The Eurasian Knot

Guest:

Masha Lipman is a frequent commentator on contemporary Russian affairs. She is currently the head editor of the journal Kontrapunkt, a contributor to the New Yorker, and co-editor with Nikolai Petrov of The State of Russia: What Comes Next? published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Music:

Jawbreaker, “Chesterfield King,” Bivouac, 1992.

Guest:

Brigid O’Keeffe is an Associate Professor of History at Brooklyn College where she specializes in late imperial Russian and Soviet history. Her research interests include internationalism, Esperanto, selfhood, ethnicity, citizenship and everyday Soviet life. She’s the author of New Soviet Gypsies: Nationality, Performance, and Selfhood in the Early Soviet Union published by University of Toronto Press.

Music:

Etta James, “Tell Mama,” Mojo Presents Southern Soul, 2005.

Guest:

Erika Monahan is an Associate professor in History at the University of New Mexico. She specializes in commerce, corruption, and empire in early modern Eurasia. She’s the author of The Merchants of Siberia: Trade in Early Modern Russia published by Cornell University Press.

Music:

Tom Waits, “All the World is Green,” Blood Money, 2002.

Guest:

Alexander Herbert is a graduate student at the University of Chicago working on Modern Russian History. He has been involved with the Russian punk scene extensively for about 4 years and has contributed articles to Razorcake and Maximum Rock ’n’ Roll. Along with his degree work and raising a 1 year old, Alexander has been compiling a collection of interviews, fanzines, lyrics, and records on Russian punk from 1978-2015.

Alexander is looking for a publisher for the English translation of (Proverochnaya Lineyka or Straight Edge’s) Peter’s memoir Exodus. You can find a German article about the book here. If your interested in publishing the book, I can provide Alexander’s contact information.

Music:

Otdel Samoiskoreneniia (Self-Eradication Department), “Voinaya Monarkhiia,” 1983. You can find a remastered version of the album confiscated by the KGB here.

Proverochnaia Lineika (Straight Edge), “Papa,” 2004.

Ricochet, “Cinema Paradiso,” 2011.

Russian Punk Rock Resources

Film

Vladimir Kozlov’s documentary Traces in the Snow on the Siberian Political Punk scene.

Influential Soviet/Russian Bands

Avtomaticheski Udovletvoriteli

Otdel Samoiskoreneniia

Grazhdanskaya Oborona

Obekt Nasmeshek

Narodnoe Opolchenie

Televizor

DDT

Sektor Gaza

Karol i shut

Vibrator

Tarakany

Naiv

Solomennye Enoty

Proverochnaya Lineyka

Zhenskaya Bolezn’ (80s all female punk/metal)

Pincher (contemporary feminist punk)

Minefield

Scrap Monsters

Party Breaker

Hopes and Disasters

East Beat Records

Other bands worth listening to:

Ricochet

Purgen

Brigadny Podryad

Milligan (Izhevsk)

Cretin Boys

Mashnin Band

Till I die

Uchetel Trudna

Smex

What we Feel

Distemper

Spory (Kazan)

Labels, music, journalism sites:

Feddy Begemot’s recording site

Siyanie Records

Sad Wave

Guest:

Jon Platt is an assistant professor in the Slavic Languages and Literature Department at the University of Pittsburgh where he specializes in Pushkin, literary theory, Soviet culture, and Russian contemporary art and poetry. He recently published Greetings, Pushkin!: Stalinist Cultural Politics and the Russian National Bard (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016).

Music:

Sebadoh, “Rebound,” 4 Song CD, 1994.

Guest:

David Foglesong is a Professor of History at Rutgers University where he specializes in American-Russian relations. He’s the author of The American Mission and the Evil Empire. His most recent article is “The Perils of Prophecy: American Predictions About Russia’s Future Since 1881.”

Read my review of The American Mission from way back in 2007.

Music:

Revolting Cocks, “Something Wonderful,” Beers, Steers, and Queers, 1990.

Killing Joke, “America,” Outside the Gate, 1988.

Guest:

Serhiy Kudelia is an Assistant Professor of political science at Baylor University where he specializes in state formation, civil war, and political violence in the post-communist world. His most recent article is the “Donbas Rift” first published in Russian in the journal Kontrapunkt and in English in Russian Politics and Law.

Music:

Skinny Puppy, “Incision,” Remission, 1984.

Guest:

Andy Bruno is an Assistant Professor of History at Northern Illinois University where he specializes in the environmental history of modern Russia. He is the author of The Nature of Soviet Power: An Arctic Environmental History.

Opening Commentary:

I want to draw listeners’ attention to two recent stories in Russia that concern local social and economic struggles in the regions. The first is about a tractor protest staged by farmers from Krasnodar. They plan was to drive a convoy of trackers to Moscow in protest against the seizure of local farmland by big agribusiness. As Alexei Volchenko, one of the rally’s organizers, told RBC:

“The large agricultural holding companies take land away from farmers and shareholders, and basically bring [the rural areas] to their knees, because the villages live on the money farmers spend, while the agricultural holdings are all registered as offshore companies in Cyprus and so on.”

They got as far as Rostov before about 100 cops blocked their convoy.

The second story concerns miners from Rostov, several of whom have been on a hunger strike to protest not having been paid since June 2015. Their company King Coal owes 2200 employees over 330 million rubles. The miners protest in front of King Coal headquarters daily.

I hesitate to make any claims as to whether these two events represent anything besides snapshots into how some Russians are experiencing the economic crisis. Most struggles in Russia remain local even when they speak to national conditions. I do want to stress that you won’t learn about such stories by focusing on Putin and seeking a revival of Kremlinology as some of our esteemed Russia analysts suggest.

Music:

Deltron 3030, “Things You Can Do,” Deltron 3030, 2000.

Dramarama, “It’s Still Warm,” Box Office Bomb, 1989.

 

Guest:

Mark Galeotti is an expert on Russia’s security services and a prolific commentator on current Russian domestic and international affairs. He is the principal director of the Mayak Intelligence consultancy in Prague and senior researcher at the Czech Institute for International Relations. He blogs on Russian security affairs at In Moscow’s Shadows.

Music:

The Pixies, “Break My Body,” Surfer Rosa, 1988.

Guest:

Mark Bassin is a professor in the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies at Sodertorn University in Stockholm. His most recent book is The Gumilev Mystique: Biopolitics, Eurasiansism, and the Construction of Community in Modern Russia.

Music:

My Bloody Valentine, “Only Shallow,” Loveless, 1991.