
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In this provocative Flashback Friday episode of The Radio Vagabond, I travel to Belarus – often called "Europe's last dictatorship" – to uncover the lived reality of life under Alexander Lukashenko. As I meet locals and explore Minsk, I ask a bold question: are there bright sides to this autocratic system?
Some people credit the regime with preserving economic stability post-USSR, keeping unemployment low and averting the oligarchic chaos seen elsewhere. They say limited online freedoms – like the ability to access opposition sites – create an illusion of choice.
But the darker truth sits just beneath the surface. Lukashenko's heavy censorship, the criminalization of dissent – even for wearing "wrong" socks – and the ongoing use of capital punishment paint a grim picture.
This episode digs into these contradictions. I speak with people benefiting from economic predictability, then confront the chilling reality of repression and human rights abuses. It's a travel story that challenges assumptions – and raises uncomfortable questions.
See pictures and read more on https://www.theradiovagabond.com/182-belarus/
This Flashback Friday episode was first released on May 10, 2021.
By Palle Bo4.8
5454 ratings
In this provocative Flashback Friday episode of The Radio Vagabond, I travel to Belarus – often called "Europe's last dictatorship" – to uncover the lived reality of life under Alexander Lukashenko. As I meet locals and explore Minsk, I ask a bold question: are there bright sides to this autocratic system?
Some people credit the regime with preserving economic stability post-USSR, keeping unemployment low and averting the oligarchic chaos seen elsewhere. They say limited online freedoms – like the ability to access opposition sites – create an illusion of choice.
But the darker truth sits just beneath the surface. Lukashenko's heavy censorship, the criminalization of dissent – even for wearing "wrong" socks – and the ongoing use of capital punishment paint a grim picture.
This episode digs into these contradictions. I speak with people benefiting from economic predictability, then confront the chilling reality of repression and human rights abuses. It's a travel story that challenges assumptions – and raises uncomfortable questions.
See pictures and read more on https://www.theradiovagabond.com/182-belarus/
This Flashback Friday episode was first released on May 10, 2021.

78,326 Listeners

26,209 Listeners

11,613 Listeners

2,496 Listeners

43 Listeners

830 Listeners

1,289 Listeners

147 Listeners

631 Listeners

232 Listeners

5,179 Listeners

2,102 Listeners

1,706 Listeners

2,813 Listeners

62 Listeners