Ukrainian Spaces

s1e32: apparently, eight years of Ukrainians having the lowest levels of political representation of far-right forces in Europe is not self-evident. So we gathered Ukrainian journalists to fact-check all the stupid myths about far-rights in Ukraine. Our featured Ukrainians are prominent journalists with years of experience in investigating fascists, Nika Melkozerova of New Voices of Ukraine and Katerina Sergatskova of Zaborona.

Also, check out these explainers, 'How the world got tricked into believing that Ukraine has a Nazi problem' and 'Why Russia is fascist' by our friends at Ukraine Explainers.

s1e31: this show will be claimed by Romani Ukrainians and the stories of their struggle and defiance amid genocide in Ukraine. Our featured Ukrainian is Natali Tomenko, a brilliant Romani activist behind @ArcaYngo, a movement uniting Roma youth in Ukraine.

s1e30: this is a tribute to Generation Freedom, young Ukrainians in their 20s and 30s tasked with defending Ukraine from russian aggression. Identically to folks of their age elsewhere, they love their flat-whites, avocado toasts, and oversharing on social media. But they also put their lives on the line for democracy, equality, and freedom. For this one, we keep it in the family and invite back Mariam Naiem, a Ukrainian artist, researcher, and digital storyteller. 

s1e29: there are over 60+ million Ukrainians globally. We speak different languages. We are of different religions, skin colors, and ethnicities. But for the first time, each and every one of us is working in unison to ensure our homeland stands, our shared values are defended, our diversity is preserved, and our voices are not silenced. To understand Ukraine is to learn why diversity is integral to our identity and how it glues us together instead of dividing us. For this one, we feature Rissana Shytu, a proud queer Ukrainian woman of color, an entrepreneur, a migrant, and, as of recently, a volunteer running a refugee center for Ukrainians in Spain. 

s1e28: in this one, we vent about the cruel, arrogant, and colonial treatment Ukrainians get from some foreign leftists. Our featured Ukrainian is Romeo Kokriatski, a journalist, podcaster, and proud Marxist.

s1e27: the Donbas mythology forms the ideological foundation of the Russian genocidal campaign in Ukraine. You won't understand Kremlin's obsession with eradicating Ukrainians without decolonizing your views about eastern Ukraine. This episode features Yevhenii Monastyrskyi, a brilliant young Ukrainian scholar from Luhansk.

s1e26: "Every photographer dreams of taking a photo that will stop the war." This is the quote by Maks Levin, a Ukrainian journalist executed by Russian terrorists for documenting their war crimes in Kyiv suburbs earlier this year. Freedom of speech is sacrosanct for Ukrainians. That's why fierce and fearless Ukrainian journalism became the backbone of Ukrainian democracy. Thousands of Ukrainian journalists keep risking their lives every day to ensure the truth about this genocide is documented and amplified. Despite dozens of their colleagues being already killed by Russian terrorists. Despite over 80% of them losing their income partially or fully. Despite the fact that foreign big tech keeps indiscriminately censoring their work and refuses to de-platform lavishly-funded Kremlin propaganda. For this tribute to Ukrainian journalists that keep documenting genocide against all odds, we invited Andrey Boborykin, CEO of Ukraine's largest and oldest independent newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

s1e25: many around the world can namedrop Russian writers. Few can do the same when it comes to Ukrainian literature. Even though the Ukrainian literary tradition is more than half a millennia older than Russian. Even though there wouldn't be Russian literature without Ukraine. Even though many literary names that people abroad think are Russian are, in fact, Ukrainian writers whose work Russian colonialism has appropriated. For this one, we recruit brilliant Ukrainian journalist Bohdana Neborak to help us to decolonize Ukrainian literature for the rest of the world.

S1E23: pride is something Ukrainians have been punished for, over and over again, for centuries. Pride in being who they are, the language they speak, the values they cherish, and the pride in who they love. In many ways, there's so much queerness in being a Ukrainian. And who are the best people to testify to that than queer Ukrainians? For this one, #UkrainianSpaces co-founder Maksym Eristavi and a prominent Ukrainian digital storyteller, Maria, aka VinokCollective, decolonize everything about Ukrainian pride.