S7 Ep. 20: ‘They Want What We Have’: Matt Gallagher on Supporting Ukrainians' Struggle for Liberation

Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, novelist, journalist, and veteran Matt Gallagher joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss the current state of the Russo-Ukrainian war and why the country desperately needs the emergency aid in a bill currently under consideration in Congress. Gallagher, whose new novel Daybreak is set in Ukraine, weighs in on where the U.S. stands on the war by comparing it to military conflicts of the past, from World War II to more recent involvements in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. He also reflects on how reporting and training civilians in Ukraine influenced Daybreak, in which an Army veteran explores his own motivations for aiding the country’s fight for freedom as well as the flawed, messy realities of war. He reads from the novel. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Matt Gallagher

Daybreak

Empire City

Youngblood

“This is no time to give up on Ukraine” by Matt Gallagher | Boston Globe

“There Are Only Two Options Left in Ukraine” by Matt Gallagher | Esquire, Nov. 20, 2023

“The Secret Weapons of Ukraine” by Matt Gallagher | Esquire, Feb. 23, 2023

“My Advice for American Veterans Who Want to Get On a Plane to Ukraine” by Matt Gallagher | The New York Times, April 10, 2022

“Notes from Lviv” by Matt Gallagher | Esquire, March 31, 2022

Others:

“Ukraine is resorting to attacking Russia with small drones because it's running out of artillery ammunition” by Tom Porter | Business Insider

“Ukraine and Israel Aid Bill Inches Ahead as Divided G.O.P. Demands Changes” by Karoun Demirjian | The New York Times, 2024

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

The Forever War by Dexter Wilkins

“What Should a War Movie Do?” by Whitney Terrell | The New Republic, Nov. 21, 2016

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1, Episode 1: The Art of Taking a Knee: Colin Kaepernick Edition

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4, Episode 13: Cancellation or Consequences? Meredith Talusan and Matt Gallagher on Accountability in Literature

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5, Episode 9: Anton Troianovski and Marci Shore on a Possible Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 2: How Dostoevsky’s Classic Has Shaped Russia’s War in Ukraine, with Explaining Ukraine’s Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 51: Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko on How Artists Are Responding to the War in Ukraine 

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