Yellow Van Stories

Having him in the van with us today, we will look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the eyes of one its most accomplished chroniclers by discussing a selection of Roman's images from the last two years. And I am, therefore, incredibly grateful to have him with us today.

Welcome to the Yellow Van, Roman!

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SHOW NOTES

Image Gallery
https://bit.ly/yellowvanstories

Roman on the Web
https://www.facebook.com/roman.pilipey
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-pilipey-3a1a2367/
https://x.com/RomanPilipey

Ukraine Aid
https://www.hospitallers.life/
https://prytulafoundation.org/en
https://savelife.in.ua/en/

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MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Support the Show

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The Yellow Van on YouTube:  
https://youtu.be/voAIEy4j4Lc

Today is a double premiere! For the first time I made an actual home visit and I conducted the entire interview in German! My apologies to all English native speakers, the next one will be for you again as well.

Meine Reisegefährtin dieses Mal ist Iryna Schneider. Sie betreibt eine eigene Marketingagentur seitdem sie aus der Ukraine nach #München umgesiedelt ist. Über sich selbst sagt sie: “Tagsüber bin ich Marketingmanagerin und abends Künstlerin.”

Wir unterhalten uns über ihre Kunst entlang der Grenze von Großstadt und Natur, den Wert des Ehrenamtes in unseren turbulenten Zeiten, und wie die Kunst, vor allem Kindern die den Krieg kennenlernen mussten, bei der Trauma-Bewältigung helfen kann. Und, wie immer, vieles mehr.

Neben ihrer ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeit betreibt Iryna eigene Initiativen und Hilfsprojekt|e zur Unterstützung der Ukraine. Die Links dazu findet Ihr unten in den Show Notes.

Willkommen im Yellow Van, Iryna!

SHOW NOTES
Schickeria
Kateryna Bilokur
Banksy
Tafel Deutschland
Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V.
Pablo Picasso

ILIYA CHICHKAN On
Mutual Art
Adamovskiy Foundation
Instagram

IRYNA'S INITIATIVES
https://www.instagram.com/irynas_artwork
https://www.instagram.com/donate_for_children_ukraine

MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Support the show

Mykola Kondrashev is an award-winning cinematographer and photographer based in Kiyv who also holds a master's degree in psychology.

With his experience on a wide array of projects including commercial music videos, feature films, and television series, Mykola has honed his skills to create captivating and powerful visuals.

Mykola’s impressive portfolio of projects spans the globe and he has worked with huge names like Coca-Cola, Radisson and Nescafé.

Mykola’s dedication to his craft is evident in all of his work, and we are excited to welcome him on board the Yellow Van to learn more about his journey as a cinematographer, how his daily routine has changed during the war and how the deep divide of war can split right through the middle of a family.

And, as always, a lot more.

Welcome to the Yellow Van, Mykola!

Shortly after the recording of our episode, Mykola received mail from the army to be registered with them. As I am recording this, Mykola, like countless other Ukrainians is waiting for his marching order. It could come any moment of any day. Alex Kraev from Odessa, who you might remember from one of the previous episodes, has already been at the front for almost two months now. In one of his latest Facebook-Posts, he wrote: "I am not dead, I am learning." War becomes something else entirely when you know the people who are thrown into it.

SHOW NOTES

Sergei Loznitsa, Ukrainian director
My Joy, film directed by Sergei Loznitsa

Link to the episode with Alex Kraev

Mykola Online
Mykola’s Personal website
Mykola’s Facebook
Mykola’s Instagram

Donations
Civilian: Psychological Association of Ukraine
Military: Eyes On Ukraine, Support for Drones

Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Support the show

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

Gayané is not only an outstanding artist, but she also has a Master's in Urban Construction and Design and Economic Cybernetics from the Zaporizhzhia State Engineering Academy.

Her mathematical knowledge and her artistic eye and love for colour enable her to create shapes, forms and colour patterns oscillating between harmony and chaos.

She says:
I have always believed that art was and is the source, the way, and the opportunity to be honest with myself and the world around me. Equilibrium is about finding the balance of the image of the world, the world within. Colour, shapes and composition are the only criteria of harmony for me. There is an ideal state of the world around - Chaos! And all of this is in the indefinite darkness that you and I reveal every day.

Gayané was born in Armenia and had to flee her home when the first war between Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out. The Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022 made a lot of those memories resurface.

Today, we want to take a look at Gayané's very personal story of becoming an artist, the Ukrainian art world in a more general way and the challenges it faces because of the war.
And a lot more, of course.

It is a great pleasure and privilege to have her in the Yellow Van today!

Support the show

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

Anastasiia Sanzharovska is a producer, director, and video editor from Ukraine. She originally studied system analysis and maths but turned to her real passion film soon after finishing her studies. She has been working as a producer, director, 1st AD,  and video editor ever since. In February 2022, Anastasiia was in Egypt for a 3-week holiday but got stuck there due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She has been living there ever since.

We'll talk about her early beginnings in filmmaking, why she chose film over maths, the Ukrainian TV scene, and her life in Egypt. And, as always, a lot more.

Welcome to the Yellow Van, Anastasiia! Thanks for travelling with us.

Support the show

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Support the show

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

With us in the Yellow Van this week are Dafna Rachok and Ivan Shmatko.
Dafna Rachok is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research seeks to understand how vulnerable groups in Ukraine respond to existing HIV prevention and treatment programs and how their attitudes to the state shape their desire or reluctance to seek those programs. Ivan Shmatko is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Alberta (Canada). Ivan has been a part of the volunteer movement in Ukraine since February 24. He has done research on policing in Ukraine and the imaginaries that shape how police officers see their work and interact with others. His doctoral research project focuses on the experiences of newly mobilized soldiers in Ukraine. Being on leave from their universities in February 2022, they decided to stay in Ukraine when Russia assaulted their home. Rather than escape to safety across the Atlantic Ocean, they looked for ways and means to support their homeland and their fellow Ukrainians.  Join us as we talk about their #volunteering work, the importance of humour in times of darkness and why Ukrainians collectively dislike  Elon Musk.
And, as always, a lot more. Thank you, Dafna and Ivan, for joining the Yellow Van.
Your bravery and empathy are an inspiration.

SHOW NOTES
Sociological group "RATING"
International Red Cross and Red Crescent
World Food Programme
Leonid Kuchma
Article by Dafna Rachok: On Trust, Transparency, and Learning from the Experience of the Extraordinary
Article by Ivan Shmatko: A Voracious Beast - Emotional Energy in the Tsunami of Suffering

DONATIONS
Come Back Alive
Hospitaliers

FOLLOW DAFNA AND IVAN
Dafna's Twitter
Dafna's LinkedIn
Ivan's Twitter
Ivan's Facebook

MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

Nick Torzhevsky is a film director and producer from Kyiv with over 10 years of experience directing and producing broadcast TV series, commercials, and feature films.
Nick's latest project, Ukraine Rebirth, is putting a focus on the rebuilding of Ukraine after the war - something that struck me as extraordinary as the war is still raging on without an end in sight. On the website of Ukraine Rebirth, the project is introduced as follows:

How exactly the idea for the project was born and how Nick is feeding his seemingly inexhaustible optimism is something we will be discussing in today's show. And, as always, a lot more.

SHOW NOTES
Find Nick Here
Ukraine Rebirth
Instagram
Facebook

Ukraine Rebirth Collaborators
LGBTQI+ Story
Stanislav Morozov (director)
Stanislav Medvedev (screenwriter)
Olexiy Gladushevskyi (creative producer)
Evgeniy Usanov (director of photography)

Kyiv Story
Nataliya Torzhevska (screenwriter)
Stanislav Savchenko (director of photography)

Cherson Story
Julia Tribrat (director)
Lana Iermakova (screenwriter)

Support the Kickstarter Campaign here
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ukrainerebirthlgbtq/ukraine-rebirth-lgbtq

MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind The Bump Production

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

Alex Kraev is a musical multi-talent who gave his soul to punk rock. He plays the drums, bass, and guitar in multiple bands and is an absolute musical powerhouse. His influences are many, but his goal is one and the same: to challenge stereotypes and self-imposed laziness of body and mind. His music is loud and gets under your skin. Challenging riffs, vocal cascades, energetic rhythms and climactic melodies tear you out of your comfort zone, sharpen your senses and abduct your body before they spit you out on the cold, ashen, concrete ground of human construction - only to find yourself naked, lusting for more. No more comfort, only raw emotion. Thank you very much!

Punk, in its conception, has always been about protest and societal unrest, a mirror to the polished, self-righteous facade of civil society and, therefore, at the root of democracy - at least, according to me. Sid Vicious, the godfather of punk, said this once: "Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don't let them take you ALIVE." How this translates to the war in Ukraine and the simultaneous democratic process, I will discuss with Alex today! I am so happy to have you on board!
SHOW NOTES
Sid Vicious
Sex Pistols
Odessa Grain Shipments
Kalush Orkestra
The Offspring
Black Fly
NoFX
Bad Religion
Greenday
Simple Plan
Yellowcard
Radio Havanna
Black Flag
Bezlad
ALEX' FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/LeXXKraev
ALEX' MUSIC & BANDS
ВІДСІЧ
FLAME
RAGTAG
CONCRETE CONTROL
REDEMPTION
Дело Дрянь
ALEX NEXT SHOW
More Music Club
DONATIONS
Alex' Volunteer Org
Their Facebook
MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind The Bump Production

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.

Oleksiy Martsenyuk is the Executive Director of the Center for Defence Strategies in Kiyv, an organisation that helps to monitor defence reforms and develop key government policies that will affect the country's security and defence sector. This certainly needs a little more explanation from you, Oleksiy! And we will get into that in the course of the podcast. Also, he served as a Civilian Deputy Minister in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence for just under a year. Originally, Oleksiy has a business background though. And because of this, Oleksiy's and my relationship actually goes way back. When I studied photography in Gent, Belgium, at the end of my first year all students had to choose a topic and project outside the curriculum, entirely self-sufficient and motivated by our own interests. This is now almost 18 years ago. As a foreigner myself, I chose the topic of migration and opted to take black and white portraits of people far away from home in Belgium. I put it all in book form, presenting them on a double page with their portrait in black and white on one page and the most cherished and valuable photo they brought with them in colour on the other.  Oleksiy was introduced to me by my dear friend Apoorva, studying with him at the time. A big shoutout and a big hug to you, Apu, who I don't see or hear nearly often enough! I remember the portrait of Oleksiy still so well after all these years. Standing in his rather modest and empty student cave, but with a big, bright Ukrainian flag on his wall. Leaning in, curiously observing me with a gentle smile while I was trying to create something lasting with the little that I knew at the time. But, in a way, I have; by having him with me today - 18 years after that photo was taken. I am so happy and grateful to have you with us today, Oleksiy, after all this time!

SHOW NOTES
New York Times, The Bodies Lay Dead in the Street
BBC News, Bucha Killings
VOX News, Ukraine Kidnappings
Deutsche Welle, Russia Uses Kidnappings to Intimidate Ukrainians
Golda Meir
Weimar Republic
Friedrich Ebert
Philipp Scheidemann
The Ebert-Groener Pact
Sinking of the Moskwa
Bayraktar Drone
HIMARS
Nord Stream 2
Rheinmetall builds military training center
The Orphanage, Serhiy Zhadan
Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani), Twitter Thread
MUSIC
Love In The Face Of Fear, Jim Kroft

Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bu