s1e16: we need to talk about German obsession with 'good Russians.' Why is it for some easier to see 44 millions of Ukrainians being wiped out than making Moscow upset? Why it is so hard for some in the West to stand up to Russian colonialism? And how Ukrainians, nevertheless, successfully flipping yesterday's skeptics into today's friends? We thought that Nata Druhak, a prominent Ukrainian activist and communications guru living in Berlin is the best person to unpack that.

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s1e15: have you noticed how uncomfortable some foreigners get around Ukrainians these days? Especially around those of us who speak out and unapologetically manifest our identities? Perhaps because Ukrainians are calling out the injustice of a genocide happening in the middle of Europe in 2022 and the 'never again' bs. Perhaps because we are pointing to problems with the international order that many would rather ignore. Or, perhaps, because we are arguing on behalf of collective responsibility as a foundation of any healthy democratic society. These would be our first guesses. What are yours? For this one, we invited one of the Ukrainian champions of uncomfortable truths, a volunteer and gameplay designer, Sergey Mohov.

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s1e14: watching your people perishing in genocide is another-level trauma. It is exceptionally traumatic if you are witnessing it in person. But it will leave you deeply traumatized if you are witnessing via screens and social media, too. A prominent Ukrainian journalist Jane Lytvynenko joins us to educate all of us about vicarious trauma, how to talk to your Ukrainian friends during the genocide, and clarify if the Ukrainian way of dealing with grief is any different.

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s1e13: This is the first genocide in human history that is being broadcasted live to the rest of the world 24/7. Tens of millions of Ukrainians are forced to defend their lives. And argue on behalf of their humanity daily online, too. This struggle brought to light a new generation of Ukrainian storytellers who educate the world and decolonize views of Ukraine in a powerful, impactful way. For this one, we feature two of them: Maria aka vinok collective and Tetyana Denford aka tetyana bisyk.

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s1e12: How many russian writers you know who are actually Ukrainian? Why so few people are familiar with one of the most ancient literature cultures in Europe? If I want to start exploring Ukrainian literature, where do i start? For this one, we invited Kate Tsurkan, a journalist and honorary Ukrainian, to decolonize foreign myths about Ukrainian literature and give you a crash-course to it.

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s1e11: The role of women is so central to the Ukrainian identity that even the word 'Ukraine' is widely associated by Ukrainians with 'a woman.' The country has exceptionally ancient, pioneering, and strong matriarchal traditions that still manifest to this very day. For example, Europe's largest share of women on active military duty or women leading Ukrainian civil society. The strong female vibe of Ukraine has also always made Russian colonial patriarchy lose their goddamned minds. For this episode, we recruit the help of Olena Shevchenko, a prominent queer activist and feminist, and our own Valeriia Voshchevska, stepping in this time as a co-founder of Marsh Zhinok, Ukraine's largest feminist rally, to decolonize the image of Ukrainian women.

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s1e10: The russian invasion of Ukraine did not start on February 24th, 2022. First russian tanks rolled over our borders in early 2014. But despite the war and constant annihilation attempts by moscow, in the last eight years, Ukraine turned into Europe's powerhouse of reforms. From radical economic, anti-corruption and energy transformations to human rights equality advances that left behind even some EU states. Few foreign media paid attention to it, but Ukraine was one of the most powerful emerging success stories in Europe. And that was quite likely the reason behind russian mad drive for revenge. In this episode we ask prominent anti-corruption fighter Olena Halushka and energy reformer Alina Sviderska to decolonize foreign myths about 'backward ukraine.'

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s1e9: If only there was a collection of digestible, cool, smart mini-guides to Ukraine that we could all share to educate our foreign friends in foreign languages, right? Stas Olenchenko and Marichka Buchelnikova, the founders of Ukraine Explainers, are on a mission to do exactly that. We asked them how it happened that most foreign media systemically misrepresented Ukraine for decades and ended up covering Ukrainians through Russian colonial lenses. Stas and Marichka also shared the most popular Ukraine topics in need of decolonizing and tips on how to do Ukraine explaining right.

If you love this episode and fell in love with the mission of Marichka and Stas, then check the ways and options of how you can support Ukraine Explainers.

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s1e7: you won't understand the ongoing genocide in Ukraine if you haven't heard about russian colonialism. we recruit two brilliant Ukrainians to explain it: filmmaker Oleksiy Radynski and researcher/activist Kvitka Perehinets. This episode includes such gems as: the biggest hole in the russian colonialism mythology, how russian colonialism manifests in the everyday lives of Ukrainians, how russian colonialism is inherently fascist, how russian colonialism uses the same copy-paste job in Ukraine for centuries, why russian colonialism won't end with Putin — and more.

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s1e6: 101 on the real roots of Ukrainian culture and identity. Language, ethnicity, race, nationalism, cultural appropriation and colonialism - all the things you wanted to ask about Ukrainian identity but never knew how. Our featured Ukrainians: researcher and artist Mariam Naiem and a prominent YouTuber and movie critic Alina Nikulina.

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