Yaroslav Hrytsak is one of Ukraine’s leading historians and public intellectuals. His recent book in Ukrainian, "Overcoming the Past: A Global History of Ukraine", became a bestseller. His English-language book, "Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation", is now a key reference work on Ukrainian history.

We met in Lviv to discuss the global dimension of Ukrainian history, and the features of Ukraine’s political culture that explain why the country has so often fought against tyranny.

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Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the project Heritage Ukraine, supported by the European Union’s Erasmus programme.

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Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

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You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas of Ukraine, where we support both civilians and soldiers. Donations are welcome via PayPal: [email protected]

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CONTENTS:

00:00 — The untold global story of Ukraine

01:33 — Why the world can’t ignore Ukrainian history

03:06 — Why world wars revolved around Ukraine

06:02 — Russia’s dangerous dream of the 21st century

09:28 — Good empires vs. bad empires

14:13 — The empire paradox

17:27 — Russia’s secret weapon: violence

20:59 — Why Ukrainian nobles felt “freer” than Russians

30:31 — Ukraine’s miracle: democracy against all odds

33:35 — Breaking the myth of Moscow’s “Third Rome”

37:06 — Khmelnytsky’s gamble: alliances that changed history

41:28 — Ukraine’s naive hope: negotiating within the empire

44:13 — The only way to stop Russia’s imperial comeback

48:53 — Why history still matters