The Eastern Border

Greetings, Comrades!In the light of the Covid-19, storming arount the world, our buddy, Vovochka, has decided to basically nullify his own presidental terms. Together with oil prices and rouble. It’s more funny than you think. By this point, Putin's carreer needs to be a Blumhouse movie. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This minisode is about what happens to people like me in less safe environments. Because a friend of mine just survived an assassination attempt. Oh, and if you’re a rich oil tycoon, please, we’re 500$ short of paying off our med bills. Off to get the boat ep script, but hey – ultra rich listeners, please throw a bit of cash our way.Also…enjoy. And Patreon stuff coming out in the next 24h too. If technology will allow us. Oh, and by the way, Ramzan Kadyrov is a murderous piece of shit, disgrace of Chechnya and all Muslim community, complete waste of oxygen, worst among worst, a fly on a pig’s tail, the devil excretes and his army eats, a total and complete pile of human garbage. Thrice damned, nine times condemned, may he suffer an eternity in hell, and even that would be too little for him.Audio PlayerSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I still haven't received my spyboat script and book yet, which is a complete shame, but I had this very interesting subject to look at. Namely, relationship ads in Latvian press from about 100 years ago, and with a bit of analysis, we can discover some quite interesing facts about the society of that time period.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Sorry for the ep, being so late, ran into a lot of issues, like my health and my cat, literally eating my mic cable. Oh, and when I got back home, turns out, I had left my USB flash with my script, and the book about the ship in the place I stayed at. Just…winter wonderland Latvia. At any rate, thankfully there’s plenty of news in Russia to heep everyone entertained. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I did what I had promised on social media, and translated the weirdest response to a journalist question that I had ever heard. I also look at a recently dead, ultra-conservative priest who had said that Stalin did the work of God, that female circumsision is a good thing and called for a physical purge of Russia’s internal enemies. Oh, and four CEO’s of Belarus’s sugar factories have been arrested in suspicion of a plot. This…this is a strange one.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! I managed to do a really dumb thing and fumble into a sewer hole, due to a hard-to-notice half-closed sewer lid and hurt my leg real bad. So, I’m talking about all the books that I’ve received and am reading now, with a rant about WW2 tossed in between. Some of those books you should even buy. I don’t know, I’m in pain and my head isn’t exactly working. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we take a deep dive inside the constitutional changes, just proposed by president Putin – what they mean, why are they there, and what will the fall guy Medvedev do now. Enjoy! And...if you can, please support us in Patreon or donate via Paypal, we're running behind things now. But doing our best to make the best shows that we can.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We wanted to start this year with something positive. And…we sort of did. Because this is one of those back to the roots, people’s stories episode. With that, don’t forget to check out Chris and his knitting, send your mails to: [email protected] or SMS or WhatsApp to: +1-605-846-3166 for SMS (USA) or WhatsApp (international)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Here's our new episode for you! It's about a country sligthly to the south east of ours, that will probably cease to exist sometime next year. And also some info:1. There's going to be a special new year's ep for Patrons later today.2. Audio on this one was pretty inconsistent, because I don't even know what happened with my recording setup, so we're working on it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!We’re catching up with our plan for the year, but then, suddenly, another terrible surprise happens.Ehh. This is a pretty cold Christmas.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we talk about the current events in Russia. Which is soon-not-to-be Russia, according to our sources.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EDIT: The correct episode has been uploaded now!Greetings, Comrades!Sorry for the delay, we ran into some technical difficulties here. But all is fine now, so enjoy our part 2 of the comparative constitutions! This time, we dig even deeper into what went down on paper in 1977 and what does it actually mean.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we take a look at the Soviet constitution of 1977, and try to understand what it says about the USSR, by comparing it to the constitutions of other countries. Oh, and Emperor Norton I also makes an appearance.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Here are the random stories from the people who live on The Eastern Border whom you can’t hear anywhere else but that doesn’t lessen their insanity. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! This episode is our interview on The Red Line podcast, while I’m working on the next one, which, due to health reasons, is taking more time than usual. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I have returned from my travels in lands yet untouched by civilisation, where, as I presume, a “burger” is a form of currency, and where they measure temperature in “fahrenheits” which apparently mean some indigenous nonsensical unit, because clearly no naturalist explorer would use that to describe temperature. And although I am about to divulge the knowledge that I’ve gained by the people living there, yet untouched by the caring hand of civilisation, alas, today I must make an episode about what has happened in Russia while I was gone.Seriously though, US was amazing, and I saw Texas and NYC and met a lot of amazing people, but this is a mandatory catch-up.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This episode is all about the weird Estonia tragedy - the ferry, no the country, that happened in 1994. One of the most tragic sea incidents ever, with 859 people dead, it carries a lot of crazy conspiratorial material. Some of which has been proven to be true. Yet, for the victim and survivor families, there is pretty much still no justice.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Here’s our episode from the Sound Education conference – we managed to acquire an interview with famous Rome expert and theoretical revolutionary Mike Duncan, and talked about the various aspects of history, podcasting and…well, what makes a good revolutionary. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we bring you a historical introspective of peoples lives during world war 2, here in the Baltics, from a cook book printed in 1942, during the Nazi occupation. As you can see, this one will be both educational, emotional and extremely practical!Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Out of the hospital, but still feeling pretty bad. Can’t script really, and my voice is terrible, so doing this light-hearted stuff, and a reading of a Sci-Fi short story for Patreons a bit later. Anyhow, in this episode, I explain the stereotypes that we have about the Europe here, in EU, using the stereotypes that I know of about various American places – not just US, but all of the Americas because otherwise it would be to narrow. So…err, take this in good fun, please. I’m getting better and I hope this will serve as a way to understand each other a bit more.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sorry for the shortness this time, it’s all explained in the episode, which ended up being a bit of a philosophical diatribe about hate, relationships and politics, using the Kennedy-Khruschev meeting as context. Sort of. At the same time, I’m making a Patreon special, releasing later today, where I’ll explain the (stereotypical versions of) European countries, by using American stereotypes. Enjoy – and be nice to each other. See you in October, US folks. Oh, and non-Patreon supporters who’ve donated via Paypal – please, do email us to [email protected] to claim your extra stuff, otherwise I can’t give you the links as PayPal doesn’t show me your mail addresses.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this episode, we look at the aftermath of the Russian elections and compare it to Stalin’s policies during his “five year plan”. It…makes sense in context.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Today is the election day in Russia, the same one for the honesty and transparency of which, the protest actions happened. Not like it’s going to help. This isn’t even funny anymore, but I still have to cover all of them in the region. And so I do – because there are people out there who have received real prison sentences because of this.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this episode, I look at the reasons why and how the Soviet union collapsed – and why it is especially important to look at these reasons today. Because things are brewing in Russia, to which there might not be easy answers.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!By popular demand, in this episode, we analyze what the awesome HBO series got right, what they got wrong, why the mistakes were made and does it impact the show in any meaningful way. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, I bring You an interview with the lead writer of an amazing Soviet-themed post-apocalyptic RPG game in the style of Fallout 1 & 2! And we also have a contest where you can win the game. It’s a genuine experience of how Soviet union would be like after a nuclear war, which I greatly enjoyed and I think that You should too!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is a political episode, and as by now is usual in Russia, a depressing one. Because it’s august, and everything that can go wrong, does go wrong in this month there. Also, which wasn’t mentioed, as it happened after the recording, a nuclear missille detonated and leaked its radioactive contents near a Russian submarine base in the nothern parts of the country, where all the ice is. But yeah, they accidentally an ICBM while transporting. Because August. This…this is a dark month. I hope it gets better.Enjoy.Oh, and also the next ep will be nitpicking Chenlobyl series for the few, yet…kinda important things they got wrong. But it’s just nitpicking. Those were phenomenal series which I finally watched. But some things…well, if explained, they would be even better. So I’ll do that.Audio PlayerSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, by request of the nice folks who granted me a free tattoo…yeah, here comes a weird episode where I look at the Soviet depictions in video games, how accurate they are, why they are that way and…why stereotypes are sometimes necessary. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is the part 2 of when we were on the glorious Atomic Hobo show! Please, enjoy and subscribe to them too!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I’m sort of ok. But in this dark time of mine, I want to bring you one of the most impactful episodes out there. Moreso even than Chernobyl, the stuff that’s happening in the now-drying Aral sea, specifically in the ressurection/rebirth island…yeah. Wanted to do this for a while, and my illness allowed me to do it. Picture: Aral sea with the island.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I’ve been dealing with a lot of serious health issues lately, my heart’s acting up bad, so that is why ep’s have been late. However, I was interviewed in the glorious Atomic Hobo podcast about the survival in the atomic age. And as that was an amazing discussion, with their permission, I upload it here. And am back to making content! Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! In this episode, I talk about how Putin’s decisions and squabbles between Russia and Georgia have now directly impacted the show once again. And it’s our birthday! Yay! So this, for once, is a cheerful episode. A bit chaotic, but hey…partying never killed anyone, right? Also, the episode’s featured art on our home page this time is literal fan art of Lenin from 1934. Not propaganda. Fan art. Seriously. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this part of my Ukraine visit, I want to tell you about Donetsk. And normalcy. Shame that it’s really hard to get a DonMac anywhere else. And…maybe a good thing too.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is the part two of our Ukraine series. And probably, one of the saddest, heaviest episodes that I’ve made. This is the tale of Igor and Oleksandr, and…how war is never a pleasant business.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is part 1 of my Ukraine adventures, about Kyiv and a crazy 18h train ride. Made after said ride, so kind of audio bloggy, but I wanted to get this out, to have my head clear for what’s about to come. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Before going to Ukraine, I’m obviously doing research on what’s going on there, with Russia, giving out passports to Donetsk and Luhansk inhabitants…but then I struck a story. A really heartfelt one. About the refugees who went to Russia, during last year’s world cup using the FAN ID cards…and stayed there. Their stories are terrifying and heart-wrenching, and I hope that we’ll learn something about being good to each other here. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Our proper new episode is out now! This time, we re-visit the GDR (as did I) and look at how Stasi impacted everyday lives of people, how it changed their culture and compare the East German political jokes with the Soviet one's. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I went to Germany for this one. Europarliament elections are coming. They’re practically here even – so this time, we’re teaming up with Ciaran of Previously in Europe fame, to explain what they are, and why they are especially important for the Eastern Border part of the planet. Historical episode coming soon, with new DDR material, but I wanted to get this out there asap.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This episode is with Matt from Nooks and Crannies podcast, where we talk about drug policies, the way Canada differs from the US, and how you, colonials, differ from us on the motherland, and why does it all matter. It’s a very neat conversation, and I hope you’ll like it. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades. Due to popular request, here’s our review of Imperator: Rome and an introduction to Paradox grand strategy games to the rest of you. This does’t replace my standard episodes and patrons will not be charged for it, but if you’d like more content like this one, please do click that donate button. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! The 26th of April was the 33rd anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. And since the last time we did the Chernobyl episode a few years ago, new documentation - namely KGB reports about the whole thing, have been declassified. And...well, they make one wonder, why it happened so late, and why it was the only one such tragedy of it's kind. So, in this episode, we revisit Chernobyl again, and look into this documentation. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This episode is about the Russian swearword culture – and why it matters, how it formed the society and why is it so important to us all. There’s a poem by Pushkin inside there too. But, obviously, an episode about swearwords and their massive cultural meaning contains, well, you know, swearwords. And they're used extremely liberally throughout the show too. So, obviously, do not listen with your kids, or if you’re easily offended. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This one's important. Russia's Gosduma just passed a law, that would in effect allow the Russian government to isolate their internet from the rest of the planet at will, and would basically serve as an extra layer of internet censorship there. What better time to contrast and compare that to an in-depth look at how censorship worked in the Soviet Union. Enjoy, think about it, and make your own conclusions. Also, for the only person who'll get this: Good luck in Vegas, fyi my lucky number's 11! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Posting this episode just a few hours before flying back home to Latvia. In this episode, me and Stephen from the glorious and highly recommended Baked and Awake podcast (http://bakedandawake.com/) discuss a peculiar released CIA document from 1957, called "National Cultural Development Under Communism" which you can find here: https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp78-02771r000200090002-6First part of the show is me, reading the document - which is also available in full in Baked and Awake youtube channel as a separate entity, as we couldn't find it in a read/presented form anywhere online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5um-HkhZ9q4 The second part is our analysis of it, including some conspiratorial stuff and shenanigans. Stephen's been a great host and I've been staying with him in Seattle for the past few days, and his weed is great but his show's even better, so do give him a listen. And I sincerely hope you'll like this episode.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I’m posting this from Vancouver, Canada. How crazy is that. And I spent a while in the US, and will be spending some more and…well, it’s pretty crazy. You’ll hear about them in the episode. But yeah, had a long vacation, but woah…there’s plenty of stuff to talk about. Back to the regular schedule again.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Geetings, Comrades!This time, we bring you a special. A very important special, as we’re trying to offend the most dangerous man in Russia here, and are being god at it. Enjoy!Audio PlayerSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! This is the second part of Anete’s experiences in Cuba, this time, with a more political twist. I think you’ll find it highly enjoyable.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Today we bring you Anete’s accounts on how it’s like in Cuba. As you heard in the last episode, she was there for about two weeks or so, and recorded two episodes about her experiences. And I hope some nice Soviet nostalgia as well. While I’m packing up and dealing with personal stuff, please enjoy what our talented and glorious soundmaster Anete has to offer. This one’s a bit shorter than usual, but the next one as far as I know is full length again, and then, in the late January you’ll get a massive Stalin. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!We're back from our vacation. Back with a vengeance, looking back and following up on all the news that happened last year, together with a fresh look on what's about to happen with Belarus. And none of those things are particulary nice. Enjoy! Here's our discord link: https://discord.gg/ZqPdUdgTo become our patron go here: https://www.patreon.com/TheEasternBorderOur magnificent editor's Anete Germane's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anetegermane/Chantelle's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/telleyvision/Our twitter: @eastern_borderSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This one’s for a quick Christmas special. Unedited, because I wanted to make sure that you get the real emotions. That, and our editor is in Cuba, relaxing and gathering matherials. You see, I did an episode in November about how it was for me to visit the USA, and now, for Christmas, as this is a time of happiness and cheer and all that other stuff, I snatched my fiancee Chantelle and we sat down and talked about how it’s like to be an American in the Baltics. Hope you’ll enjoy this short special one, a longer news episode coming next week, but for now, merry Christmas and happy holidays to You and Yours, dear comrades!Oh, and join our discord channel: https://discord.gg/ZqPdUdg follow us on Twitter, @eastern_border, find us on Facebook and follow Chantelle on instagram where she posts her eastern european experiences: https://www.instagram.com/telleyvision/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.