Best Belo Podcasts (2025)

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Sustainable science - plastic problems with Dr Charlotte Beloe 13:35

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14d ago13:35

13:35

It’s time to get sustainable with five fun and fascinating fast facts about plastic, an interview with Dr Charlotte Beloe, a scientist who knows a lot about microplastics in the ocean, and a cornflour bioplastic activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Pur…

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Amazing animals – marine mammals with Dr Vanessa Pirotta 13:23

1M ago13:23

13:23

It’s time to take a splash in the sea with five fun and fascinating fast facts about marine mammals, an interview with Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist who knows a lot about whales, and there’s a warm-blooded blubber activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch.…

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Martyn Whittock, "Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine" (Biteback, 2025) 1:03:08

2M ago1:03:08

1:03:08

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far sh…

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Cutting edge technology – virtual reality with Dr Vanessa Moss 13:06

2M ago13:06

13:06

Let’s get immersed in a high-tech virtual world with five fascinating fast facts about virtual reality, an interview with Dr Vanessa Moss, an astrophysicist who uses virtual reality to collaborate with other scientists, and an eye-opening binocular activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and …

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Dani Belo, "Russian Warfare in the 21st Century" (Routledge, 2025) 1:03:32

3M ago1:03:32

1:03:32

Dani Belo's Russian Warfare in the 21st Century: An Incentive-Opportunity Intervention Model (Routledge, 2025) provides a comprehensive analysis of Russia's foreign policy in gray zone conflicts, with a particular focus on its interventions in Ukraine. Challenging conventional views, the book contends that Russia's use of varied gray zone tactics i…

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Huseyn Aliyev, "Who Fights for Governments? Paramilitary Mobilization in Ukraine and Beyond" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) 1:47:50

3M ago1:47:50

1:47:50

Exploring why, when and under which circumstances individuals decide to take up arms mobilizing for pro-government militias, Huseyn Aliyev's Who Fights for Governments? Paramilitary Mobilization in Ukraine and Beyond (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) draws on insights from long-standing ethnographic fieldwork among former and active members of Ukraine's …

1
Spaced out science – space junk with Mars Buttfield-Addison 13:07

4M ago13:07

13:07

Get ready to launch into fascinating fast facts about space junk, an interview with Mars Buttfield-Addison, a computer scientist and science communicator who knows a lot about space debris, and an easy orbital activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Purpl…

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Stanislav Kulchytsky, "The Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine: An Anatomy of the Holodomor" (CIUS Press, 2018) - A Conversation with Bohdan Klid 1:08:29

4M ago1:08:29

1:08:29

The Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine: An Anatomy of the Holodomor (CIUS Press, 2018) is a distillation of thirty years of study of the topic by one of Ukraine’s leading historians. In this account, Stanislav Kulchytsky ably incorporates a vast array of sources and literature that have become available in the past three decades into a highly readable …

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Nicholas Birman Trickett, "Empire of Austerity: Russia and the Breaking of Eurasia" (Hurst, 2025) 42:16

4M ago42:16

42:16

Empire of Austerity: Russia and the Breaking of Eurasia (Hurst, 2025) traces how Russian economic policy precipitated the country’s slide towards an increasingly coercive authoritarianism, a hubristic challenge to the West, and all-out war with Ukraine. Decades of dependence on commodity exports, failure to invest and failure to consume enough have…

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Georgiy Kasianov et al., "From 'the Ukraine' to Ukraine: A Contemporary History, 1991-2021" (Ibidem Press, 2021) 51:05

4M ago51:05

51:05

In 2021, Ukraine celebrates its thirty-year independence anniversary. During this relatively short period of time—when considered in historical terms—Ukraine underwent a number of drastic changes that have so far shaped the country’s domestic and international environments. From “the Ukraine” to Ukraine: A Contemporary History, 1991-2021 (Ibidem Pr…

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Inna Faliks, "Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage" (Backbeat Books, 2023) 45:38

4M ago45:38

45:38

Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most communicative, and poetic artists of her generation. She has made a name for herself through commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending, interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with con…

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Mind blowing science - National Science Week 12:29

5M ago12:29

12:29

Saturday 9 August to Sunday 17 August 2025 is National Science Week in Australia, so it’s time to blow your mind with five fun and fascinating fast facts about different types of science, some mind-blowing recent discoveries in science, a few different voices sharing their favourite mind-blowing science, and an activity that’s oozing with science f…

1
Bulent Gokay and Lily Hamourtziadou, "Human Costs of War: 21st Century Human (In)Security from 2003 Iraq to 2022 Ukraine" (Routledge, 2024) 30:35

5M ago30:35

30:35

Human Costs of War: 21st Century Human (In)Security from 2003 Iraq to 2022 Ukraine (Taylor & Francis, 2024) documents and analyses the direct and indirect toll that war takes on civilians and their livelihoods, taking a human security approach exploring personal, economic, political and community security in Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine, in the co…

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Joseph Kellner, "The Spirit of Socialism: Culture and Belief at the Soviet Collapse" (Cornell UP, 2025) 58:22

5M ago58:22

58:22

The Spirit of Socialism is a cultural history of the Soviet collapse. It examines the millions of Soviet people who, during the cascading crises of the collapse and the post-Soviet transition, embarked on a spirited and highly visible search for new meaning. Amid profound disorientation, these seekers found direction in their horoscopes, or behind …

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Ancient science – Aboriginal technology with Belinda Huntriss 14:37

6M ago14:37

14:37

Let’s step back in time with five fascinating fast facts about how scientists date the ages of ancient artefacts, an interview with Belinda Huntriss, a Worimi woman who is passionate about sharing her knowledge of Aboriginal science and technology, and a tasty sedimentary layer activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and …

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Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom 51:19

6M ago51:19

51:19

Decolonizing Ukraine, by Dr. Greta Lynn Uehling, illuminates the untold stories of Russia's occupation of Crimea from 2014 to the present, revealing the traumas of colonization, foreign occupation, and population displacement. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork in Ukraine, including over 90 personal interviews, Dr. Uehling brings her readers into the…

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Andrea Graziosi and Frank E. Sysyn, "Communism and Hunger: The Ukrainian, Chinese, Kazakh, and Soviet Famines in Comparative Perspective" (CIUS Press, 2016) 1:13:33

6M ago1:13:33

1:13:33

In this volume, leading specialists examine the affinities and differences between the pan-Soviet famine of 1931–1933, the Ukrainian Holodomor, the Kazakh great hunger, and the famine in China in 1959–1961. The contributors presented papers at a conference organized by the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium in 2014. Learn more about your a…

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Yaroslav Hrytsak, "Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation" (PublicAffairs, 2024) 1:18:37

6M ago1:18:37

1:18:37

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the world witnessed the “creative, freewheeling, darkly humorous, and deeply resilient society” that is contemporary Ukraine. In this timely and original history, a bestseller in Ukraine, the historian Yaroslav Hrytsak tells the sweeping story of his nation through a meticulous examination of the major events, c…

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Danielle Leavitt, "By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025) 53:09

6M ago53:09

53:09

An intimate, affecting account of life during wartime, told through the lives that have been shattered. Even as scores of Americans rally to the Ukrainian cause and adopt Volodymyr Zelensky as a hero, the lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. In By the Second Spring, the historian Danielle Leavitt goes beyond familiar portraits of…

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Ewa Herbst, "Visionaries from Lviv: The Story of a Jewish Hospital" (Academic Studies Press, 2024) 1:19:13

6M ago1:19:13

1:19:13

Year 2023 marked 120 years of the Lazarus Jewish Hospital in Lviv (Lwów/Lemberg). This richly illustrated book is a tribute to its place in the once-vibrant Jewish community of the city and in the society at large during the period 1903-1939. Visionaries from Lviv: The Story of a Jewish Hospital (Academic Studies Press, 2024) presents the hospital’…

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Imagine that - brain science with Sarah Macdonald and Max Gambale 12:44

7M ago12:44

12:44

It’s time to fire up the mind with five fun and fascinating fast facts about imagination, plus some questions for Sarah Macdonald and Max Gambale, two creative people with interesting imaginations, and a visualisation and drawing activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny L…

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Serhii Plokhy, "The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine" (Basic Books, 2015) 1:26:17

7M ago1:26:17

1:26:17

As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, celebrated historian Serhii Plokhy explains that today's crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a long history of turmoil over Ukraine's sovereignty. Situated between Centra…

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Thomas Mutch, "The Dogs of Mariupol: Russia's Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine's Iron Generation" (Biteback, 2025) 39:03

7M ago39:03

39:03

In early 2022, as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border, Tom Mutch, a freelance war reporter, took a trip to Mariupol to take the temperature of this (then) culturally vibrant port on the Sea of Azov. What stayed with him was the sound of the stray dogs and their "rhythmic and frantic barking, as if they were shouting a warning in unison". With…

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Keir Giles, "Who Will Defend Europe?: An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent" (Hurst & Co., 2024) 39:18

7M ago39:18

39:18

Who will defend Europe? The answer should be obvious: Europe should be able to defend itself. Yet, for decades, most of the continent enjoyed a defence holiday, outsourcing protection to the United States while banking an increasingly illusory ‘peace dividend’. Now, after three decades of reducing armed forces and drawing down defence industries, E…

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Greta Lynn Uehling, "Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025) 51:32

7M ago51:32

51:32

In Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025), anthropologist Dr. Greta Lynn Uehling illuminates the untold stories of Russia’s occupation of Crimea from 2014 to the present, revealing the traumas of colonization, foreign occupation, and population displacement. Drawing upon extensive …

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Take a breath - medical science with Dr Kenneth Soo 12:04

7M ago12:04

12:04

It’s time to take a deep breath and get ready for five fascinating fast facts about breathing, an interview with Dr Kenneth Soo, a hospital-based doctor who knows a lot about breathing, and an energetic activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Purple Plane…

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Paul R. Magocsi and Yohanan Petrovskiĭ-Shtern, "Jews and Ukrainians: A Millennium of Co-existence" (U Toronto Press, 2018) 54:16

8M ago54:16

54:16

There is much that ordinary Ukrainians do not know about Jews and that ordinary Jews do not know about Ukrainians. As a result, those Jews and Ukrainians who may care about their respective ancestral heritages usually view each other through distorted stereotypes, misperceptions, and biases. This book sheds new light on highly controversial moments…

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Victoria Khiterer, "Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration" (Purdue UP, 2025) 1:29:43

8M ago1:29:43

1:29:43

Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration (Purdue UP, 2025) discusses the Holocaust in Kyiv and the efforts to memorialize the Babyn Yar massacre. Babyn Yar is one of the largest Holocaust sites in the Soviet Union and modern Ukraine, where the Nazis and their collaborators killed virtually all the Jews who remained…

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John Lechner, "Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare" (Bloombury, 2025) 1:26:03

8M ago1:26:03

1:26:03

In 2014, a well-trained, mysterious band of mercenaries arrived in Ukraine, part of Russia's first attempt to claim the country as its own. Upon ceasefire, the “Wagner Group” faded back into shadow, only to reemerge in the Middle East, where they'd go toe-to-toe with the U.S., and in Africa, where they'd earn praise for “tough measures” against ins…

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Alexandra Popoff, "Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century" (Yale UP, 2019) 1:07:42

8M ago1:07:42

1:07:42

Memory and truth are malleable and nowhere more so than in the Soviet Union. To be a writer in that country was to face an ongoing dilemma: conform to State-mandated topics and themes, or consign oneself to obscurity, writing only for “the desk drawer” or “without permission.” Vasily Grossman challenged that binary choice, creating some of the most…

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Sasha Colby, "The Matryoshka Memoirs: A Story of Ukrainian Forced Labour, the Leica Camera Factory, and Nazi Resistance" (ECW Press, 2023) 1:22:00

8M ago1:22:00

1:22:00

Irina Nikifortchuk was 19 years old and a Ukrainian schoolteacher when she was abducted to be a forced laborer in the Leica camera factory in Nazi Germany. Eventually pulled from the camp hospital to work as a domestic in the Leica owners’ household, Irina survived the war and eventually found her way to Canada. Decades later Sasha Colby, Irina’s g…

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Understanding Ukraine: A Discussion with Author Yaroslav Trofimov 51:52

8M ago51:52

51:52

Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, is a native of Kyiv. In this conversation, we discuss two books. Our Enemies Will Vanish (Penguin Press, 2024), is a nonfiction narrative chronicling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine through the reporter Trofimov’s eyes. No Country for Love (Abacus Books, 2024), is his n…

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Serhiy Kudelia, "Seize the City, Undo the State: The Inception of Russia's War on Ukraine" (Oxford UP, 2015) 57:43

8M ago57:43

57:43

How do separatist conflicts arise and spread? When does separatism become a cover for a foreign aggression? How do local communities respond when state institutions collapse, and militants take over? The armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, which started eight years before Russia's full-scale invasion, contains unique evidence to address each of thes…

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It’s no joke – climate science with Stuart Goldsmith 15:38

9M ago15:38

15:38

Let’s get fired up with five fascinating fast facts about climate science, a deep dive into carbon footprints, an interview with Stuart Goldsmith, an English comedian with a passion for communicating about climate change, and a sea level experiment for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced …

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Alexander Hill, "The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies" (Routledge, 2025) 1:16:27

9M ago1:16:27

1:16:27

The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies (Routledge, 2025) edited by Alexander Hill brings together historical and contemporary essays about Soviet and Russian military studies, to offer a comprehensive volume on the topic. Comprising essays written by acknowledged specialists, the handbook examines the development of the Russi…

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Mikhail Goldis, "Memoirs of a Jewish District Attorney from Soviet Ukraine" (Academic Studies Press, 2024) 46:20

9M ago46:20

46:20

What was it like to work as a Jewish district attorney in provincial Soviet Ukraine in the post-Stalinist eras? What role did antisemitism and Holocaust memories play in solving and investigating the criminal cases? How does a detective’s mind work? The answers to these and many other fascinating questions are found in Memoirs of a Jewish District …

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Oleksandr Melnyk, "World War II as an Identity Project: Historicism, Legitimacy Contests, and the (Re-) Construction of Political Communities in Ukraine, 1939–1946" (Ibidem, 2022) 1:01:00

9M ago1:01:00

1:01:00

World War II as an Identity Project (Ibidem, 2022) explores the relationship between history, legitimacy, and violence in the building and breaking of nations and states on the territory of contemporary Ukraine during the Second World War and in its aftermath. At its center are various institutions of the Soviet state. Other states and rival politi…

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Fractured Alliances: Trump, Ukraine, and Europe's Security Dilemma 31:14

10M ago31:14

31:14

In this episode, RBI director John Torpey speaks with Estonian parliamentarian and defense expert Kalev Stoicescu about the recent tensions between the United States and Ukraine following a contentious meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelensky. Stoicescu critiques Trump's transactional diplomacy, emphasizing the critical role of alliances such …

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Fantastic plants – seed science with Cassy Polimeni 10:41

10M ago10:41

10:41

Let’s get growing with five fascinating fast facts about seeds, a deep dive into seed banks, an interview with Cassy Polimeni, a children’s author who writes stories featuring science, and a see-through seed growing activity for you to try yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by…

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Grzegorz Rossolinski-Liebe, "Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist: Fascism, Genocide, and Cult" (Ibidem Press, 2014) 56:45

10M ago56:45

56:45

Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist (Ibidem Verlag, 2014) is the first comprehensive and scholarly biography of the Ukrainian far-right leader Stepan Bandera and the first in-depth study of his political cult. In this fascinating book, Grzegorz Rossolinski-Liebe illuminates the life of a mythologized personality and sc…

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Sabrina P. Ramet and Lavinia Stan, "East Central Europe Since 1989" (Routledge, 2025) 1:29:32

10M ago1:29:32

1:29:32

East Central Europe Since 1989 (Routledge, 2025) examines politics, economics, media, religious institutions, transitional justice, gender inequality, and literature, highlighting the overt functions, latent functions, and side effects associated with each sphere. Communism in East Central Europe had cracks from the beginning, as uprisings in East …

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Tamizdat under Putin: A Discussion with Publisher Feliks Sandalov 58:59

10M ago58:59

58:59

Russia has a long history of publishers operating from abroad, producing books and periodicals for a Russian-speaking audience. One notable example is The Bell (Kolokol), published by Alexander Herzen, the Russian writer and thinker who emigrated in the mid-19th century. The waves of Russian emigration in the 20th century—beginning with those fleei…

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Victoria Khiterer, "Jewish Pogroms in Kiev During the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920" (Edwin Mellen, 2015) 1:15:46

10M ago1:15:46

1:15:46

Jewish Pogroms in Kiev During the Russian Civil War discusses how anti-Jewish violence began during the revolution and civil war 1917-1920 raising questions of responsibility of civil and military authorities and the antisemitic propaganda spread by official mass media as well as deliberate exploitation of antisemitism for political purposes. Learn…

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Shay A. Pilnik, "The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar Between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War" (Purdue UP, 2025) 1:26:54

10M ago1:26:54

1:26:54

The Nazis and their collaborators buried over 100,000 victims at Babyn Yar, a ravine in modern-day Ukraine. Most of the individuals were Jewish, making this area one of the most infamous mass murder sites in history. The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar Between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War (Purdue UP, 2025) starts when the travesty ends, te…

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Freaky forces – rocket science with Jason Sercombe 10:43

11M ago10:43

10:43

It’s time to lift off with five fascinating fast facts about rockets, a quick look at some famous rocket launches, an interview with Jason Sercombe, a scientist who knows a lot about building and launching model rockets, and an easy-to-make rocket for you to launch yourself at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produce…

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Canada and Eastern Europe, 1945–1991: Meeting in the Middle 32:01

11M ago32:01

32:01

In this episode, host Andrea Talabér (CEU Press) sat down with Andrea Chandler to talk about her new book with CEU Press, Canada and Eastern Europe, 1945–1991: Meeting in the Middle. In the podcast we talked about why the relations between Canada and the countries of the Eastern bloc have so far been underreseached, about the large Central and East…

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Jonathan Haslam, "Hubris: The American Origins of Russia's War against Ukraine" (Harvard UP, 2025) 1:05:36

11M ago1:05:36

1:05:36

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 should not have taken the world by surprise. The attack escalated a war that began in 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea, but its origins are visible as far back as the aftermath of the Cold War, when newly independent Ukraine moved to the center of tense negotiations between Russia a…

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Eugene Finkel, "Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine" (Basic Books, 2024) 35:33

11M ago35:33

35:33

Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shocked the world. And yet, to Ukrainians, this attack was painfully familiar, the latest episode in a centuries-long Russian campaign to divide and oppress Ukraine. In Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine (Basic Books, 2024), political scientist Eugene Finkel un…

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Viktoriya Fedorchak, "The Russia-Ukraine War: Towards Resilient Fighting Power" (Routledge, 2024) 1:29:27

11M ago1:29:27

1:29:27

Viktoriya Fedorchak's The Russia-Ukraine War: Towards Resilient Fighting Power (Routledge, 2024) provides a systematic analysis of the Russian-Ukraine war, using the concept of resilient fighting power to assess the operational performance of both sides during the first year of the full-scale invasion. The Russian war in Ukraine began in 2014 and c…

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Amazing animals – eel science with Kelly Osterberg 12:02

11M ago12:02

12:02

Let’s get slimy with five fascinating fast facts about eels, an intriguing story about long-finned eels from Kelly Osterberg, an educator who knows a LOT about eels, and a gooey eel activity for you to cook up at home. Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Purple Planet Music. Sound effects by …