The Eastern Border

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.

Greetings, Comrades!I wanted to bring you something special this time. Something completely dfferent, but something that will allow you to look into a very special kind of mindset. It’s a motivational speech (of sorts), originally given in Russian, by one of my personal heroes and folks who inspired me to be a journalist, Alexander Nevzorov. See, it’s something that had been sitting on my mind for a long while now, and as everyone currently is all about spreading cheer and optimism and whatnot, I, instead, chose to share with you one of the most interesting takes on the subject about how to actually be good at debates. And seeing as Nevzorov is one of the most widely known Russian opposition journalists, and how he just manages to be on top of things…I kinda wanted to give you this, albeit quite bizzare, speech as a christmas gift.Enjoy. Although the ep is relatively short, it was extremely work intensive. Turns out, transcribing youtube speeches from Russian to English in real time and then editing them to be a scenario is definitely not easy.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! This is the episode when millions die. For the first time but not the last one. Also Trotsky leaves the scene here. Have fun.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades. I started this ep as a fun thing, about the weird sex-ed book from the Soviet Union. As it stands now, this episode is raw, brutal, sincere, explicit, ugly, offensive and just the story that needed to be told. Because it ended up being about how the whole regime oppressed people, how they tried to control and “normalize” the most intimate aspects of people’s lives and…how those lives were ruined. Also, this is seriously 18+ – I didn’t sugarcoat anything. I didn’t hide anything. And everything’s brutal and honest. Do NOT listen to this if you’re a minor, or overtly emotional or easily offended. You have been warned.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Once again, insanity happens. So, I bring to you the completely unedited (one take and not my good mic as am not home too) result of working in the middle of the night to inform you about the details of the boat incident in the Kerch strait. This will be followed up, but for now, here’s a gathering of literally everything that there is to know from eastern European media about this whole thing. Enjoy! And if you want to be in the know, join our discord. We talk with everyone there. https://discord.gg/6jnGV5eSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!We got our hands on KGB instructional manuals, about what were their goals, how they were supposed to act and what and why did they do things that they did. But this is not a history episode. Sadly, this is a news episode, Think about it while you listen.And here are all the links that I promise on the show, starting with the awesome Transhumanist folks that we want to support:Paypal of the project: https://www.paypal.me/mindboundBitcoin of the project: 13XBRLQ8pQ89UQSEs6hJHu7cEX43RtV3iXBank acc: Arets PaeglisIBAN: GB96REVO00997090790930BIC: REVOGB21Official Contact: [email protected] mail of their chairman: [email protected] of them being an accepted chapter of World Transhumanist Association/Humanity+: https://humanityplus.org/get-involved-2/chapters-of-humanity/ (look for Latvia)And of course, our own Patreon page:https://www.patreon.com/TheEasternBorderAnd our Discord channel:https://discord.gg/kc433UDSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! In this special episode, dedicated to the Latvian 100th anniversary, I’d like to tell you the adventures of the migthy (and utterly insane) Latvian terrorist Aijo Beness. It makes sense at the end. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This was supposed to be a news episode, but instead I somehow did a whole thing about the GRU instead. It just came naturally. Also, I talk really fast in this one as…well, I didn’t originally intend to make a whole ep about this and it’s pretty long already. Enjoy!Oh, and also join our discord group. Here’s the link: https://discord.gg/ZqPdUdgSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!So, I shipped out to Boston, and went on and had a speech in Harvard, walked the freedom trail in full and did a lot of fun and interesting things in the USA. Also, had a short spot-on interview with Our Lord and Master, Supreme Podcaster, Saint of All who use the Microphone, Dan Carlin. Which is in the end of the episode. Seriously tho, I really liked eagleland, and ths is my story about the experiences there, with the Dan Carlin interview in the end, which I did together with Sam Davis from the Inward Empire podcast. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This episode is a great discusson with Sebastian Major from https://ourfakehistory.com/ podcast! He’s just done a great three part series on Stalin myths, which you all should go and listen to immediately. We talk about Uncle Joe, about how he’s portrayed, how he’s influenced history and how sometimes, the hardest part is admitting that it’s humans who’re the greatest villain, and not monsters.P.S. If you’re in the area, come to the Sound Education conference in Harvard – https://www.soundeducation.fm/ I’ll be speaking there on 2nd of November, my speech is from 3.30PM to 4PM in the Divinity Hall, Divinity Chapel there!Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Sadly, the events that happen in these parts unfold so quickly, that I can’t really keep up with everything that I want to do, which would be more specials and Stalin series – but not like I can skip over the news either. Because from Riga, it looks like the world is about to fall apart. Also, on the good news: we have new podcast art! Coming soon, to our t-shirt store, and there will be prints as well! Signed prints!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 a “small war”, and you’ll get to know exactly what that means. This episode isn’t fun. It’s horror and war from the first person perspective. This was hard for me to make, and I fully excpect it’ll be hard for you to listen. It should be that way.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this episode, which I just had to make, we look back at what happened to Latvian elections, and also at the utter weirdness of Russian politics lately, including something that might cause some real problems – land trade between Chechnya and Ingushetia.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Latvian elections are coming- and they’re among (if not the) craziest one’s we’ve ever had. So, when else would be a better time, to finally talk our own politics. For this episode, I interviewed one of the best Latvian journalists, Juris Kaža, and we tried to make some sense out of this whole sad mess. Mess that’s actually surprisingly important for the whole region, in these…quite interesting times.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we’re back to our Stalin series, and you get to hear our new editor’s voice too. This episode serves as a wrap-up and a move to a whole new era. Both for the show, and for Stalin – who, at this point, has destroyed the triumvirate, dealt with Trotsky, and…well has ran a massive campaign against illiteracy, which was amazing for him, because you know, when you’ve learned how to read and write using Stalinist propaganda…yeah, what could possibly go wrong there. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is a super-extra episode. Because I haven’t seen such weird things in ages, and it complements the last, full ep, nicely. For one, in this episode, I root for a genuine Communist. From the Russian Communist Party. Because he deserves that. I know, right?Anyhow, enjoy. Had to make this one, upon my journalistic honor.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we look at the ridiculous stuff that has happened in Russia lately. Duelling and tourists, visiting Solisbury spire. Which is 123 meters tall. And has the oldest working clock. Yeah, and they’re also totally NOT GRU agents.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Due to the death of our favourite separatist, Alexander Zaharchenko in an explosion, I just had to make an episode about it. And then it quite smoothly turned into a gruesome explanation of the “Ponatiya” – the unwritten prison laws, and their harsh inner caste system and things you should and shouldn’t do if you get sentenced in Russia, Belarus or other places in the post-Soviet sphere. But yeah – warning, it does get VERY unsettling.Enjoy. I…hope?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.