 · 24:17
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the enormous role that women played in the two Russian Revolutions of the early 20th century. Support the show
Oct 19, 2025 · 23:34
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the impact of the Bolshevik Revolution on the Russian people. Support the show
Oct 5, 2025 · 26:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the histories of the remnants of the Golden Horde and the Mongol Invasion, the khanates of Astrakhan, Kazan, and Crimea. Support the show
Sep 21, 2025 · 24:07
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the Soviet Space Program with some fantastic successes, and disastrous failures. Support the show
Sep 14, 2025 · 6:07
Send us Fan Mail Just wanted to share the plans I have for the podcast, which will continue for at least another year. Support the show
Sep 1, 2025 · 25:11
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin our two-part series covering the Soviet Space Program from its early days in the 1930s up to the launch of the three Sputnik satellites. Support…
Aug 17, 2025 · 25:35
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the largest tank battle in human history, the Battle of Kursk, whose outcome still reverberates to this day. Support the show
Aug 3, 2025 · 24:38
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover one of the pioneers of modern acting, Konstantin Stanislavski, the man whose "system" would be known as method acting. Support the show
Jul 20, 2025 · 24:09
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Support the show
Jul 6, 2025 · 23:14
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany in 1942. This is a two-part series that will culminate in the largest…
Jun 22, 2025 · 40:17
Send us Fan Mail Today, I am sharing an interview with author David Chaffetz to talk about his book Raiders, Rulers, and Traders. We will talk about the role of horses in Russian…
Jun 8, 2025 · 22:35
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the non-aggression treaty between the USSR and Nazi Germany signed in 1939, that shocked the world. It also was the trigger that started World…
May 26, 2025 · 16:53
Send us Fan Mail During Ivan III's reign, the Principality of Muscovy grew to become what we now know as the Russian Empire. Support the show
May 11, 2025 · 24:19
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover those scientists who served during the time of the Soviet Union. Support the show
Apr 27, 2025 · 22:50
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the fascinating lives and accomplishments of 13 Russian scientists Support the show
Apr 14, 2025 · 24:28
Send us Fan Mail Despite Russia claiming that their country never played the colonialism and imperialism game that the west played, they are not telling the truth. Russia and the…
Mar 30, 2025 · 22:53
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the only major schism in Russian Orthodox history, known as the Raskol. Occurring in the mid-17th century, the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, led to…
Mar 10, 2025 · 24:16
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the final Moscow Show Trial in which 21 men would lose their lives in a trial short on reality and long on self admission of…
Feb 24, 2025 · 23:18
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the third Moscow Show Trial based on the actual transcript, translated into English. Support the show
Feb 10, 2025 · 23:42
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish our three part series on some of the most important cities of Russia with the history of the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. Support the show
Jan 27, 2025 · 24:06
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the history of Russia's one-time capital, St. Petersburg. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, it became Russia's first truly European city.…
Jan 13, 2025 · 23:49
Send us Fan Mail Today's episode takes us on a journey through the history of Russia's capital, Moscow. Support the show
Dec 29, 2024 · 23:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series on the heads of the Russian Orthodox Church. Support the show
Dec 17, 2024 · 23:17
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a two-part series of the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the early 14th century. Support the show
Dec 2, 2024 · 24:25
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up our history of the Cossacks, flowing them from the time of Catherine the Great, the Napoleonic Invasion, and though their tough times under the…
Nov 18, 2024 · 23:34
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue on our journey into the history of the Cossacks, focusing mostly on those from the Don River basin. Support the show
Nov 3, 2024 · 23:15
Send us Fan Mail Today, we start a new, 3-part series on the history of the Cossacks. The legendary bands of free men, helped influence the Russian experience to this day.…
Oct 21, 2024 · 23:46
Send us Fan Mail Sergei Witte was the first Prime Minister of Russia that wasn't the Tsar. Try as he could, he was unable to convince Nicholas II to reform the country and create…
Sep 30, 2024 · 26:13
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the tragic story of the Great Purge which costs millions of lives and adversely affected Russians to this day. Support the show
Sep 15, 2024 · 24:23
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover those unfortunate individuals who were caught up in the Purge despite having nothing to do with the charges put up against them. Support the show
Sep 1, 2024 · 25:15
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a three-part series on the Great Purge of 1937-1939, where over one million people lost their lives. Support the show
Aug 18, 2024 · 29:30
Send us Fan Mail Today's episode with Professor Laruelle will cover a number of topics including an overview of Russian history and the ebb and flow of Russian reforms and…
Aug 11, 2024 · 23:11
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the story of the Battle of Borodino, the battle that would turn the tide against the French and Napoleon. It was one of the most important…
Jul 29, 2024 · 23:54
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the miserable conditions that Russian serfs lived in. In particular, we will share quotes from the memoirs of one of the serfs, Savva Dmitrievich…
Jul 15, 2024 · 23:40
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the series of this remarkable woman. From meeting Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Denis Diderot, Dashkova would become the first woman to lead…
Jul 1, 2024 · 23:12
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue the story of this remarkable person. Dashkova, as she writes in her memoirs, believed herself to be in the middle of the coup to remove Peter…
Jun 16, 2024 · 24:28
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin the series into one of the most fascinating women in world and Russian history, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova Dashkova. She would…
Jun 3, 2024 · 24:49
Send us Fan Mail Who was Vladimir Ulyanov Lenin? How did he become the man who would help overthrow the Romanovs and begin the Bolshevik control of Russia and its neighboring…
May 21, 2024 · 24:55
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up the Great Game of tensions between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia. Support the show
May 5, 2024 · 24:31
Send us Fan Mail Today, we talk about the quagmire that the British stepped into when they invaded Afghanistan to begin the First Anglo-Afghan War and the role it played in the…
Apr 21, 2024 · 23:09
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a new series on the Great Game (also known as Bolshaya Igra), a jockeying of position between the two great empires of the 19th century, Russia…
Apr 7, 2024 · 29:47
Send us Fan Mail Today's special episode is an interview with Professor Simon Miles, Author of Engaging the Evil Empire: Washington, Moscow, and the Beginning of the End of the…
Apr 1, 2024 · 23:15
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the history of one of Russia's most famous architectural achievements, The Kremlin. Support the show
Mar 17, 2024 · 23:37
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish our three-part series on the traumatic events of the end of the Tsarist regime with the people's perspective of the Russian Revolution. Support…
Mar 5, 2024 · 16:10
Send us Fan Mail Alexei Navalny's recent passing has placed focus on the corruption of the Russian government and its persecution of its enemies. Today, we recount the all too…
Feb 13, 2024 · 30:35
Send us Fan Mail Today, we talk with Professor Maya Vinokour, author of the new book, Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture. You can find the book here -…
Feb 4, 2024 · 25:23
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue our three-part series on the people's perspective of three monumental events in Russian history, this time about the Crimean War. Support the…
Jan 21, 2024 · 24:00
Send us Fan Mail Today, we look at the Russian Civil War from a people's perspective. We avoid talking about the battles and the political events, concentrating more on how the…
Jan 14, 2024 · 18:53
Send us Fan Mail Today, we share an Interview with Rolf Hellebust, author of How Russian Literature Became Great, available from Cornell University Press.…
Jan 8, 2024 · 24:29
Send us Fan Mail Today, we will cover the 9 year war between the Soviet Union and Afghani rebels. The losses suffered by the Soviets would be a spark that would cause the…
Dec 17, 2023 · 33:41
Send us Fan Mail Today, we have an interview with Valeria Sobol professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, author of the book,…
Dec 11, 2023 · 25:05
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish our series about the foods and drinks from Russia. Support the show
Nov 27, 2023 · 27:59
Send us Fan Mail Today, we start a two-part series about the incredible cuisines of Russia and the Soviet Union. Support the show
Nov 12, 2023 · 25:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we wrap up our series as we cover the continuing relationship between Russia and the Soviet Union with the great Volga River. If you'd like to support the…
Oct 30, 2023 · 23:25
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue our journey through the history of the Volga River and its historical relationship with Russia. If you'd like to support the podcast with a…
Oct 22, 2023 · 29:32
Send us Fan Mail This is an interview I did with Professor Paul Robinson, author of the important work, Russian Liberalism. You can purchase a copy of his book through this…
Oct 15, 2023 · 24:14
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a three-part series on the history of the Volga River, the longest in Europe, and its relationship to Russia. If you'd like to support the…
Oct 3, 2023 · 26:15
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the impact of sports in the Soviet Union. Also, I am adding a tribute to one of the inspirations for this podcast, my daughter, Anastasya…
Sep 17, 2023 · 24:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we end our two-part series on the numerous conflicts that Russia has participated after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. If you'd like to…
Sep 4, 2023 · 25:24
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a two-part series to discuss the conflicts that have plagued Russia and its neighbors after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. If you'd…
Aug 27, 2023 · 27:57
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish our two-part series on the major turning points in both Russian and Soviet history. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly…
Aug 13, 2023 · 23:25
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a two-part series relating to the turning points in Russian history. f you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly donation, click…
Aug 6, 2023 · 25:55
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the long relationship between Russia, the Soviet Union, and China throughout the past four hundred years. If you'd like to support the podcast…
Jul 30, 2023 · 25:18
Send us Fan Mail Today, we finish up our five-part series on the Soviet Gulag system. The punishments and rewards as well as the dismantling of the camps are discussed. If you'd…
Jul 23, 2023 · 24:29
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the work done in the Gulags. Brutal and sometimes absurd, work was the reason for the people to populate the prisoner camps. If you'd like to…
Jul 18, 2023 · 26:30
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue our series about the Soviet Gulag with first-hand accounts of life within the camps. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly…
Jul 9, 2023 · 26:00
Send us Fan Mail Today, we talk about some of the experiences of women related to the gulag experience. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly donation, click…
Jul 2, 2023 · 24:40
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a five-part series on one of the most tragic institutions in Soviet history, the Gulag. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly…
Jun 27, 2023 · 25:15
Send us Fan Mail Today, we discuss the history House of Fabergé, and the incredible jewelry they produced, especially the royal eggs. If you'd like to support the podcast with a…
Jun 19, 2023 · 25:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we take a tour of the famed St. Petersburg museum, the Hermitage. We will also recount the history of the museum from its founding in 1703 until today. If…
Jun 11, 2023 · 27:38
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the three Moscow Show Trials which were meant to eliminate the Old Bolsheviks who Stalin believed could threaten his control of the Soviet Union.…
Jun 4, 2023 · 32:03
Send us Fan Mail Today, we end our five-part series with Kutuzov defeating Napoleon Bonaparte. Unfortunately, he would die only a few month after expelling the French General…
May 28, 2023 · 24:58
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the beginnings of the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. The failures of the generals leading the war effort would eventually lead to the…
May 21, 2023 · 26:47
Send us Fan Mail Today, we cover the period right before the Russian army goes into full attack mode against Napoleon's Grand Armee. Kutuzov has been busy with a number of…
May 14, 2023 · 24:07
Send us Fan Mail Today, we continue following the incredible career of General Mikhail Kutuzov. We also recount two episodes where his life hanged by a thread. If you'd like to…
May 7, 2023 · 26:09
Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin a five-part series on one of Russia's greatest military geniuses, Mikhail Kutuzov. This period of Russian history would lay the groundwork for…
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