The Russia Guy

Kevin returns to run his mouth about recent events in the Russia-Ukraine world, and other stuff. Topics discussed here:

Today’s guest is Dr. Jade McGlynn, a specialist in Russian memory and foreign policy at the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies and the author of two books: “The Kremlin’s Memory Makers” and “Russia’s War.” Discussed in this interview: the Kremlin’s claims that Russia is fighting an existential battle in Ukraine, how memory shapes that conversation, balancing dispassionate scholarly work and ethical advocacy, and more!

Today’s show features an interview with Jonny Tickle, a man with an incredible name and a controversial resume, given that he worked as a writer for Russia Today — RT — right up until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. He left the country shortly thereafter, but he’s since returned (like quite a few others), and he’s even resumed his YouTube travel vlog where he visits cities across Russia and talks about the local scene and attractions. Jonny agreed to come on The Russia Guy to talk about being back in Russia, what’s in store for him next, and what life is like in a country at war where you can’t even call it a war.

Skip to the bits you want:

Today’s guest is Dr. Emily Holland, an assistant professor in the Russia Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College, where she teaches and researches subjects like the Cold War, Russia, energy politics, diplomacy, geopolitics, and more. Follow her on Twitter here. In the interview you’re about to hear, Dr. Holland describes her background and the nature of her job at the Naval War College before explaining the challenges and tradeoffs inherent in the West’s efforts to isolate Russia’s oil and gas industries.

Timestamps for this episode:

(5:56) How did you get into studying Russia? (7:53) Mixing a geopolitical and cultural interest in Russia. (10:05) What is the Russia Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College? (14:24) The identity crisis among Russia studies scholars in the U.S. (19:25) Resistance to “strategic empathy.” (21:24) The next generation of American experts on Russia. (22:49) Expanding diversity among America’s Russia scholars. (25:02) What are the tradeoffs of boycotting Russian fuel? (33:21) Cracks in the newly reinvigorated Transatlantic unity.

Music: Joey Pecoraro, “Russian Dance,” and Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”

Today’s guest is Dr. Marlene Laruelle, the director of Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University. On this episode of The Russia Guy, Dr. Laruelle discussed her 2021 book, “Is Russia Fascist? Unraveling Propaganda East and West,” and its relevance to today’s crisis in Ukraine. We focused specifically on the book’s insights into Russian geopolitics and post-colonialism.

Read more about the book here!

Timestamps for this episode:

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":

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This is to notify listeners of a special installment of The Russia Guy that utilizes “Music + Talk,” Anchor’s Spotify integration, for a music-focused episode featuring music journalist Aleksandr Gorbachev, who selected five recent Russian songs that signify for him the state of affairs and everyday life in Russia now. The episode is available exclusively on Spotify here and on Telegram here.

This episode’s guest is Nikolaus von Twickel, a journalist-turned-analyst who specializes on the war in eastern Ukraine. He is now an editor at the Center for Liberal Modernity in Berlin, and he previously served as a media liaison officer for the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Donetsk. In 2020, he co-authored a book with Thomas de Waal called “Beyond Frozen Conflict: Scenarios for the Separatist Disputes of Eastern Europe,” which looks at the Donbas, Transdniestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorny Karabakh.

Follow Nikolaus on Twitter!

Timestamps for this episode:

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":

Support the show at Patreon!

Elena Chernenko, a special correspondent at the newspaper Kommersant who focuses on cybersecurity, non-proliferation, and arms control, joins the show to talk about arriving at foreign-affairs journalism, navigating Russia's contemporary media environment, and staying sane in an increasingly crazy world.

Follow her on Twitter here.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":

• Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"
• Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)

On today's episode, Kevin speaks to the scholars behind the new book “Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future?” The three authors: Jan Matti Dollbaum, a postdoctoral researcher at Bremen University, Morvan Lallouet, a PhD candidate at the University of Kent, and Ben Noble, a lecturer in Russian Politics at University College London.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":

• Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"
• Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)

Today's show welcomes back Anton Barbashin, a political analyst focusing on Russia and the editorial director at Riddle, for a conversation about the different schools of thought and general drift and direction of foreign-policy expertise inside Russia.

Follow Anton on Twitter here and read Ivan Timofeyev's Valdai Club article here (in Russian), which is cited during the interview.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":

• Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"
• Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”