The Eastern Border

Greetings, Comrades! Sorry that we’re a bit slacking off this month, but this is due to wedding and everything. We’ll return in our full might in October, with Gulag survivor stories. But for now – for now, we’re doing something that was requested by one of our listeners. Soviet/Russian Mafiya and their KGB connections and comparison to the USA Italian Mafia. With very competent guests – Rob from The Lone Gunman podcast and Greg from Rumor Flies. I hope you’ll enjoy this – and await us in October! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this episode, which was created during the marriage process…and before…and slightly after, we talk about various stories that just didn’t make it in other episodes. Most of which are about art, alcohol, propaganda and theater. Because some things just cannot be separated from each other.Today’s picture:Actor Uldis PūcītisAgain, it will make more sense once you listen to the episode. Enjoy, and…do svidaniya, tovarischi! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!First things first – I’m just married, so that is why the episodes have been a bit late. Sorry for that, but we’re working hard to make sure everything’s on time and properly done. Secondly – this episode is all about Soviet history textbooks. And…as it was very funny, and I wanted to know what exactly to talk about, and didn’t have that much time before the wedding – this is also a Lesser Bonapartes (much more serious than usual) crossover. Glen asked us, what you would like to know, and we provided. And it turned out amazing. Hope you’ll enjoy this. And don’t worry – there’s more incoming in September!And, humongous thank you to everyone who supported our wedding! Me and Alice are very, very thankful, and will post pictures as soon as they’re ready. Oh, and today’s plug- the wonderful Clara Testoni, from the Singing Bones podcast. Go check her out! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, yes – I said only two PDRP episodes here, and the rest go to that feed. BUT…it’s my birthday, and I can give you this…well, present, actually.Hello, listeners of the People’s Democratic Republic of Podcast! Our episode about Denmark is in the works – the recording got a bit delayed, and this was supposed to be aired after that, BUT…it’s my birthday, and thus, I bring this to you. Here, Glen who is a self-proclaimed Zen Socialist from the Lesser Bonapartes podcast, meets Prof CJ, an Anarchist Libertarian from the Dangerous History Podcast. And…actually, they don’t duke it out. They prove that in this time of party polarization, even people with extremely opposing views can find things to agree upon, have a civilized discussion and figure things out. I’m just there to help. At the end, the problems are clear to everyone and are the same. The solutions, however, are possibly very different. IF they’re even possible. And politics…well, if politics makes you hate your fellow man, think again. Maybe it’s not the fellow man. Maybe it’s the one’s doing the politics. We’re wide-eyed cynics, ladies and gentlemen, and we like it that way.Also, thank you to Daniele Bolelli for providing our intro text. We found it fitting.And, of course, check out my fellow Dark Myths comrade shows:Lesser Bonapartes podcast – http://thelesserbonapartes.libsyn.com/Dangerous History podcast – http://profcj.org/Today’s song: “RetroFuture Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!I didn’t even know how much I can be motivated, when I get really angry. And this time, for a good reason – as Russian propagandists decided to desecrate one of, if not the, most important tragedies in the Baltics – the Vilnius massacre. So in this episode, we expose some very tragic events of the past, looking at the newspaper articles of the time and compare them with what Putin’s propaganda machine is spewing out now. And, of course, we look at the workings of that system as well.Pictures for today:The most iconic image from the Vilnius massacre in 13th January, 1991. Soviets ordered tanks to crush people and opened fire at the civilians.The Voice of Riga newspaper, used in the show.The Independent Struggle newspaper from 1991, used in the episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Our wedding tradition episode is here. Wedding traditions in these parts of the woods, starting from the 12th century, up to modern day. Listener questions are being answered too, and there’s a plethora of crazy stories from my dad, who played in a Soviet wedding band as a side job for years. As mentioned, this one’s a fundraiser so that we (me and Alice) could get married, so we at one point wanted to sell it for 1$, but then…ahh, no, we’re not capitalist enough, so, hopefully you’ll be nice enough to support us. Enjoy. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!Today’s episode is dedicated to Sports in the Soviet Union. We gathered what interesting stories we could about the subject, that show the spirit of the times, and put them here. This episode, although a bit short, is still one of the funniest I’ve made. And slightly depressing as usual, but…in the end, it’s about real people stories – and athletes have some of the best one’s to tell. Enjoy!Soviet speed skater Evgeny Grishin. This picture becomes instantly funny once you listen to the episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Sorry for posting another PDRP show on this feed again – but I want to popularise that show, and you know, you actually [...] Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. 
 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!While we’re preparing for wedding here, and preparing new episodes, here’s a surprise for you. It’s an episode that we did for the paid feed of the Lesser Bonapartes, about the Baltic/Northern Crusade. You know – the piece of history that we’re asked to cover but that kind of can’t find a place. It’s also very, very long. Normally, you’d have to be a supporter of the Lesser Bonapartes show, paying 10$ or more to have this, but I’m giving this one to you, because…yeah, why not. So that you’d have something to listen to, while waiting for my next episode. And no, this means I won’t be covering all of those events separately, because 4h is quite enough, really. Have fun, as I’m preparing for wedding.And I expect a lot of questions from those who don’t read the text part of the RSS feeds. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, comrades!This is a preview, that is the first episode, of our spin-off show, People’s Democratic Republic of Podcast that we just launched. It can be found here: http://pdrp.lv/ obviously, everything is brand new and under construction there, but we’re working. This is a podcast about the comparison of parliaments in various countries, taking a look at the inner workings of the system, important parties, history of elections, politically interesting events and, of course, controversy. Where I interview people and get to use my journalism skills and academical knowledge. It’s a spin-off that’ll come out once per month, but the episodes will be really long. Because I thought that other, popular news and politics shows aren’t cynical, gonzo and punk enough and don’t take their time about the small things. Well, I do.If you’re interested – check this episode out, and find that show on iTunes or wherever, or that homepage and give it a listen. Oh, and enjoy! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In our special anniversary episode, we do indeed deliver something special. This episode looks at a conspiracy theory that Putin might actually be dead…and what is uncovered, truly, is strange and weird. It shocked us, even – as this theory has way too much legitimacy behind it than it should have, and so, a thing that was supposed to be a fun anniversary episode, turned out to be one of investigative journalism. With examples. There’s also some discussion between me and Alice in the end, as this IS our official one year anniversary episode. But really, it’s overshadowed by what facts we managed to gather. And I obviously can’t say that something’s been definitely proven, it is a conspiracy theory after all – but it’s a really good one.And today’s images are…well, Putin, during various years. It becomes relevant during the show, and you’ll most likely want to come back to this page and take a look, once you get there in the episode.Putin in 1991Putin in 2000Putin in 2001Putin in 2007Putin in 2010Putin in 2011Putin in 2013Putin in 2015Comparison of Putin between 2010 and 2011 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings Comrades! Our episode about 1989 in the eastern bloc is out! Within: Baltic Way, interview about the Berlin Wall, soap operas, revolutions and more. As today is the largest Latvian national celebration of the year, I can’t provide more explanations right now, I have to jump over a fire, while drinking a beer! Līgo!Pictures for today’s episode:These are from the Baltic Way. They might seem naive and too optimistic, but…we were like this at the time. And we’re proud of it!And this is one of my sources, the Soviet Youth newspaper of the November 7th, 1989.Thank you for listening, I hope you’ll enjoy the show and…await our special episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EDIT: We-re uploaded this episode, as some people had troubles with it, due to unexpected, terrible side effects of the recording software that we used. [...] Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. 
 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This is the extra episode I promised you in the previous regular episode. Feel free to skip if you’re not into historical humour, a bit of awkwardness and/or have already listened to this. In short, the introduction of me, as a co-host to the Lesser Bonapartes show. Just so that you’d get a feel, and hey – maybe you’ll enjoy that one as well. Next regular episode is June 15, but while you wait…you know, Lesser Bonapartes is there, check it out. Oh, and no – this is not the June surprise. That one’s special, and will be revealed on our 1 year anniversary, June 27th. But for now – enjoy me, trying to work on another show! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!In this episode we take a look at how childhood looked like in the USSR. A fair warning, as this episode might not be suitable to children. Not because it’s explicit – but because they might get some ideas about misbehaving. Then again, that’s the Soviet way.Today’s picture – Soviet Pioneers, giving the traditional salute, in a ceremony.And don’t forget to check out Dark Myths – especially Twilight Histories and Rumor Flies, which are the recommendations for this week! Oh, and please fill our survey!Do Svidaniya, Tovarishci! And enjoy the show. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!After all of our editing issues which you know about already, if you follow us on social media, this episode is finally out. (Alice is far away and Andrew’s PC died at the last moment) This one ended up focusing on Marriage, Family and Everyday life. I had an unprecedented amount of people, giving me their stories and they were so good that I didn’t want to throw any of them out. So, I didn’t. I hope you’ll like this show, as I think it really captures the “feel” of being a Soviet person. We’ll continue with the entertainment and chess next time. And a few other things.Oh, and one more thing – this episode is best enjoyed while listening to it together with your spouse/partner/significant other. Seriously. Because at the end it’s about what families had to go through, and how they did it.Today’s images are: pictures from various Soviet stores!A typical queue. They’re waiting to get into a shoe store, by the way. These TV’s differ by how they improve morale. (Latvian National Archive photo) Your Brezhnev-era typical shoe store. This is how it looked normally, and the queues formed when they actually brought in something that you could buy.A vegetable/canned good section on a good day. Still, note that while there’s a lot of stuff here, there’s almost no selection of anything. And half of it all is probably disgustingly bad.The sour cream has already been diluted!A butcher’s store – with the usual lack of merchandise, wrapping paper and the iconic Soviet weights.A special thanks to Ryan Caligari from the Rumor Flies podcast for editing this on such a short notice.Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, support us on Patreon or Paypal and leave us reviews on iTunes. Oh…and of course, don’t forget to love your spouse. That’s the most important part.Hope you’ll enjoy the show! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!You might find that this episode is not as epic as the previous one – but that’s because we’re overworked. Anyway, we tried our best, and here it is. It’s very patriotic, however. And also – we’re on google podcasts now. For other news, listen to the show. Also, Ieva Akurātere is awesome.Today’s picture is a photo from the October 7th manifestation for a just state.And here’s the link to Ieva Akurātere – My Country, in the 1988 Liepājas Dzintars festival:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnjZVVgqqEUAnd enjoy the show! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! In this episode, we talk about the Soviet side of the Space Race. It is a bit fun, a bit dark humor, a bit looking from the people side, but…it gets dark. Really, really dark. This episode includes discussing some of the most tragic deaths ever, and is definitely NOT recommended for children. It will get lighter in the future, but for now…enjoy what we can bring you. As much as you can, as the stuff becomes extremely grim, and I tried to balance it out with some fun. Also, no Alice hadn’t read the script in the info part of the show, before recording it.Today’s pictures are:Yuri Gararin, pre-launch, with the CCCP letters just painted on his helmet.The photographs, showing how Bondarenko was just…deleted.Komarov’s remains in his funeral. I seriously don’t know why they chose an open casket for this one. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! If you didn’t know, we took over The Lesser Bonapartes podcast this week, by sending Glen & Daniel to Siberia, turned into a Greater Bolshevik show and spoke about weird foods and DIY vodka. (you can listen to it here: Greater Bolsheviks ) But, our reign didn’t last long, as they seem to have escaped. Curses. But, before that, the KGB investigators sent us their work – about the Pop music in the Soviet Union! And after you’ve done, go and check out our work on their podcast. The Space Race is coming soon, we had to throw a lot of the script out. Enjoy the Power of Rock’n’Roll! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And here’s our collaboration work with Strange Matters podcast. Please, do check them out. Also, I’m a bit tipsy and depressed due to personal deaths in the first part, hope you won’t mind. But two episodes at the cost of one? Who wouldn’t want that. Enjoy the show, and forgive our mistakes. And check the guys out, please! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This episode covers more of Gorbachev, including his recent interviews – and historically, the events in 1986 – 1987, and how Glasnost and Perestroika influenced the Soviet culture. We’re trying something new this time, so there’s a bit of a change in format this time – we’re still trying to find that perfect recipe, so all of your comments are very appreciated.We have two images for you today:First is the famous Russian singer, Viktor Tsoi, we talk about his death on the show, thought you might like to see him.Secondly, your typical block house, in Soviet design. There are tons of those in Riga, forming most districts. We mention those in the show – they’re called “Khruschevkas”Thirdly – Here’s the link to where you can find out more about Heather’s (from Rennaisance England podcast) book, Casting the Past, in which we’re a part in, where to buy it and all the info you need to know: Casting the PastAnd if you do decide to acquire the book in one of the links provided on that site, remember to do so, using the code FQ27K to get a discount and support this show a bit.Also, some useful links – mentioned on the show, but decided to put this here:“Is it easy to be young” by Juris Podnieks, in a playlist: Here (Apparently it is legal to share this) no English subtitles here, though – but as soon as I’ll find them, I’ll post them!Кино – Закрой за мной дверь, я ухожу, Kino – Close the doors after me, I’m leaving so that those of you, who don’t know him, might learn of Tsoi’s music.Līvi – Dzimtā Valoda, Līvi – Native Language and some Līvi for you as well, so that you’d enjoy our patriotic rock of the time.And finally – our comrades from the Dark Myths collective, Strange Matters podcast with whom I’m collaborating now on the myths of Chernobyl (which you’ll hear soon) and who did today’s intro plug.Don’t forget to follow us on twitter and facebook, and if you want, support us on Patreon.com/theeasternborder! And to my patreon supporters – please, send us your e-mail address, we’ll have a gift for you soon!Do svidaniya, tovarischi! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!We’ve had a rough February – and we didn’t manage to fix all of our errors in the previous podcasts, but…here we are nonetheless. This show was one of the hardest ever to make, and I really hope you’ll not only enjoy it, but will also take some time to understand the depth of the tragedy. Today’s picture is – Pripyat. Empty, irradiated and ghastly, it stands there to remind us of the evils of ignorance.Please, support us on Patreon (or here) and leave us good ratings on iTunes. And check out Lesser Bonapartes and other Dark Myths shows! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!This time, we have something special for you – about an hour-long conversation (recorded through Skype) with Scott and Forrest from the Astonishing Legends podcast, about mysteries, USSR, podcasting, strange experiences, media, a bit of politics and other random things. We did edit some things out, as to not spoil their next show, though.It is an extra for you, while we’re making our Chernobyl episode, recording a new intro and fixing our mistakes. By the way, thank you for pointing out our mistakes. We’ll continue making these extra shows in the future – our Patreon supporters and paypal donaters will get their hands on them first, but they all will eventually be released to the public anyway.Also, if you don’t like me, talking with other podcasters and rambling, including making Trump jokes, feel free to skip this episode. Important note – I sound a bit weird here, as the audio recording was done by the Astonishing Legends guys, as I was in Ludza at the time, and quite ill.Today’s image is: The Astonishing Legends logoBe sure to check them out on their website – http://www.astonishinglegends.com/ iTunes, or your favourite podcast app. I hope you’ll enjoy them, while we’re working on things. Enjoy the show!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! Sorry for the delay, we had some issues on this end…but we’ve now delivered, and that’s what matters, right? In this episode – Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost. And why the first privately owned businesses in the USSR were completely insane. Here’s the two pictures, related to this show:Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. (GERARD FOUET/AFP/Getty Images)And, the awesome and (in)famous State Mark of Quality:As always, enjoy the show – and don’t forget to give a listen to Inward Empire, and check our Dark Myths collective! Next episode in mid February! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades! In this episode, we talk about the death of Brezhnev and how that brought two old, sick men into power that they probably should never have had in the first place. And how they tried to take alcohol away from the USSR citizens. All of this went about as well as you could imagine.Today’s featured image, however, is a drawing that we received from the talented and beautiful Diona Nikitenko. It’s truly amazing, and you can use that for whatever you’d like.This is Yuri Andropov, the first of our old men. He who started the anti-alcohol campaign.Constantine Chernenko, the other old man – even older and sicker than Andropov. Good that he really didn’t do anything.The poster, mentioned on the show: It says “Schoolchildren who drink, study worse than those who don’t.”, followed by some statistics. Look at the age of the kids depicted – and if THEY need an anti-alcohol poster, then think about the general state of alcohol consumption in the USSR.And finally, here’s the link to the youtube video, where you can see Chernenko’s funeral in full length, as shown on the Soviet television:Chernenko’s FuneralAnd don’t forget to visit Dark Myths collective for more shows like this one, and Ben’s wonderful Wittenberg to Wesphalia: Wars of the Reformation podcast. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades, and Merry Christmas!Sorry for the small delay, but the new episode is finally here. All the listener questions we received are answered…and then we talk about the very depressive issue of Christmas in the Soviet Union. Special thanks goes to Lynn, from The History of The Ottoman Empire podcast, for doing the intro – and he allowed us to do his, so after you’ve done with this episode, go and check him out at https://historyoftheottomanempire.squarespace.com/We have two pictures this week! One is the Rubles that you might be getting in the following three months:And the second one is Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. Santa Claus has nothing on this!Also, you can now follow us on Twitter – @Eastern_Border. We post podcast updates, funny pictures, historical pictures, one movie link, which was really sad, and some news comments. Basically, stuff that’s at least kind of related to what we do here.Anyways…enjoy the show, I hope your questions have been answered, and..,Merry Christmas! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Comrades!We are very happy to publish a new episode so soon, but we also have to apologize for the brevity of this episode – Moscow Olympics is a subject that just didn’t fit in anywhere else, so, better to publish this alone. Here are the pictures, mentioned within the show:Firstly, the Moscow Olympic emblem and the glorious bear, Misha!Then comes a typical poster for the OlympicsSoviet-made Coca-Cola and Fanta. It exists, tovarischi!And finally, Kozakiewicz, having uncontrollable muscle spasms.There are also some things I’d like to say:Firstly, huge thanks to Darryl Cooper, he’s a friend of ours, and we highly recommend you, giving his “Fear and Loathing in New Jerusalem” podcast a listen, if you haven’t done so already – it’s a dark and moving story about the history of the Jew and Arab conflict in Palestine, and it’s very good.Secondly, between the recording and publishing of this show, I managed to get into hospital. find the issue that iTunes might have with us, get out of the hospital and decide what to do with my Soviet memorabilia. That means that we still might somehow get into iTunes, which is awesome. Also, that means that as the next episode is a Christmas (in the USSR) and Q&A special, there will be prizes! I have a lot of pins, badges and all kinds of small Soviet memorabilia at my or my relative’s places, and some of that stuff is quite awesome – including some real Soviet medals for actual achievements, like “Hero of Labor” and “Work Veteran” and the like. So, we’ll be giving you stuff. Cool, old Soviet stuff. The ways to get stuff are: 1. If you have any questions you would like us to answer, so post them in the comments, send them to our e-mail, or to our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheEasternBorder/ – as I know that some of you can’t find us by searching) , and we shall answer them in our next show and the author of the best question (or authors of questions, not limited to just one), shall be contacted and some interesting soviet pin or badge or a small flag will be sent to them. The time limit is the 19th of December, and the winners shall be announced on the next podcast episode, which will come out in the week after that.2. And this is a bit bigger one: We shall also choose one person among those who donate to our show during December, and send them an actual Soviet Medal. An authentic medal, given to people for real achievements. (Achievements may be possibly pointless.) You can feel like Brezhnev, while wearing this to work, basking in the adoration of your capitalist colleagues. Yes, this is a bit of a fundraising scheme, but the size of the donation has zero impact on who gets to be the new owner of a Soviet medal, and we feel that this is the fairest means of doing one. We can’t really afford to send more than one, though, because a lot of you don’t live in Europe, which means that the shipping costs limit us. Also, the time limit for this one, is all of December, and we shall announce the winner of a genuine Soviet Medal in the first episode we make in January. Important note: this will be a civilian medal, not a military one. We at The Eastern Border believe that military medals should only be worn by those who earned them, and that giving away such medals randomly is morally wrong.The photos of the actual stuff that you’ll be getting will be posted on our webpage and our Facebook page at about 15th of December.And, as always – enjoy the show! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings again, comrades!Sorry for being so late with this episode, but as you’ll hear in it, I’ve run into some issues with my life. Some of you wrote me e-mails asking me, if I’ll be making any new episodes – and yes, I will. This is Eastern Border, we love it here, and we don’t intend to stop anytime soon. Huge “thank you” to everyone who donates, writes comments, sends e-mails or just listens to our show. You’re all awesome.Now, about this episode a bit: this one is a more serious, more emotional episode than usual. It was also a bit harder for me to make, due to having to do some quote translations on the fly, as I would have taken an eternity more, if I’d scripted everything – so, I apologize for some parts of the show, that might sound a bit worse than you would expect. Otherwise, I’m actually really happy about how this turned out, especially considering my situation – so I hope you’ll enjoy it.The picture, for this time, is one of the infamous Zinc coffins – in which the soldiers were sent home during the Afghanistan war.Also, don’t forget to check out this episodes podcast recommendation – the Historical Intentions podcast, by Joseph Newton!Edit: Also, for those who like the accent – I don’t really notice it, that’s just how I speak in English. I imagine it sounds a bit weird for you. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back with a vengeance! And small land and medals, and spring. In Prague! In all seriousness, I had some serious health issues, so I wasn’t able to make the episode in time, but I promise that such things will not happen in the future. I have to add that I made a small mistake in the episode, Daugavpils is in the south-eastern part of Latvia, not in the southern part. Well, it IS in the south, but it’s also very to the east, so I should add that. To add to your listening experience, here’s a picture of what happened in Prague, 1968:Soviet invasion and protests in Prague, 1968Also, this time’s recommendation is Wittenberg to Westphalia: The wars of the reformation podcast. It is awesome, and you should pay them a visit, if you care about what and when happened during the reformation in Europe. Link: wittenbergtowestphaliapodcast.weebly.com Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Tovarischi! In this episode I’ll try to introduce you to the basics of the Soviet culture life. And don’t worry, I will return to this subject sometime in the future I well. I hope you’ll enjoy the show.Also, the word “tovarisch” is a latinized spelling of the word “Товарищ” meaning “Comrade” – and the way of me, pronouncing in the show is the proper Russian pronunciation of it. I received a question about the meaning of this from a listener, and as the answer isn’t included in the show, I thought I should post it here. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Tovarischi! This episode is about the Soviet army, it’s military might and the trials and tribulations of the common soldier – as heard from those very common soldiers. (And, of course, historical background and information on this as well.) Leave your comments below, and don’t forget to tell everyone about this podcast. Also, I recommend you to go and listen to the Naval History Podcast, by Buckner F. Melton jr. because that podcast really deserves more attention. You can do that here: http://navalhistorypodcast.com/And to make the lawyers happy: The intro music is a fragment from “My Army” by the Red Army Choir, and the epilogue is from “She thinks herself immortal” by Jim Rooster, used under the Creative Commons licence. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Tovarischi! In this episode: The economy of the USSR, craziness of Khruschev and plans for the future episodes. Leave your comments below, and don’t forget to tell everyone you know about this podcast! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I explain what all of this is going to be about, while I work on my first, real episode about M. Gorbatchev’s book on perestroika and work with all of my written material about the life in the USSR. This is the second iteration of the intro – so we spend some time explaining for our new listeners how the podcast has improved and evolved over time. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.