Show Notes:

Our Christmas gift to you is a non-clickbait title. Unusual for December, huh?

TL;DR:

Matt is going to be stepping back from the podcast for the time being.

Cameron will be continuing to produce episodes going forward, shifting the focus toward interviewing translators and authors about their work.

Will the boys ride again? It's an open question. Listen to the podcast for the full story.

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Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into the short story “The Performance,” from Sergei Dovlatov’s book The Zone. Get ready to dive into the most underrepresented point-of-view in the Soviet camp system: the guards. Well, kind of. Get ready to get stagnant and talk a bit about the state of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, but mostly about a play in a prison camp where all the old Bolsheviks are played by prisoners. Ideological confusion abounds. 

Major themes: The real no-termers, dirty reality & brilliant falsehood, theater of absurdity

06:29 - The Russians by Hedgewick Smith

06:39 - Antiheroes in a Post-Heroic Age: Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Makanin, and Cold War Malaise by Angela Brintlinger

08:12 - Part 1 of our two-part series on Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina (I won’t link the second part here, because Part 2 has more listens than Part 1. Who are you people listening to just Part 2? Show yourselves. Explain.)

8:15 - Our episode on Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales. 

27:43 - Unfortunately it’s only available in Russian, but check out the Prep Guide for the episode on our website for a relevant except

32:50 - Philosophy experts please don’t come for my neck. Also, for laypeople: you should be aware that this idea was not specifically applied to the progression of history, but was rather applied to gaining knowledge. The idea, however, later came to be applied more broadly by others. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠

Socials: Instagram⁠ | Twitter⁠ | Facebook | Threads

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron get into their last Office Hours of the year, tackling the future of literature, whether or not Tolstoy is still relevant, which Russian literature icon would win in a rap battle and — most importantly — the tale of John Moritsugu, a man who tricked PBS into funding filth. God bless public broadcasting. 

Major themes: Raskolnikov the rap god, The future of art, Tricking PBS

05:41 - That publisher being Spuyten Duyvil, whose fantastic website you should visit. 

06:31 - The Talnikov Family by Avdotya Panaeva, translated by Fiona Bell

06:56- Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets

07:11 - Alindarka’s Children by Alhierd Bacharevic

31:09 - Super secret show notes link

49:20 - Terminal USA dir. John Moritsugu

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Heads up: This episode will contain conversation about incest throughout. Take that into consideration as you head into it. Also sorry about the kitchen noises in the background of some portions.

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron learn about narrative-causes and narrative-effects in The UnSimple, a novella by Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko and translated by Uilliam Blacker. Set in the Carpathians through the first half of the 20th century, the story follows Anna, Franz, Anna, Sebastian, Anna, and Anna — no, that’s not a typo — as their picaresque lives overlap with the earthly gods known as the UnSimple. Grab your glass of gin, and get ready to get really confused. 

Major themes: We can never escape Benedict Anderson, Bai-narrative, Quasi-history

02:13 - Ukrainian Literature, volume 2

05:25 - Here are the interviews I’ll be referencing throughout the episode:

Taras Prokhasko: “Literature is a Lonely Business”

Taras Prokhasko: The Ukrainian idea is connected with gentle sitting

Taras Prokhasko, writer: Ukrainian literature is still at the level of domestic literature

Talking at the shelter about what matters. Taras Prokhasko. 

06:02 - Taras Prokhasko’s bio on the White Chalk of Days website

08:48 - Uilliam Blacker’s website

09:09 - Earth Gods: Writings from before the war

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dig into the short story collection To Hell WIth Poets, authored by Kazakh writer Baqytgul Sarmekova and translated by Mirgul Kali. The collection, published in English by Tilted Axis Press in 2024, explores rural-urban divides (with a focus on the dissatisfaction life doles out on both sides), troubled people, sexual exploitation, and the indulgence of nostalgia. Although the entire collection is worthwhile, they’ll be covering the stories “The Night the Rose Wept,” “To Hell with Poets” parts 1 and 2, as well as “The Taming of Aqtory.” Grab your qurt and tune in! 

Major themes: Aul literature, Looking for satisfaction, Having two faces

01:49 - To Hell With Poets was actually published earlier this year, not last. I think I got this mixed up with the collection’s English PEN Translates award, which it did receive in 2023.

05:28 - Turkoslavia’s website.

06:34 - Baqytgul Sarmekova speaking on Tilted Axis Press’ Instagram.

10:37 - Mirgul Kali on the Harshaneeyam podcast

20:12 - An interview with Mirgul Kali and Baqytgul Sarmekova by Alma Review

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Amazon⁠!

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron host Office Hours, speaking about the wider state of reading as well as some non-Slavic lit they’ve been getting in to. Tune in to find their opinions about Lament for Julia by Susan Taubes and Z by Vassilis Vassilikos, whether or not literary analysis has any meaning at all, and whether we’re too concerned with what straight men are reading. Grab your extra credit and tune in! 

Major themes: A.I. bait, straight men and novels, TikTok killed the author-star

15:06 - As an example of what I’m talking about here: Playing Cops: Militia Member Aids Police in Arresting Protester at Portland Alt-Right Rally by Arun Gupta

36:06 - Piss Christ

53:06 - “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books”

01:08:08 - The Combahee River Collective

“This focusing upon our own oppression is embodied in the concept of identity politics. We believe that the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else’s oppression. In the case of Black women this is a particularly repugnant, dangerous, threatening, and therefore revolutionary concept because it is obvious from looking at all the political movements that have preceded us that anyone is more worthy of liberation than ourselves. We reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough.”

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark film Strike! (1925) to get a better look into his foundational ideas around montage and film composition amidst a tragic tale of a failed strike. Yes, they will be talking about the cow scene for most of the episode. Not sure what we’re talking about? You’ll have to tune in to find out. 

Major themes: Cow slaughter, Influencing the audience, Everything is montage

01:30 - Mosfilm’s youtube channel actually does not have Strike!, but it does have many of Eisenstein’s other works. You can find decent versions of Strike! posted by other Youtube channels, though.  

03:21 - Film Form: Essays in Film Theory by Sergei Eistenstein, ed. and trans. by Jay Leyda

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Andriy Sodomora’s short story collection The Tears & Smiles of Things with the help of its translators Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi. The collection draws together Sodomora’s reflections on life, ancient texts, and the difficulties of translation. The book holds the subtitle “Stories, Sketches, Meditations.” It’s never easy to tell which is which — if indeed a clear delineation can be made at all — but Jaszi and Ivashkiv do their best to help the pair untangle it. 

Roman Ivashkiv teaches Slavic languages, literatures, and cultures at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. His research interests include translation, comparative literature, and language pedagogy. Currently, he is writing a monograph on transmesis (i.e., fictional representation of translation and translators) in contemporary Ukrainian literature and film. 

Sabrina Jaszi is a translator of Uzbek, Russophone, and Ukrainian literature based in Oakland, CA. She is a co-founder of the Turkoslavia translation collective and journal, both dedicated to Turkic and Slavic literature in translation. Currently, she is writing a dissertation on modern Central Asian literature at UC Berkeley. 

Major themes: Reading antiquity, Tears and smiles, Translating translators

We have included links where you can purchase a copy of The Tears & Smiles of Things later in these notes. 

25:02 - “Andriy Sodomora: “There are two paths that a translator can choose before their journey into the world of foreign languages: The first, long and difficult, will lead to the author, the other, shorter one, - leads to the reader, who seeks instant enjoyment.” by Bogdana Romantsova 

25:40 - *Room without a Shadow, excuse me

01:09:30 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

01:09:38 - Timothy Snyder’s history of Ukraine Yale courses on Youtube

01:10:02 - Victoria Amelina, whose book Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary is set to be published in February 2025. 

01:10:12 - The publication section of Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute.

01:10:15 - Lost Horse Press

01:11:22 - Stanislav Aseyev’s In Isolation: Dispatches from the Occupied Donbas

01:12:10 - There isn’t a lot on Sukhbat Aflatuni, but here’s a review of one of his novels by translator Lisa Hayden. 

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron talk Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, dropping the nuclear bomb (a timely conversation), and torturing your roommates by cooking cabbage. They’ll also be getting into a topic that everyone has been dying to know more about: Jordan Peterson Academy. Well…maybe not, no one has asked us about it, but Cameron is dying to know how they got his email. Get read to get real anti-intellectual and tune in! 

Major themes: Lackluster dystopias, Cabbage torture, Jordan Peterson Academy

6:45 - It Can’t Happen Here is indeed authored by Sinclair Lewis.

41:42 - Politely and calmly discussing 1984

43:07 - Actually, his Master’s was in medical botany, but his PhD was in nutritional ethnomedicine.

50:06 - “Controversial professor Jordan Peterson retires from tenured position at U of T” by Lauren Alexander, Tahmeed Shafiq

1:03:42 “Churchill’s policies to blame for millions of Indian famine deaths, study says” by Bard Wilkinson

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:

This week, Matt and Cameron are down with the sickness of Schulzomania, covering parts of the short story collection “The Street of Crocodiles” by Polish-Jewish literary superstar Bruno Schulz. They’ll be talking about “Visitation,” “Tailor’s Dummies,” and the eponymous “The Street of Crocodiles,” delving deep into Schulz’s surreal vision of his family and city. Order versus chaos, taking the formation of matter into our own hands, seductive tickling — we’ve got it all here! Get ready for it to get real confusing. 

Major themes: Torturing matter, Doomed eroticism, Unfinished modernity

01:51 - 1973, not later ‘70s. “The Hourglass Sanatorium.”

07:37 - “The Battle Over Bruno Schulz’s Final Works” by Adam Kirsch

30:42 - “Thinking about Absurdity with Bruno Schulz: Paradox and Potential” by Shlomit Gorin

51:27 - “Bruno Schulz and Seductive Discourse” by Jerzy Jarzębski

57:31 - “Are Crocodiles Flawless? The Reptiles Haven’t Changed in 200 Million Years” by Elizabeth Gamillo but counterpoint: “Modern Crocodiles Are Evolving at a Rapid Rate” by Riley Black

The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. 

Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ 

Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | Facebook

Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands