Ukrainian Spaces

s2e8: Ukrainians are fighting not only to get their stolen homes back. This battle is also about their values, identity, and right to manifest who they are. Facing genocidal evil trying to assimilate them, Ukrainians resist by doubling down on diversity, creativity, and belief that they can build a better world. For this one, we feature Alice Zhuravel, a proud Ukrainian of color, a wartime artist making brilliant things at the nexus of tech and media, and the founder of Tozhsamist, a Ukrainian creative collective. 

s2e7: 'That's very unfair that you, Ukrainians, have to pay for all of us to find ourselves, to start valuing ourselves, to start emancipating ourselves.' We entered this bridge episode to find similarities between Qazaqstan and Ukraine in our shared anti-colonial struggle. We ended up with one of our most powerful and moving episodes. Our featured Ukrainian ally is Botakoz Kassymbekova, a prominent Kazakh scholar and thinker. 

s2e6: genocide in Ukraine triggers tens of millions of Russian neighbors. It is more than empathy, though. The history of colonial violence, erasure, and assimilation by russia is a shared experience for dozens of nations. We foster Ukrainian-Kyrgyz anti-colonial solidarity for another bridge episode and feature brilliant Kyrgyz journalist Bektour Iskender.

s2e5: for this one, we pay tribute to fearless queer Ukrainians who defiantly manifest their rainbow colors even as Russian bombs keep raining down on them. Kharkiv pride went ahead on September 25th, 2022, in the country's second-largest city — despite fighting ongoing just several kilometers away and non-stop Russian shelling. Why has the Ukrainian queer liberation been turbo-charged by Russian full-scale invasion? We feature Ruslana Hnatchenko of Kharkiv Pride and Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, the only transgender journalist covering genocide in Ukraine full-time.

s2e4: we are back to cast a kickass spell of ancient Ukrainian magic against Russian colonialism. Our featured Ukrainian is sensational artist Anka Lavriv.

s2e3: we are back to remind you why Ukraine and Ukrainian voices must remain at the center of global attention and should not be dismissed or ignored. Our featured Ukrainian is Oksana Pokalchuk, a legendary human rights defender who documents Russian war crimes.

s2e2: why ending the genocide in Ukraine can only be done with the liberation of Crimea? Why understanding Russian settler colonialism in Crimea is understanding Ukraine? Why learning about the resistance of Crimean Tatars against annihilation is learning about Ukraine? Why speaking the truth about Ukraine is paramount, no matter how uncomfortable? For this one, we feature Sevgil Musaieva, an award-winning Ukrainian journalist, editor-in-chief of the country's largest independent newsroom Ukrainska Pravda.

s2e1: we are trying something new for Season Two — building stronger bridges between Ukrainians and our friends across the globe. In this one, we connect with kickass anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism fighters in Taiwan, where strong solidarity with Ukraine keeps making global headlines. Why Taiwanese feel so passionately about a nation living literally on the side of the planet? Our featured Ukrainian is a prominent activist and digital storyteller, Olek Shyn. And our featured Ukrainian ally is a Taiwanese freedom fighter and activist, Aurora Chang.

s1e34: for the Season One finale, we keep it in the family and gather our #UkrainianSpaces family members to put messages of Ukrainian hope, love, resilience, and defiance into a podcast time capsule. Featured Ukrainians are (in the order of appearance): Mariam Naiem, Olek Shyn, Stas Olenchenko, Maria Buchelnikova, Romeo Kokriatski, Maria aka Vinok Collective, Kvitka Perehinets, Tetyana Denford (Bisyk).

s1e33: one of the most visceral images from the ongoing genocide in Ukraine has been Ukrainians risking everything to save their pets or animals from a war zone. From zoo keepers who keep showing up for work even under russian shelling and rescuers putting their lives on the line to save pets trapped under the rubble of russian terrorist attacks, to thousands of volunteers working 24/7 to assist war-affected animals in the most dangerous places across the country. But why do Ukrainians keep risking their lives to save a life of an animal? The answer will tell you much more about Ukraine than you expect. For this one, we feature Olha Chevhaniuk, a Ukrainian animal rights activist behind @UAnimalsENG, Ukraine's largest animal rescue initiative.