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3 episodes with Latvians
2 episodes with Latvians
3 episodes with Latvians
3 episodes with Latvians
3 episodes with Latvians
2 episodes with Latvians
2 episodes with Latvians
3 episodes with Latvians
2 episodes with Latvians
Latvia has a remarkably long coastline for its size. Therefore, seafaring, fishing and eating fish are important parts of Latvian life and culture. We step back in time and discover the history of Latvia's fishing industry, with many good tales. We will also taste some typical Latvian fish, mostly smoked in the way Latvians love it, which the EU now wants to ban. I will suggest a fish driving tour along the Bay of Riga coast from Jūrmala up to Kolka and then down the Baltic Sea coast to Mazirbe, where fishing boats came to die. Join me as we get stuck into some tasty fish! Thanks for listening!
SUMMARY: Matt explains how he'll save the NBA and sees Ben Schwartz doing long-form improv, while his son fires a shotgun for art. Jacob wishes he had been invited to see bikini bull riding, and Paul has to return a defective battery. Also Scoop Mails and a Top Tens Jock vs. Nerd. Sponsored by Tim's Time Traveling Agency.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is searching for calmer waters across the pond - one day after a heated confrontation with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office. By contrast, a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Saturday was cordial and supportive. And comes just ahead of a European summit looking at Ukraine's future after three brutal years of war.Also: A Canadian Navy vessel has reached Antarctica. Now, the team of scientists on board is getting down to work to better understand how climate change has altered the Southern Ocean. You'll hear from CBC's International Climate Correspondent, who's onboard the ship.And: The Latvian animated movie 'Flow' could soon take home Oscar gold. Its the first movie from the Baltic country to ever be up for an Academy Award. We'll take you to Riga...where Latvians are celebrating the film as a source of national pride.
The Latvian animation Flow is a ground-breaking independent film that has disrupted high-profile, big-budget international productions with its visual storytelling techniques about survival, trust and collaboration. It has already won a Golden Globe and is up for two BAFTAs and two Oscars. It is a source of pride to most Latvians. Let me tell you more about this uniquely Latvian film. Thanks for listening!
Arnprior's Director of Recreation Graeme Ivory joins the show to talk about the community hosting Latvia for the World Juniors tournament, and to touch on some soccer stories
About the lecture: In December 1989, in officially recognizing the authenticity of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol, the USSR Congress of People's Deputies evinced the hope that the globally divided historical consciousness of the Cold War would be replaced with a new conception of the past, reflecting “a whole and mutually interdependent world and increasing mutual understanding.” While there was cause for hope in the immediate post-Soviet years that such a “flat earth” of shared accounts of history—the foundation for a world of shared political values—would emerge, subsequent decades led to renewed, often weaponized fragmentation of historical vision across political borders, and especially at the border separating Europe from the Russian Federation. However, in distinction from the Cold War opposition of ideologically differentiated accounts of history, current standoffs relate to the application of the most basic terms—empire, nation, fascist, genocide, socialist, liberal—which are applied on both sides of borders and conflict zones, yet with opposed significance. Rather than a confrontation of historical ideologies, this is a standoff of historical ontologies. In this presentation of his recently published book "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians Between World Orders", Platt will examine the etiology of this ontological conflict, as it emerges from the experience of a population that has been located since the end of the Cold War in the interstitial zone at the borders of Europe: Russian-speaking Latvians. Their world, riven by contradiction, offers a vantage, as through a keyhole, toward globally shared conditions of historical and political incoherence and conflict at the start of the twenty-first century. About the speaker: Kevin M. F. Platt is Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His scholarly work focuses on Russian and East European culture, history, poetry, and fiction. He is author or editor of a number of scholarly books, among them "Terror and Greatness: Ivan and Peter as Russian Myths" (Cornell, 2011), "Global Russian Cultures" (Wisconsin, 2019), and, most recently, "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians Between World Orders" (Cornell/NIUP, 2024). His translations of Russian and Latvian poetry have appeared in "World Literature Today:, "Jacket2", "Fence", and other journals. He is the founder and organizer of the poetry translation symposium Your Language My Ear. His current project is entitled “Cultural Arbitrage in the Age of Three Worlds.”
Latvians mark the summer solstice by celebrating the longest day of the year. Also, a new discovery of a rare genetic mutation of one family in Colombia may present an opportunity to learn how the body could naturally resist Alzheimer's. And, new mothers in different parts of the world find that preparing the traditional foods of their own mothers and grandmothers from their home countries can ease the transition to motherhood. Plus, a look at the intersection of fashion and sports as Paris hosts the Summer Olympic Games.
Leaving aside deep thoughts about the demise of Happy Shopper outlets, magazine editor Andy Lyons, writer Harry Pearson and host Daniel Gray discuss Forgotten Euros Heroes, from shirty Latvians to an infamous coin via an unfortunate case of whistle flatulence. Magazine Deputy Editor Ffion Thomas previews WSC issue 443, Record Breakers brings us a Sturm stormer, and we continue our sprightly feature The Final Third, in which a guest contributes a match, a player and an object to the WSC Museum of Football. Joining Dan as our visiting curator this time is Kit Holden, author of the new book Played in Germany: A Footballing Journey Through a Nation's Soul, which is available from the WSC Shop.Support the Show.Would you like to hear twice as many podcasts and longer editions of these ones, and support our print magazine? You would? Then join the WSC Supporters' Club! Sign up here: www.patreon.com/whensaturdaycomes
The Canucks have a 3-2 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers after winning Game 5 in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Eric Savics, Latvian honourary consul to B.C., shares how Latvians are celebrating Canuck goalie Arturs Solivs, and fans share where they were for J.T. Millers' game-winning goal, and their predictions for Game 6 on Saturday. Heading into the Victoria Day long weekend, many people across B.C. plan to head outdoors. Our guests Shaun Stephens-Whale, elite runner and tower climber, and, Kate Lee, Coordinator All Bodies Community Exercise and Fitness, discuss motivation and tips for staying active.
CEO of one of our favourite websites eliteprospects.com Peter Sibner joins us to discuss the lead up to the playoffs and who to watch for. It was a fun conversation and Peter gave us some great insights. Listen Here: iTunes Google Play Stitcher Direct MP3 iHeart Radio Title Players Wayne Merrick and Pierre Mondou Feedback Arvids - What 2 Latvians to win cup in last 30 years. Interview: Peter Sibner - Elite Prospects President ESMG, North America Guess the 5th Connections - Last week: Rick Nash, Corey Stillman, Justin Braun, Riley Stillman, This week: What connects Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Keane, Claude Lemieux and Mark Recchi Playoff Races West is done - just a matter of whether Oilers play VGK or LAK Flyers fall out in tight race in East Hot/Not - Atlantic - TBL 7-2-1 / FLA - Panthers limping in while Lightning ramping up - BOS/TBL will be tough Metro - NYR 8-2-0 / PHI - 2-5-3 Central - DAL 9-1-0 / WPG 4-5-1 - Pacific - LAK 7-3-0 / CGY 2-8-0 - Flames are tough to figure. Sharks - -136 goal diff Worst in history 74-75 Capitals - -265 93-94 Sens - -196 92-93 Sharks -196 72-73 Isles - -177 75-76 Caps - 170 Will probably end up around -145 - 73-74 golden Seals area Crazy Stat DOPeS - Hartman 3 games for throwing stick on ice after OT loss. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/player-safety/minnesota-wild-ryan-hartman-suspended-three-games Interesting in comparison with Guehle 1 gamer
The Allied Intervention into the Russian Civil War remains one of the most ambitious yet least talked about military ventures of the 20th century. Coinciding with the end of the first World War, some 180,000 troops from several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Greece, Poland, and Romania, among others, were sent to fight alongside Russian “Whites” against the Red Army.Despite one victory for the Allied troops – independence for the Latvians and the Estonians – the two-year long attempt at reversing the 1917 Russian Revolution ended in humiliating defeat. To explore this crucial event of the early 20th century is today's guest, Anna Reid, author of “A Nasty Little War: The Western Intervention into the Russian Civil War.”What was originally aimed to prevent Germany from exploiting the power vacuum in Eastern Europe left by the Russian Revolution ultimately morphed into the Allies' gamble to destroy Communist ideology. It was a mixture of good intentions and self-delusion, flag-waving and empty promises, cover-ups, exaggerations, and downright lies from politicians.
It has been just over two years since Russia illegally and barbarically invaded Ukraine. Today the Latvian community is joining together with Ukrainians at an event called Solidarity Through Song Continue Reading → The post The Gothic Moose – Episode 554 – Latvians and Ukrainians Stand Together appeared first on The Gothic Moose.
It has been just over two years since Russia illegally and barbarically invaded Ukraine. Today the Latvian community is joining together with Ukrainians at an event called Solidarity Through Song Continue Reading → The post The Gothic Moose – Episode 554 – Latvians and Ukrainians Stand Together appeared first on The Gothic Moose.
'In Arctic blizzards between January and March 1945, the Latvian 15th SS Division - a core of Russian Front veterans but most raw teenage conscripts from Nazi-occupied Latvia - tried to stop the Red Army sweeping across Pomerania, now Poland. One in three died: the majority never returned home.' In this episode, I'm joined by Vincent Hunt, and we discuss the Latvians fighting with the Germans in the Latvian 15th SS Division. Through interviews, diaries, and never-before-utilised sources, in his book The Road of Slaughter: The Latvian 15th SS Division in Pomerania, January-March 1945, Vince has built a compelling narrative of desperate fighting as the Latvians were withdrawn from defending their own country to Poland. For listeners of the podcast, Helion has offered us a discount code for copies of the book purchased from their website helion.co.uk. The code is VHRS10. Patreonpatreon.com/ww2podcast
Bună dimineața la cafelutză și bine v-am regăsit la o nouă ediție Curiosity, înapoi în studio. Ne-am întors cu toții după un CES lung și plin de tehnologie și nici nu am apucat să publicăm jumătate dintre ele. Urmează o serie lungă de mașini spectaculoase, ,gadget-uri mai mult sau mai puțin accesibile dar cu siguranță utile, și știri din tehnologie.Începem ediția de astăzi cu cel puțin 2 meme-uri numai bune de urmărit, ne minunăm cum ministrul educației din Franța își trimite copii la o școală privată, a venit frigul peste tot în lume, cu extreme în zone care abia dacă au văzut vreodată zăpadă, și oamenii stau la coadă pentru o geantă de sandvich-uri de 3000 de dolari.Oamenii o iau razna în avioane, youtube s-a supărat pe cei care nu plătesc și blochează reclamele și efactura este.. o chestie complicată, cel puțin momentan.În alte știri despre tehnologie, Apple a depășit Samsung la vânzări globale și este acum pe primul loc în lume, copiii vor să plece din România iar Google te urmărește chiar și în modul Incognito, apoi recunoaște asta dar nu spune de ce și preferă să plătească amenzi.
jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words http://tinyurl.com/ymsf3tlb Contact: irishlingos@gmail.com Census 2022: Daonáireamh 2022: 'Gaeilge an-mhaith ag 10 faoin gcéad de Ghaeilgeoirí'. According to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office, it was revealed in the 2022 Census that 195,029 people spoke Irish very well, which is 10% of Irish speakers. De réir figiuirí nua atá eisithe ag an bPríomh-Oifig Staidrimh, tugadh le fios i nDaonáireamh 2022 go raibh 'Gaeilge an-mhaith' ag 195,029 duine, sin 10 faoin gcéad de chainteoirí Gaeilge. 593,898 people said they had 'good Irish', that's 32% of Irish speakers. Dúirt 593,898 duine go raibh 'Gaeilge mhaith' acu, sin 32 faoin gcéad de chainteoirí Gaeilge. In that head, 1,034,132 people said they did not speak 'good Irish', that is 55% of Irish speakers. Ina cheann sin, dúirt 1,034,132 duine nach 'Gaeilge mhaith' a bhí acu, sin 55 faoin gcéad de chainteoirí Gaeilge. Almost 1.9 million people indicated in the 2022 Census that they spoke Irish, which is an increase of 112,500 people (6%) from the 2016 Census. Thug beagnach 1.9 milliún duine le fios i nDaonáireamh 2022 go raibh Gaeilge acu, sin méadú 112,500 duine (6 faoin gcéad ) ó Dhaonáireamh 2016. The share of Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht continued to decrease, however, from 69% in 2011 to 66% in 2022, it was said. Lean sciar na gcainteoirí Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht ag laghdú, áfach, ó 69 faoin gcéad in 2011 go dtí 66 faoin gcéad in 2022, a dúradh. Australians above all other foreigners in Ireland speak Irish the most - in percentage terms anyway - according to the new figures. Is iad na hAstrálaigh thar aon eachtrannaigh eile in Éirinn is mó a bhfuil Gaeilge acu – go céatadánach ar aon chuma – de réir na bhfigiuirí nua. Irish is spoken by 15% of Australian citizens living in the State, that's 501 people. Tá Gaeilge ag 15 faoin gcéad de shaoránaigh na hAstráile atá ina gcónaí sa Stát, sin 501 duine. After that, 13% of Poles and 13% of Latvians speak Irish, that's 10,838 people and 2,114 people respectively. Ina ndiaidh sin, tá Gaeilge ag 13 faoin gcéad de Pholannaigh agus ag 13 faoin gcéad de Laitviaigh, sin 10,838 duine agus 2,114 duine faoi seach. 6,685 number of households that completed the Irish version of the census form. 6,685 líon tí a chomhlánaigh an leagan Gaeilge d'fhoirm an daonáirimh. RTÉ News and Current Affairs Nuacht agus Cúrsaí Reatha RTÉ
Ieva's family left Latvia as the German army was retreating in the face of the surging Red Army forces, in what proved to be a dramatic journey. They would eventually land in a refugee camp in Germany, and then it was a 6 year wait before they were accepted as migrants to Australia. It was not their first choice as they had wanted to follow other family members to USA or Canada. Like many war refugees, family members became separated across the globe. Between 1947 and 1952 around 20,000 Latvians would migrate to Australia, making them amongst some of the earliest new post-war migrants to settle from post-war Europe. Like many Latvians, Ieva's family would eventually settle in Adelaide, and later she would marry a fellow Latvian living in Tasmania, and she has lived in Hobart for the last 60 years. Ieva only returned to Latvia for the first time in 1990, as a part of an Australian Latvian choir invited to a cultural festival, at a time when the country was on the verge of independence. She was also the President of the Tasmanian Latvian Association for 35 years and has actively tried to maintain some Latvian traditions and language. Like many Latvian migrant communities around the world, traditions of Latvian choral singing have been kept alive, though maintaining many traditions with a small community is a big challenge.
Gene in Riga, Latvian People Celebrate after witnessing patriotism, in its purest form. A country of 1.7 million people coalescing around a principle of a constitution, a democracy, and a republic. They grow angrier by the day watching Russia, their arch enemy from years ago, now move on Ukraine. It opened a wound of communism and oppression which they rebelled from in the last 108 years. They have proven to be a steadfast supporter of the United States. There's a lesson of appreciation here for all Americans to heed. Gene spoke about Vladimir, an 18-year-old Ukrainian in Riga, who escaped Ukraine with his mother and sister 18 months ago. Millions have escaped Ukraine. Ukrainians now feel the resentment and anger Latvians have towards Russian aggression. WMXI Episode: Latvian People Celebrate Independence and DemocracyOriginally Aired on WMXI Radio on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 7:15am CSTSpecial thanks to the following source(s) for the image(s) used in this content:Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/red-and-white-state-flag-waving-under-blue-sky-at-daytime-1012252/ Join the Conversation: https://GeneValentino.com WMXI Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NewsRadio981 More WMXI Interviews: https://genevalentino.com/wmxi-interviews/ More GrassRoots TruthCast Episodes: https://genevalentino.com/grassroots-truthcast-with-gene-valentino/ More Broadcasts with Gene as the Guest: https://genevalentino.com/america-beyond-the-noise/ More About Gene Valentino: https://genevalentino.com/about-gene-valentino/
This week in anguish: - Senior Executive Host Ardella is firmly in the driver's seat this week, steering us deftly through many diversions and connections like checking in with a gone Sawyer, putting the "huh" back on the Hronek, and why the humble pride of the Church Athletic League was pleased as punch. - Tristan puts in a workmanlike shift in the errors and omissions department, plucking the Nanaimo Clippers out of the tub when grasping for the name of a random WHL team, citing the sage words of "Dave Tocchet", and being at least a party to a conversation that referenced "Chris Tanev's draft class". - Do you suffer from diacritical marks? Have you been affected by male-pattern Balderis? Perhaps this segment, ostensibly about Teddy(s) Blueger(s), is right for you. Thanks for listening! This episode supports the Hockey4Youth foundation and HerosHockey.
Religion Unplugged senior contributor Robert Carle speaks with Dr. Karlis Verdins, who teaches literature at the Art Academy of Latvia. Verdins hopes to confront Latvians with an honest reckoning of their complicity in the Holocaust. Verdins obtained a record of the Viktors Arajs's two year trial in Hamburg, which took place in Hamburg in 1977-79. Verdins turned the story of the trial into a drama, which opened in a small theater in Riga, Latvia in March 2023. The title of the play, “Wasn't There. Don't Know. Don't Remember,” refers to Arajs's defense at his trial. Holocaust survivors who saw Arajs murder Jews contradicted Arajs's testimony, and the court sentenced Arajs to life imprisonment. Latvians have been loath to acknowledge their complicity in the Holocaust. “They wanted to protect their old, loving fathers and grandfathers who had committed such crimes,” Verdins said. “Latvians cannot whitewash Nazi crimes just because we think that Soviet crimes were even worse,” Verdins said.
How have Latvian and Lithuanian histories intertwined over the last millennium? Who was Queen Morta, a Latvian princess by birth who became the wife of Lithuania's first and only king, Mindaugas? How close did we come to a Latvian-Lithuanian state in the early 20th century? How do Latvians and Lithuanians see their shared commonalities today? James Montgomery Baxenfield, Junior Research Fellow at Tallinn University School of Humanities, walks (literally) through this complex history. Baltic Ways is brought to you by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
How have Latvian and Lithuanian histories intertwined over the last millennium? Who was Queen Morta, a Latvian princess by birth who became the wife of Lithuania's first and only king, Mindaugas? How close did we come to a Latvian-Lithuanian state in the early 20th century? How do Latvians and Lithuanians see their shared commonalities today? James Montgomery Baxenfield, Junior Research Fellow at Tallinn University School of Humanities, walks (literally) through this complex history.
As tens of thousands of Latvians perform impressive songs and dances in Rīga's capital and many tens of thousands more spectators take in the experience, Otto and Joe break down the biggest happenings of the XXVII Nationwide Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival and other major stories from the previous week such as the inauguration of President Edgars Rinkēvičs, resignation of Mayof Mārtiņš Staķis, a deepening conflict between the teacher's union and the education union, and much more! Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8 Photo credit: Gatis Rozenfelds, Valsts kanceleja, use with a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license https://www.flickr.com/photos/valstskanceleja/53029436884/
Latvians like to celebrate Ligo out in nature. They weave flower wreaths, sing and eat together, making the most out of the summer solstice.
Is it June already? National Team camp is in full swing as Armenia prepare for a trip to Ryan Reynolds second home, Wales! After opening the campaign with a narrow 2-1 defeat at home, the Havakagan look to bounce back against a transitioning Welsh side. Despite dealing with retirements and changes, Wales site pretty on 4 points after 2 matches, while Armenia have 0 after just 1. The boys break down the Armenian squad list, talk possible tactics and players that will be key in ensuring we fly back to Yerevan with 3 points. Then the boys turn their attention to Latvia. Also on 0 points after 1 matchday, the Latvians are a resilient bunch and will likely be tough to break down. The boys discuss how to avoid another Lichtenstein. 6 big points up for grabs in this window. Let's get them all! Socials: @FootballKentron on Twitter, @Football.Kentron on Instagram, Football Kentron is also on YouTube!
The boys are back from their Memorial Day Weekend benders to get you ready for the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. They break down the unique matchup between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, and dish out their picks for the series winner, Conn Smythe trophy, and the X factor for each team. They also take a look at the new bench boss in DC, the Leafs new GM, and the Latvians winning Bronze at Worlds! Like, comment & subscribe!! SHOP Empty Betters Merchandise: https://www.wilsonsprintshop.com/empty_betters_official_merchand/shop/home Kane Footwear: https://bit.ly/3xkOS8c Brackish Life: https://brackish.life/ Elwood's Liquor & Tap: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063690505421 Check us out on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/15W69vvlYJfFqjeIoGgDj9?si=rw8lVl63QJObfhgPHU-cMQ&dl_branch=1 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empty-betters/id1478649041 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emptybetters/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/emptybetters Website & Merch: www.emptybetters.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOKCts4xSGRon6AG5FCTkPw TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTRQFBp31 Music: Midnight Walker - Liquor Store Lynchmob - Liquor Store ©2013 Almost Ready Records --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/empty-betters/support
In the NHL, the Florida Panthers have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final after sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes. In the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars have forced a game 6. At the World Championships, Canada beat Germany for gold and the upstart Latvians beat the USA to win bronze. Listen Here: iTunes Google Play Stitcher Direct MP3 iHeart Radio Banter - Title Player Ilkka Sinisalo -> connected to Sammy Blais - 2 goals for Canada in WC Ilkka Sinisalo -> 89-90 Flyers Len Barrie -> Tyson Barrie 2014-15 Avalanche Ryan O'Reilly -> 2021 Blues Sammy Blais Feedback - thanks for a special gift from a listener News Canada wins World Championships over Germany Latvia beats USA to win Bronze!! Reporting on Leafs GM Search - expected to interview Treliving, Chiarelli, Bergevin and Botterill… NHLPA looking into fact that Dubas' agent works for firm that has NHL player agents (Wasserman) Sounds like Pittsburgh job is Dubas' if he wants it, Friedman mentioned possibility of Ottawa Ottawa purchase seems to be tricky process Champions League in Europe trying following rules: Power play goal does not end penalty but shorthanded goal does. Penalty assessed even when goal scored during delayed penalty Tkachuk - with him forcing the trade last year and now being in the final, will we see more players who are a year away just tell the GM I'm not coming back, you might as well trade me now Guess the 5th Playoffs Florida sweep Hurricanes - what's the verdict on ‘Canes - not good enough? Beat by a hot goalie? Will they make significant changes? No Paccioretty and Svecnhikov hurt. Tkachuk with another game winner with 4.3 s in game 4 - what a playoff Dallas wins 2 to force game 6 Oettinger up and down Pavelski with another game winner - hall of famer? Crazy Stat DOPeS - 2 games to Jamie Benn (Stars won both)
Latvia stunned Sweden in the quarter-finals at the World Hockey Championship off the back of Canucks goalie prospect Arturs Silovs who made 40 saves in the win. JPat and Wadden recap that exhilarating victory for the Latvians, while also unpacking Canada's win over Finland. The show wraps with a look back at the Florida Panthers advancing to the Stanley Cup Final after sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night. They also tee up game 4 of the Western final which goes down tonight in Dallas. Rink Wide: Vancouver is presented by Bodog. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Diana is most people's first Latvian. And the podcast's first Latvian as well! She talks to us about dating in Sweden, Latvians around the world and more!
On August 23, 2019, over 210,000 Hongkongers joined hands in a 60 kilometer human chain to protest police violence and to demand democratic reforms. This human chain, called the Hong Kong Way, took place on the 30th anniversary of another human chain protest—the Baltic Way of 1989—in which approximately two million Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians formed a 690 kilometer human chain across the three countries to protest the Soviet occupation. Iverson Ng, an Estonian-based Hongkonger, tells the story. ** This episode was written, edited, and produced by Colin Gioia Connors. *** Transcript available at scandinavian.washington.edu/episode-22-transcript *** Theme music used with permission by Kristján Hrannar Pálsson. Youtube: youtu.be/uzoFON4nobQ Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/1dDmFxNvfYVnQwq7up7rxS Order a CD: www.discogs.com/sell/item/271351364 *** Crossing North is a production of the Department of Scandinavian Studies and the Baltic Studies Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-podcast Support Crossing North: Donate to the "Friends of Scandinavian Languages and Literature Fund" scandinavian.washington.edu/support-us
Russia is trying to win over Latvia's Russian-speaking minority with victory slogans. Many Latvians are worried the propaganda could divide their country. About one in four Latvians has Russian roots.
In this episode, I explore how Latvians celebrate New Year's Eve. I tell stories connected to New Year's Eve from present-day Latvia, the Latvia I worked in as a diplomat in the 1990s, and also stories from living in Moscow in the 1980s. We look at fireworks, drink and food. Also some traditions from the 18th and 20th Centuries. And, of course, how Latvians will celebrate this New Year's Eve 2022/23. Thanks for listening!
On a chilly October morning outside the main hospital in the capital Riga, an elderly woman, wrapped in a shawl, sold wool socks to people heading inside.“Have a look,” she said. “Dig around in the pile for the warmer ones.”Extra wool clothing for the cold — indoors. That makes sense for Latvia right now, because the government has capped heat in health facilities at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit.Latvia is among several European countries scrambling to find ways to stay warm this winter without having to depend on Russian energy. Time is running especially short in the northern Baltic states, where winter sets in early. So, residents there are bracing for the cold months ahead. An elderly entrepreneur hawks socks near the entrance to Latvia's largest hospital. The socks could come in handy; to save on heating costs this winter, the hospital must keep temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World School teacher Anastasija Buškevachkevah didn't stop to purchase the wool socks on her way in to the hospital— but winter was on her mind.“I was in hospital in [the] summer,” she said. “It was OK. But now in [the] winter, no one knows. Really we are afraid.”Buškevachkevah has lymphoma. The hospital is scary enough, she said, without having to worry about staying warm. Winters in Latvia are long and harsh. Temperatures can stay below zero for weeks. The government's austerity plan, in an attempt to maximize on savings, also applies to other public spaces — including schools and universities. This winter, University of Latvia's natural sciences campus is closing down one of its two big buildings, keeping it just warm enough so the pipes won't freeze over, professor Juris Paiders said.“We now accept the lower standard for heating. You should use warm underwear, for example, like me,” he added, while opening a button on his dress shirt and tugging on his longjohns underneath.But there are also bigger problems than having to stay warm, according to Samanta Zvagule, an undergraduate environmental science student. Closing half the campus means that half the laboratories are now off limits.“I'm really sad and disappointed,” she said. “We have a lot of laboratory work, like twice a week. We cannot do that.”But Zvagule said she's taking the situation in stride, especially when she thinks of all the suffering among Ukrainians as they defend themselves against Russia.Russia is Latvia's giant neighbor to the east, and it supplies the nation with most of its electricity and natural gas. But like the rest of Europe, Latvia's is trying to change that. One of the ways is by importing liquified natural gas through other Baltic states, and ramping up renewables. But the transition will take time. For Latvians, who number about 2 million people, this winter is likely to be tough.That's especially true for people who live in places like Riga's Khrushchyovkas — Soviet-era housing blocks that are now drab, dilapidated and poorly insulated.On a recent evening, resident Evita Rozenfelde said that she's worried about her next few utility bills, and keeping her children comfortable. One of many Khrushchyovkas in Riga, Latvia. The Soviet-era apartment blocks were built cheap and meant to last just 50 years. They're badly insulated to boot, and more expensive to keep warm — which is bad for residents who are seeing their energy bills soar. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World “I haven't turned on the heat yet,” she said. “But when I do, the government won't let me turn up the thermostat above 65 degrees.”At another Soviet-era building, office worker Marika Šūtele said she and her husband are steeling themselves for the worst.“As for our two teenage boys,” she joked, “they both play hockey. They're used to ice. So, for them, the apartment won't be so cold.”Šūtele does worry, however, that the factory where her husband works might close down due to the high heating costs. The big question, she said, is what the government will do to help.So far, authorities have announced some limited subsidies. It also said that it has enough natural gas reserves to get everyone through this winter — if people are careful with their usage. Stacks of traditional firewood and pressed sawdust bricks. They used to be a cheap way to heat your home in Latvia, but with inflation and soaring demand, wood heat has already tripled in cost so far this year. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World With fuel prices already so high, many people are falling back and relying on firewood. Latvia is mostly made up of forest areas, and more than half of its homes are heated with wood, or by-products, such as compressed blocks made from sawdust. But another problem is that wood prices are also skyrocketing.“One bag is six euros [about $6]. I'm not sure how anyone could afford it,” said interpreter Imants Liepiņš, pointing out all kinds of wood products for heating at a store.Keeping his house warm until May with sawdust blocks would run him about 3,600 euro, or roughly $3,500, more than three times what he would normally pay during the season.Wood pellets, another popular fuel, have also shot up in price. At a Riga hardware store, a bag of pellets sells for $9.“Well, if you need heat, you have to buy it,” office worker Artis Strautiņš said. “There's no choice.”No choice but to pay more for less heating, as the country braces for a cold winter. Related: The invasion in Ukraine could mean less reliance on energy from Russia, analyst says
On a chilly October morning outside the main hospital in the capital Riga, an elderly woman, wrapped in a shawl, sold wool socks to people heading inside.“Have a look,” she said. “Dig around in the pile for the warmer ones.”Extra wool clothing for the cold — indoors. That makes sense for Latvia right now, because the government has capped heat in health facilities at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit.Latvia is among several European countries scrambling to find ways to stay warm this winter without having to depend on Russian energy. Time is running especially short in the northern Baltic states, where winter sets in early. So, residents there are bracing for the cold months ahead. An elderly entrepreneur hawks socks near the entrance to Latvia's largest hospital. The socks could come in handy; to save on heating costs this winter, the hospital must keep temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World School teacher Anastasija Buškevachkevah didn't stop to purchase the wool socks on her way in to the hospital— but winter was on her mind.“I was in hospital in [the] summer,” she said. “It was OK. But now in [the] winter, no one knows. Really we are afraid.”Buškevachkevah has lymphoma. The hospital is scary enough, she said, without having to worry about staying warm. Winters in Latvia are long and harsh. Temperatures can stay below zero for weeks. The government's austerity plan, in an attempt to maximize on savings, also applies to other public spaces — including schools and universities. This winter, University of Latvia's natural sciences campus is closing down one of its two big buildings, keeping it just warm enough so the pipes won't freeze over, professor Juris Paiders said.“We now accept the lower standard for heating. You should use warm underwear, for example, like me,” he added, while opening a button on his dress shirt and tugging on his longjohns underneath.But there are also bigger problems than having to stay warm, according to Samanta Zvagule, an undergraduate environmental science student. Closing half the campus means that half the laboratories are now off limits.“I'm really sad and disappointed,” she said. “We have a lot of laboratory work, like twice a week. We cannot do that.”But Zvagule said she's taking the situation in stride, especially when she thinks of all the suffering among Ukrainians as they defend themselves against Russia.Russia is Latvia's giant neighbor to the east, and it supplies the nation with most of its electricity and natural gas. But like the rest of Europe, Latvia's is trying to change that. One of the ways is by importing liquified natural gas through other Baltic states, and ramping up renewables. But the transition will take time. For Latvians, who number about 2 million people, this winter is likely to be tough.That's especially true for people who live in places like Riga's Khrushchyovkas — Soviet-era housing blocks that are now drab, dilapidated and poorly insulated.On a recent evening, resident Evita Rozenfelde said that she's worried about her next few utility bills, and keeping her children comfortable. One of many Khrushchyovkas in Riga, Latvia. The Soviet-era apartment blocks were built cheap and meant to last just 50 years. They're badly insulated to boot, and more expensive to keep warm — which is bad for residents who are seeing their energy bills soar. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World “I haven't turned on the heat yet,” she said. “But when I do, the government won't let me turn up the thermostat above 65 degrees.”At another Soviet-era building, office worker Marika Šūtele said she and her husband are steeling themselves for the worst.“As for our two teenage boys,” she joked, “they both play hockey. They're used to ice. So, for them, the apartment won't be so cold.”Šūtele does worry, however, that the factory where her husband works might close down due to the high heating costs. The big question, she said, is what the government will do to help.So far, authorities have announced some limited subsidies. It also said that it has enough natural gas reserves to get everyone through this winter — if people are careful with their usage. Stacks of traditional firewood and pressed sawdust bricks. They used to be a cheap way to heat your home in Latvia, but with inflation and soaring demand, wood heat has already tripled in cost so far this year. Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World With fuel prices already so high, many people are falling back and relying on firewood. Latvia is mostly made up of forest areas, and more than half of its homes are heated with wood, or by-products, such as compressed blocks made from sawdust. But another problem is that wood prices are also skyrocketing.“One bag is six euros [about $6]. I'm not sure how anyone could afford it,” said interpreter Imants Liepiņš, pointing out all kinds of wood products for heating at a store.Keeping his house warm until May with sawdust blocks would run him about 3,600 euro, or roughly $3,500, more than three times what he would normally pay during the season.Wood pellets, another popular fuel, have also shot up in price. At a Riga hardware store, a bag of pellets sells for $9.“Well, if you need heat, you have to buy it,” office worker Artis Strautiņš said. “There's no choice.”No choice but to pay more for less heating, as the country braces for a cold winter. Related: The invasion in Ukraine could mean less reliance on energy from Russia, analyst says
West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy is Now Open! 8am-9am PT/ 11am-Noon ET for our especially special Daily Specials; Blue Moon Spirits Friday!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, the way Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon treated a fellow and senior Article III judge is “tawdry” and makes her “unfit” to serve.On the rest of the menu, an Albuquerque Starbucks is the first store in the state to vote for unionization; the Treasury Department moved forward with its database on corporate ownership; and, in response to overwhelming demand, the Environmental Protection Agency is nearly doubling the money available to states to buy electric models of the familiar yellow school bus.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Latvians will be voting on Saturday in a general election that has been substantially influenced by Russia's attack on Ukraine; and, the US imposed sanctions on a group of firms that have played a critical role in shipping sanctioned Iranian oil.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“Structural linguistics is a bitterly divided and unhappy profession, and a large number of its practitioners spend many nights drowning their sorrows in Ouisghian Zodahs.” ― Douglas Adams "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Show Notes & Links:https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/30/2126122/-West-Coast-Cookbook-amp-Speakeasy-Daily-Special-Blue-Moon-Spirits-Fridays
This series of podcast episodes will focus on Decolonising Research, and feature talks from the Decolonising Research Festival held at the University of Exeter in June and July 2022. The eleventh epsiode of the series will feature Shibani Das from the University of Exeter and her talk 'Decolonising 'National' heritage: How Indian museums and cultural spaces are addressing their colonial pasts.' Music credit: Happy Boy Theme Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Transcription 00:09 Hello, and welcome to rd in the in betweens. I'm your host Kelly Preece. And every fortnight I talk to a different guest about researchers development, and everything in between. Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of Aldi in the in betweens, and this our 11th episode in the decolonizing research series. In this episode we're going to hear from University of Exeter PhD students Shivani does with her presentation decolonizing national heritage, how Indian museums and cultural spaces are addressing their colonial pasts. 00:53 This is a conversation that's been happening for about 10 years quite strongly within the mean this continent. And it addresses a couple of issues, branching from changing syllabus to changing architecture to changing public attitudes about our colonial past. So who am I to speak to you about all this, this is just to outline that I will be speaking to you not from a political perspective, but from a professional one. I have. I'm currently an HR CCDP doctoral candidate at the University of Exeter, and partly funded by BT archives. But my professional training back in India has been in and around museums and organizations that deal with cultural spaces. So just a list of the places that I have worked at. And I have been closely associated with the Government of India as well as private organizations. So the following five slides will just be an insight to what I have experienced and would not be a blanket statement I would be making across India, I'm sure there will be many people in the conversation, who want to have their own points of views. And I welcome that. Towards the end of the presentation. I've mentioned my email id and my profile. So I'll be happy to continue this conversation sometime later as well. But having said that, let's carry on. So, to begin with, I would like to talk to you about what decolonization means, in the Indian perspective. Across the past month, we've been having conversations about decolonization in the academic space or in the research space on how to how we deal with decolonization within the archives. But decolonization as a national conversation has taken a different route in India completely. So, the three main components of this conversation that are recognized the politician or the museums or cultural spaces, and the Academy space, so for a large part of Indian political history, the conversation has gone from the right hand side, the left hand side, what I mean by that is from the academic space through the cultural space into the cultural space, there was a large Academy conversation about when decolonization began, a lot of British historians believe that began when the Empire began to crumble. So with this second world war onwards, in the process of decolonization, Indian academicians did not appreciate how much focus was given to the British as actors in this conversation. So when the British decided to leave India that was a process of decolonization. What sort of nationalist historians or subaltern or postcolonial historians began arguing about was that decolonization would actually be the process of independent India, shedding the layers of its colonial past, which pushes a timeline back to 1950s 1970s. And the opening up of the Indian economy opening up the Indian quality to the larger world. This had an impact on cultural spaces and how they were designed, which led to opera how politics was designed, with regards to our colonial past, but ever since 2014, there has been a switch in how the Indian public and have been in government understands this, the conversation has switched course and short moving from the, from the from the left to the right, there is a there is a major sort of a tangible political movement to change or to manipulate or to edit, how Indians think of their past or react to their past and that political change has impacted cultural spaces and internal Academy spaces. This sort of two way conversation is quite an interesting one that we will discover more with examples that come ahead. So I've taken the liberty of sort of condensing condensing this conversation down to three simple steps. I do realize it's very reductive, but to have a good conversation, I feel some reduction is essential. So three steps for basically decolonization How would I as the government of India or as India, talk about decolonization and my approach to it. Number one, you remove, remove any selectively remove any tangible remnants of one's colonial past, if you can't remove it, then you appropriate symbolism, the conversation that we will be having would be around the India Gate and this coronation Park in New Delhi. And we'll go ahead and talk about that in a bit. Number two is God right or you 05:36 name whatever, you can't change immediately. So here we have conversations about rewriting how people react to your history or learn their histories, be it through syllabus, in schools, or in universities, or in how we interact with history on a day to day basis. For example, road names, metro station names, museum names, etc. And step number three, which is the final step, which is almost in completion right now in Delhi, is rebuild, undertake massive and drastic construction projects to change the historical landscape. Now, these steps, in my opinion happen over a long period of time, you have to begin to corrode a public's reaction or relationship with that history, to be able to take a drastic step like rebuilding a construction or tangible space. So the first conversation I'd like to have with you in the first case study we like to discuss is removed. So, on the left hand side of this presentation, you see a very interesting sculpture from coronation Park in North Delhi. It was built in 1911. On the right hand side of a familiar symbol of Indian democracy, which is India Gate built in 1921. In New Delhi, the coronation Park is a very interesting Park, it is largely abandoned, it is not it's not in the center of the city is not celebrated. It's not the focus of civic life in that area. It is sort of a graveyard of sculptures that, at the at the moment of independence when we had a lot of Imperial sculptures across the city on road crossings, and the government did not know what to do with it. They just picked everything up and the deposited in one land where the royal the bar was held in 1911. But when approaches when one approaches the park today, what one sees is just streams and streams of magnificent Imperial sculptures left and complete abandonment taken from taken out of where they were originally designed for out of that context. And not sort of responded to or agreed with or addressed by any any any person crossing the road. So that's one way of dealing with decolonization. That was when India did not know what to do with its past. So it decided to pick everything up and push it sort of like under the carpet or in a cupboard that you never want to open ever again. This park still exists and most of these sculptures are an absolute ruin. This is an example of one way of how one can deal with one's colonial past. If you can't remove the colonial symbol you can re appropriate the meaning of the colonial symbol which come which brings me to India Gate, possibly one of the most iconic symbols of Indian democracy. For Delhi at least. India Gate is a celebration of everybody who had passed away fighting for the British Empire in the First World War. It is an imperial symbol it isn't it is a power it is a symbol of all those Indians who lost their lives not for Indian freedom but for British freedom. However, this does not sit heavy on an A common Indian person's mind. The appropriate appropriation of the symbol has been so complete that it is it's visible on most sort of tourist banners, it's the center of our Republic Day celebrations. It is something that all Indians will in the evenings come and sit next to celebrate a very sort of personal relationship with it, you will have ice cream Windows walking up and down the street kids playing it's a very open space wherever we can walk in and it is understood to be a symbol of reverence and respect for one's past not not majorly sort of associated with our colonial history. So these are two ways that India has dealt with some of these major symbols of its colonial history. I spend a lot of time trying to wonder what causes this selection. Why in the India Gate did not have the same do not suffer the same destiny as sculptures from the coronation Park and the within the comes to mind. It wasn't that you can't physically remove it and you can't physically break it down. But I'll be happy to to know what you guys would feel about this as well. 09:57 The second idea is to rewrite and to rename Now these are two heavy ideas that are on the same slide. But they have a similar logic behind them. So there has been a move to rewrite history, not just within the larger Academy historiography, but also within how schools and students understand or learn that history is. So between the two major examples I can give you, the nCrt school syllabus changes, and the undergraduate course changes. Within the school syllabus changes. We've had a series of educational reforms that have moved ideas like say caste politics, or Mughal history, or communal writing or communal violence in Indians. In Indian Indian past, there's also been a move as a fairly political move to suppress the role of the Congress in the independence movement. Just to give a little bit of a background Congress was the larger political force that has been largely defeated now by the current incumbent government, which is the BJP. So ideas like for example, codes from the hero have been removed. The role of rural county in certain movements has been reduced in text. Even as far as population data about how many Hindus versus how many Muslims live in a country, or that their employment rates have been smashed. In school, the textbooks now we need to understand the sort of the sanctity with which a normal school child or or sort of a parent would regard what is it mean a text given that it is published by the government, it is considered to be of a certain value that cannot be questioned, and has been marked up and used for like school learning or passing exams. So the level of questioning that happens at this level is very minimal, which makes change like this very dangerous. This change is going to expounded when one reaches the undergraduate courses. Over the last five years, the undergraduate courses for history learning for the BA in history has been has changed drastically. Just one example that like to begin with is changing the name of, say, history of India to history of Wrath of Hara thrash, which is sort of more in a commercial dualistic Hindu approach to looking at the history of, of India. There's also been a move to sort of have courses that are titled 12:27 Indus Valley Civilization so so the Civilization and its Vedic connection. So when you have courses title like this, there's an assumption that be the history or Hindu history goes back as far as Indus Valley Civilization, which is not a historical fact. But I think through strategies like titling, like making titles like there's so many courses like this, a lot of students would not be able to exercise their ability to critically, critically address this issue, or critically understand the politics behind these kinds of changes. You also have changes in the administration of colleges, you have, in recent past, we've had a massive change in the removal of certain Dean's of principals who don't agree with political changes happening across the country. And those who are ideologically inclined tend to find themselves in positions where they can control, for example, which PhD thesis gets passed or which PhD application is successful. So you have sort of a systematic change and a sieve and a syllabus change happening at the same time. On the right hand side. It's a very interesting list. Initially, I was thinking of doing an entire background or just the number of name changes that have happened in India across and this is just a small summary of it. It's a conglomeration of CTG city name changes, road name changes, museum name changes, and it's color coded. So, when I was looking at this list, I was trying to break down logic behind it. And I found a three way logic. The first is changing a name from a British name to a secular name. The second is from Google name or a Muslim name to a Hindu name. And the third is from a Imperial name to a Hindu name. As you can see that there is a large movement towards making every name more indica, more Hindu. And the definition of indica is largely becoming a non Muslim or, or isolation like a separation change. So I've just made a color. I've just made a color coding happening. So everything in blue is your secular changes. So how Kingsway has been renamed to rajpath Queensway to Janpath all these names are largely understood to be a common secular common communal shared nomenclature, but as we move on to everything in yellow or everything in white, you see either change from for example, the web, the most interesting one was the Mughal museum that was changed to Chatrapati Shivaji Museum in 2020, which is a very recent example, this museum was to be built in Agra, which was a city made by a permaculture ruler. It was supposed to champion the Mughal contributions to Indian culture such as miniature painting or architecture. But in 2020 20, after the museum was already in construction, the Chief Minister of particular state announced that the name has to change initially to brasure Museum, which is a local Indic population or the local language population. And later, it was argued that you would have Chatrapati Shivaji, who is a very strong Mahabharata, Africa from Maharashtra, West India. So this is a trend that we all see happening very often, there are tangible repercussions to these trends, where you have a lot of financial investment in changing names, in rotations, as well. But mostly what it does is it tries to manipulate or change how the public addresses or reacts to history on a day to day basis. 15:59 The second idea is rebuilding. And this is something that I feel very personally sort of passionate about these two particular projects, and they are very recent projects. The idea of rebuilding is when you have managed to have sort of I feel discrete changes to how the public reacts to their history, or public understands their history, you've taken the time of changing the syllabus, you've taken the time of changing the road names, slowly, you're corroding how the population is reacting or responding to their own past. What you can then do is commissioned large scale projects, which undertake massive construction, either breaking down and rebuilding or building once again, and there is a trend in recent past that is creating a lot more like this, the India's moving to a more aggressive, symbolic front, a very aggressive, nationalistic kind of jingoistic front that they are putting across this. There are many examples of this one way one common example that a lot of Indians who have joined this conversation will be familiar with is something called the angry Hanuman motif. There was there is a deity called Hanuman. He's a part of the larger epic of Ramayana, which is an ancient epic in India. He's the symbolism of that figure has changed in the recent past. Initially, he was a symbol of loyalty of servitude, of bravery, and always depicted in a sort of amicable manner in paintings. In the recent past, in the past five years, there was a graphic artist in the south of India, who created a sort of a more aggressive muscled version of the same day. And before you knew it, that symbol serve spread across subcontinent at a speed that nobody predicted by be it either in car stickers or in WhatsApp profile photos. It began to be adopted by a lot of population in India because they began at some level, responding positively to this change, of attitude of change of nature to a more aggressive or more sort of nationalist or jingoistic front. But the two examples I've taken up over here, the first is the central reverse the central Vista redesign project in in September 2019, the government of India undertook a project, they made a sudden announcement that they would undertake major reconstruction on the Kings way and the Queen's were erstwhile kings and queens. So, now the Janpath and the rajpath, which isn't center of Delhi, which is called Docklands, Delhi, are bakers and latrines Delhi. because of two reasons, the first was pragmatic reasons or, for example, government offices are very old buildings, they need remodeling they need re they need to accommodate more people, they need to have a lot more efficient working by putting everybody in one building so all these pragmatic concerns that were coming up the second reason was a sort of an ideological opposition to who design this part of the city be it meant specifically Latvians and Baker B them specifically being British, artists, architects, and the idea of the entirety of central value being a British project or a Brit British construction and the government sort of expressed some concerns with how the British chose to depict or chose which aesthetic elements from which design path design history of India did they choose to incorporate and how the current India the powerful current modern India should rebuild something that is more in tune with a more authentic Indian aesthetic. So there was is a large sort of pushback to this decision, especially in a pre pandemic time, there were protests happening about the level of construction that will be required, specifically in a time where India was suffering through a pandemic and needed sources resources in other in other parts of the, of the country. The scheme of this redesign was extremely massive from breaking down any building that is not heritage sites or anything built after 1950s will be broken down, including the National Museum, the entire central secretariat will be evacuated and made into museums of freedom and democracy. And a massive construction would take place that would eradicate all these parks and public space that you see on the side. 20:48 So this project has sort of divided India a lot in the recent past, specifically with having sort of all academicians to one side and say, sort of a push back from a more pragmatic part of India on the other side, and that only Gupta, who's very respected historian from Delhi spoke about how Janpath or Raj producible was supposed to be a more like a more civic friendly space, for example, to allow a car like a classless a costless space for Indian Indians to come in enjoy their own city, their own capital, to come in have picnics here to have football games here to have walks around India Gate was something that was supposed to be a very common practice amongst delegates who would do this on a day to day basis. However, the current project plans to eradicate all these civic spaces and change a lot of what India Delhi sees as its historical past or its landscape. Now, it is an argument that hasn't been cited as of yet the construction project is ongoing. But one this is I feel one way of handling or decolonizing. One one's own past is sort of pushing back and breaking down these remnants. And then it begs the question of at what point do we stop? At what point do we understand that, like, we put a limit of how much we can go back into a pure version of Indian past, right. The the next example, that came away recently, this month actually was the revealing of a new national symbol. So on the parliament building on top of the parliament building, we would have the Ashokan, Lion Capital head, which you see on the left hand side, this is from 250 BC, from the Shogun empire. It was it sort of Pope's entire pillar, that was the pillars that were built up across India. On the left hand side, you see a line that is a lot more aesthetic it is it shows us an idea of sort of protectiveness or of pride, as opposed to as opposed to the right hand side that can that tone, like in terms of tonality, in terms of aesthetic shows a lot more of an aggressive militant, or sort of an anger that was absent in how India perceived itself in the past. My personal opinions aside, there is a larger collage conversation happening about this sort of tonal tonality change or aesthetic change that one is noticing across India, but this is another example of how we are sort of decolonizing or changing how we want to be perceived across the world. Which I found very, very interesting. However, I mean, I can I can understand how it would be would feel that I'm being very negative about these changes. So I'd have a nice slide about how I think that decolonization also has positive impact on how museums portraying themselves. So on the top you have my favorite museum in Delhi, which is the National Museum as you can see, this is a picture from the basement. I think it's the one early medieval crafts and constructions and that's what the gallery is called. As you can see, it's a very sort of old institution. There are large glass cabinets separating the viewer from the artifact. It's air conditioned, it's very sanitary. It's very Imperial. 24:20 Everything is shut off behind certain glass and wooden cabinets, Kavita Singh, who is the head of department of art and aesthetics department in JNU. Jawaharlal Nehru University has written a very nice article called The museum is national where she discusses the impact or the influence of Imperial thought on Indian history on how the national museum itself is designed. So the initial galleries that you have are periodic galleries such as in this Valley Civilization mariage manga Setswana. Moving on to your early medieval late medieval but the moment Indian history starts approaching this Mughal phase National Museum changes its galleries name to materiality. So it becomes from early medieval late medieval becomes brutal architecture, or metal work or musical instruments are most in a way, denying the Mughal aspect of the Islamic aspect of Indian history by how it's designed. It's a very Imperial institution. So also it sort of repels a lot of Indians from entering the institution who feel like they don't belong inside of they don't have a right to walk inside. So it does create a space of otherness. It does elevate civil, I mean culture towards sort of upper level of only being accessible to the elite who feel like they can enter the museum and walk in whenever they want. On the bottom, we have a nicer a much a much more different way of approaching Indian culture, which is the National Museum in Japan. This is an open open design museum that celebrates village life and broom and poo making that's a local culture. The space is a lot more welcoming to a larger class of Indians, it is a lot more spread out is more in tune with indigenous architecture, and indigenous weather, it also would have employed a lot more locals in the construction and maintenance of the museum. So it does have a lot more specialized focus in terms of where the load the location or the locality of what it is celebrating as opposed to a national mall mostly sort of dominating centralizing figure, the National Museum, which has captured the artifacts from across the Indian subcontinent. As the last line to my conversation, today, I'm gonna be starting the cutting to talk to you about opening up the conversation, I want to talk to you about the thin line between decolonization and re colonization. There's something that I began thinking about when I was thinking, what how India is dealing with its past where, in order to address a past, we are trying to replace it with another idea of our history, which has very tangible repercussions on how future generations will see India and how future generations will think about India. So at what point? Do we sort of white like, at what point we fill the vacuum that decolonization that? The idea of removing a colonial perspective of our past? At what point will the bathroom become so strong that we need to fill it with something else? Is that something that will always happen? Can we have an absence? Or can we have can we deal as a people with a change in our how we perceive our history without putting another ideology on top of it and making sure that gets accepted. So when I think about how India is dealing with its colonial past, I feel that there are some negatives of house aggressively it is trying to do so. At the same time, I do believe that there are a lot of positives in the sense of making, changing how we perceive design or how we perceive our cultural spaces, who is supposed to be what's meant for who who understands or appreciates, or, or is able to access it. But it is a thin line that we do need to discuss and address at some point. I do understand I've been speaking for a good 30 minutes now. And I could go on for much longer. But I would like to now open the field, open the conversation up to any questions that anybody might have. Please feel free to use the chat or unmute yourselves. We can talk about I have a lot of examples on my notes that I would love to discuss with you. We can compare how other nations are dealing with that as well. But in the long list of lectures where I saw a lot of conversations about research, and sort of African African reaction, etc. I felt this conversation about how India is dealing with it in its own way, was an important one to have. Thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure. 29:02 And that's it for this episode. Don't forget to like, rate and subscribe. And join me next time where I'll be talking to somebody else about researchers development and everything in between
Rob Schremp and Danny Syvret are back in the middle of the summer offseason! Talking about the Calgary Flames and Jonthan Huberdeau, Bergeron Krejci and the Bruins + The World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Rob's ties to the Latvians and Michigan Goals! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tom Brands is a hydrographer who has been studying rivers and streams for many years. He talks about the different types of zinnias that grow in cold climates, the importance of hydrographs in understanding rivers and waterresources, and why Latvia is such a beautiful place to live.
Asketic co Founder Miķelis Baštiks talking with Head of “Virši” Marketing Mārtiņš Eihmanis about rebranding and facelift as a system. How the key values of a brand are practically expressed in the daily decisions of a company.M: When did you realize that you have to go into marketing?I was arranging shirts at a skate shop, when my future boss asked me whether I would like to try. My sister went to an interview. She told them it wasn't for her, but that her brother is a fine guy and could try it out. As an assistant, you just go and do everything.M: Was it a conscious goal that you want to try to work with clients at an agency?Yes, definitely, because when you've been working with agencies for so long, you want to finally see the business result, the client's reaction, data analysis. Seeing the client side of things would be interesting. I had a cool experience with American Express brand for 2.5 years, when I had to work both with the New York and London office. I had to coordinate the local materials.M: Did you move on to “Virši” straight afterwards?No, there was “Trasta komercbanka” for 1.5 years, where I managed marketing structure. Then I worked on Erasmus credit brand at a finance company. Had a super great experience, super strong team, super experience with media buying and media planning. Then came “Virši”. I knew of “Virši”, but I hadn't noticed them. It was interesting.M: I remember a conversation with Edgars Pētersons, when they started working with “Virši”. They made a radio ad, which developed into what we see now. Where you already involved back then?No, I wasn't. I joined them on December 1 of 2017. WKND has worked with “Virši” from the very beginning, and it was their initiative. According to the legend, “Virši” was looking for an agency that could create a radio ad for Russian-speaking audience in Riga, which still is a challenge for “Virši” and many other brands. WKND has continued their work from that day onwards.M: Those were the first ads that allowed me to understand the positioning. I heard it's for the doers, the power filling stations, a person who does and who doesn't… Those were the first campaigns when I noticed, oh, they have an idea how “Virši” as a brand wants to distinguish themselves from others, and then I tried to figure out who did that. There aren't that many brands in Latvia, where you can feel the snowball effect instead of a few one-time improvements here and there. Was it a conscious decision or did one thing lead to another? You've been a brand for 27 years, which means these changes happened during the last 5-7 years. What was the catalyst?There are several considerations. The business side is quite important, the entry into the greater Riga area with the big stations, for example, in Salaspils, Marupe, which shows the brand to a wider audience. That's one catalyst. Secondly, there are coffee products. “Virši” was the first one to introduce regularly delivered, fresh, locally roasted coffee. Coffee machine maintenance is another important aspect that people started to talk about. Thirdly, it's the business side of things, sorting out the cash flow.M: It's a big investment to renovate all stations. Not all of them, but many have the new wood-panel look. All new stations reflect the brand-identity.That was a separate task for us, when I began to work in “Virši”. The situation was still very mixed. We still gad the previous logo from the end of 90s, maybe you remember – “Virši” with a crown and an “A” at the end. That was one of the first tasks when I joined the team. Another big business-related catalyst at the shareholder level of “Virši” was the decision that they need a fresher look, because the previous one was outdated. This is how we arrived at rebranding or refreshing. It often might seem as an artistic process – I don't like this, so let's make something else. When it comes to this specific project, I could talk for 2 hours about how incredibly technical it is. When you understand what you need, what isn't working, that the logo is quite horizontal and it can't be lit up, it's not visible from the roadside, you realize you need more noticeable price signs for all stations and strategically placed roof edges, so that people even start noticing you. You know very well how this will later be distributed to all other channels, but this is the first step. The work you usually do with fonts and logo versions, colours and paletts. Then you switch to the practical side of how much it will cost. You have a network of more than 50 stations, you have new price signs, old price signs, medium price signs, roof edges. You have to compile it all, calculate the costs and implement it. And that's excluding the cost of clothes, merch and everything else.M: It's an often over-looked position. The creative concept is one thing, but the implementation is actually the deal-breaker. You have to understand how soon you can do it, in one year, two years. The really sad if you create a great concept, but it gets stuck at 10%. The fact that “Virši” knew that they have to do it played a big part. It wasn't clear how to do it and which direction to take, how much it would cost. There were a lot of uncertainties. It took long hours of work, more than 10 meetings, also with shareholders, presentation of sketches. Another interesting stage is how you present it to the employees. Since “Virši” has been in operation for 27 years, many employees have been at the company for a long time, and then one day you announce that you're taking away the letter “A”. Why? “Virši-A” is the company I've been working at since I was young. Oh, we don't think it sounds nice. It doesn't work that way. Internally we called it the refreshment project of the brand's visual identity, which it actually was. The colours remain the same, the name is the same, the company is the same, we simply take a critical look at what we need in order to have a successful image in the market and what we don't need.M: Was it an intuitive process from the internal management's side or was there a clear brand strategy and positon?There were no guidelines or reference points that we have to be more “hipster” or “young”, according to which we create our visual identity. Our position was that we are a local company. We couldn't suddenly be mistaken for another company. We had to be “Virši”, but in a new shape.M: Do you consider those the brand values that have been clearly communicated? A local company, the idea of power and taking action. Do the persons see themselves as the doers and it's not just a superficial marketing campaign? What sustains the brand loyalty?One of the drives definitely is the fact that it's a local company and that we have a clearly defined brand platform among other brands, we're a power filling station for doers. It has turned out quite strong and stable, which allows it to develop further in several attempts. People see it and identify with it. They sympathize with it. This period starting from 2015 represents our success story. But amount of work invested is immense. The company culture is quite dynamic, we work a lot. We are doers. When someone joins the team, I tell them that it's not just a poster or a video you saw – it's our culture. M: It's great that you can feel the brand values and that it's not just something on the website. You live by them. You said you don't have many interviews, but in one you said that brand is experience. Not a poster or a campaign, but all these points of contact. I think it's a good way to view a brand. Tell me what you mean by this.The experience in “Virši” has been very good in the sense that the brand is not a logo. There are many points of contact. You drive a car, you hear the radio, you hear the tone of voice, you hear the humour. This humour can be youthful or serious, there can be just a touch of humour. And you see this logo on the roadside. Can you see it from technical viewpoint? Interior is very important, the lighting, the aroma, the air quality. Only with time you realize that these three things are quite meaningful. Then there are products, product quality and reputation, again the coffee, packaging, message on a napkin. Making people smile. The employees are on the front line and are part of the brand, and it's difficult to maintain, since they work under pressure and do a wide variety of things. These are the various aspects. Then you have to choose a brand ambassador, but who should it be? Is he local, is he a doer, is he the head of a large family, is he always funny? Yes, he is. All checks out. It's Intars Busulis. There are many points of contact, and if you succeed… I'm not saying we designed it that way and then implemented. No, the brand-building process is fluid. Step by step, you just keep your balance. I have to say big thanks to “Virši” for managing to stick with one strategic agency WKND and also to WNKD for creating a very clear concept. I we have to do something for the long-term, let's say packaging design or something else, then we always involve an agency that does a strategic assessment of the concept and the platform.M: I think that one of the hardest things is to sum up all these points of contact in one message, but it has the potential of great yield. The way you described it, starting from the highway, the audio ad, up to what's written on a napkin, the air quality and the packaging. It all creates the brand. How to align all these many factors into a correct brand personality? It involves management, marketing, the internal clarity. Is it made possible by having clear owners who still take care of the company, instead of a big corporation, where everyone focuses on their own goal? Can you even create a good brand without a clear owner?I believe that, maybe not without an owner, but when it comes to a strong, international brand, the owner can't be present everywhere. At some point at the agency we dealt with these brand guidelines, when you receive the guideline of an international brand and you have to work in compliance with them. The same goes for franchises. We create franchise provisions regarding your appearance. When you drive in, you don't know it's SIA “Mārtiņš Eihmanis”, but it looks like “Virši”.M: Do you have guidelines? To what extent do you apply them? Does it help you on a day-to-day basis?It's different for us, we're not an international company, therefore practically in all areas related to “Virši” I or someone from the marketing team has to be informed about what it is, what it will look like, and has to provide approval. We have guidelines, but they are general, and I don't think one should follow these graphic guidelines too closely. Of course, you have the logo, the protected areas, the colours and all the basics, but for anything else – the position of hats, the fuel tanks – it all has to be considered along the way. You can't do that if you're part of four, five, ten markets, then these guidelines have to be stricter.M: An interesting challenge could be how to carry over the “local doer” values to other places, where it's no longer local. How can this strong local brand handle export?That's a good question, which I can't answer right away, but we have dealt with it partially. We have a business in Russia that provides fuel to freight companies. We have partners outside of Latvia, in the Baltics and Russia. We have to communicate with them. When we internally defined our company values, e-check for companies, we did it thoroughly at the level of each station. Teams came together and wrote down what they think are the values of “Virši”, we funnelled them until we reached the result. One of the values we found is that our power is in our roots. We worded it this way so that it wouldn't specify our local or Latvian roots and it could also be appreciated by Russians, Belarussians, and Ukrainians, as well as Lithuanians and Estonians. For them too, their power is in their roots, which allows them to identify with it. Our hypothesis, if we would reach outwards, is that you could carry over such value. The second value of “Virši” - enthusiasm is our fuel. You can translate it, and we have already. The third value is people for people. They are universal, and you can carry them over in a way.M: Did all 50-60 stations really participate in the establishment of brand values?Yes. Registration took place in groups, because if you're a small structural unit with two-three people it's hard to come up with ideas, so we grouped two, three structural units together. We have quarterly management meetings, where all teams get together in a large room, all values have been gathered, but they fight over them once again. We have a very lively environment, anybody can stand up and loudly declare that something doesn't make sense and that they disagree.M: You're the Head of Marketing Department, you talk and think a lot about brands, but those actually are two different parts. In branding you have to think long-term, but marketing means more tactical things. How do you separate them? The quick marketing decisions and the long-term brand progression.I can put ads under the word “quick” right away. We don't have a separate advertisement sub-division, like there is at LMT, because their structure is so huge. Regarding branding decisions, it would be silly to call it foresight, but some sort of foresight is present always, because you can never be absolutely sure that this decision will bring us this and that business result. It's a trial-and-fail approach. You're aware that the things you implement within this project will be present in the long-term, for example, the interior or the packaging. I could show you two mood boards for packaging. It's like the layers of paint that peel off over time. You can see that this year there was this packaging, then there was this, and they are all somehow present at the station, when you come in. And then one year, you clear it all out and replace with fresh ones. What you see on the coffee package I brought, the same thing is on the cup, on hot dog and burger packaging. It even shows up in outdoor ads. The same goes for the interior, when we looked at it with H2E Design Studio, we saw that various elements have been gathered over time, but then we cleared it out, and, once we built or renovated a station, we implemented the clean, thought-out design. H2E took notice of “Virši” values, graphic guidelines and chose materials, coordinated them. These are the long-term decisions, and you try to link them with the values.M: What do you think the marketing and branding is moving towards in the next two, three, five years?Even small, local brands are becoming increasingly thought-out and stable with more legs. I can't fully agree to this, but brands are sometimes likened to religion, which provides the function and need of religion in people's lives, when the huge modern brands, which are quite multi-layered, rich and with a distinctive value definition, sort of replace these functions. I don't want to say it's really so, but for people who need something to stand for or stand against, if he supports meat or the animals, then it's easier to make a decision. He will buy those sneakers, hat or product. Brands become much more integrated in the cultural space. In some cases you're provided with a cultural construct.M: When you read about brands, historically our local villages determined our whole cultural space – how you dress, what you eat, who you fight against, what songs you sing – it was all determined by the local cultural space. The place where you were born and grew up, it became your identity. Now we live in a cosmopolitan age of the Internet, where the identities are so mixed together. You might be born in Tukums, Africa or India, but you may like a brand with such-and-such values. Brands are becoming the creators of personal identity constructs just as much as politics, music, and religion. You attach these things and create your identity. They are easier to assume than religion, which is too fundamental. You can take like fifteen, twenty brands, switch them out if you don't like them, thus creating your cultural space. You identify yourself with these ten, twenty, thirty brands. The fact that you apply these values very clearly, it attracts the person who is searching for a brand that can give him something. If I take “Virši”, you know I'm a doer, I stand for those who appreciate their roots. I look at three others and they don't speak to me. The price, the convenience, the location are okay, but there's no clear brand promise that I can attach. I think that “Virši” have succeeded in this aspect, which is a big plus that I like a lot. You said you worked at a skate shop while you studied. I think that the skating culture has historically been very rich with various interesting brands. Now working in a big company, taking into account your experience, what do you think makes brand interesting and juicy for anybody? And when does it become just a big, boring corporation?Anything that is individual and different is interesting. The same applies to models in show-windows. They're always a bit peculiar. If you make it too common so that it check all the boxes, it will be completely amorphous. The same goes for brands. That's why the skating brands are so interesting. They can be complete punks, they don't care. They create a start-up, 300 boards with their own designs and go bankrupt. It's rock 'n' roll, let's do it. That's why they're so alive and real.M: You might think that skating brands are small and that's why they can afford to act this way. But then look at Elon Musk, he's also a punk. You can make even a large company very interesting, but need a personality that can carry it. So it doesn't become lukewarm, as you said.Elon Musk is like Tony Stark. We're now watching Iron Man home with the kids. We watched the second part. There's this charm, Tony Stark is like a rock star, performing in front of a large audience. The same goes for Elon Musk. He's so stable and prosperous that he makes his own rules, he can afford to object to certain states and jurisdictions.M: The new independent skating brands can afford the same thing. If the big companies can and the small companies can, are the average ones those that can't?It's caution and business decisions based on numbers. Try and find a chief brand officer who convinces all business people that you have to do something crazy just so you can stay on the top of mind of your audience.M: What brands do you find interesting?I won't be able to name brands and explain why. I will say that right now I'm mostly attracted by quality. I assess brands based on communication and product quality. Which brands do I like? I like the brand “Intars Busulis”. Not because he represents “Virši”, but because he's great at consistently doing what he does. Well, we know Intars Busulis is a brand. He expresses himself in various directions, he never forgets rock ‘n' roll. I really like the brand “Puiku alfabēts” by my wife. It's not just a book, it's a brand. When she started drawing and writing the stories, back before the book was published, she was involving the audience, asked feedback on stories, published illustrations and colouring pages. Namely, she was growing a bigger and bigger audience.M: Work with the audience. That's actually really great, if you can start with building an audience and then create a product, and not the other way around.Yes, but now it's sort of a trend.M: It's simply the way you should do it. First the audience, then the product.Then comes a moment, when you have to decide what's next. There are people who gather an audience by building or renovating a house in Tuscany. There's one such Instagram account, Latvians in Tuscany renovating an old house. Following them is like an adventure, you're participating. But what happens when the renovations are complete? The same goes for “Puiku alfabēts”. It's published, it's done, so what's next?M: That's a cool problem to have. Thanks for coming.Thanks for the invitation.Mārtiņš Eihmanishttps://www.linkedin.com/in/martinseihmanis/?originalSubdomain=lvhttps://www.virsi.lv/lvSubscribe to Asketic Podcast on:Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/73QSMYK46NHoHCytJYYmPZ?si=Mw4ZLISUSoueh9Es1pCLUgApple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/lv/podcast/asketic-podcast/id1496922775YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQdekksSROS4PCxRV7aqT3QGoogle Podcasts:https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2Fza2V0aWMtcG9kY2FzdA--Asketic design & branding:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asketicstudio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asketic/WWW: http://asketic.com/
Tuesday, March 8: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are trapped as the Russian military lays siege to Ukraine's cities; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with NATO leaders in Europe; and, Latvians feel compelled to help Ukrainian refugees.
"The Eastern Border" podcast host Kristaps Andrejsons once again is back on the show, this time calling in from the border of Ukraine and Poland where he has been spending the last few days reporting on the situation for Latvian media and working together with Latvian relief workers providing aid for the countless refugees seeking safety. Kristaps tells about the situation he's been seeing on the ground, as well as the ways that Latvians can continue helping the people of Ukraine. You can check out The Eastern Border Podcast here: http://theeasternborder.lv/ Opening and closing music: courtesy of Ausma Apsīte
The Basketball Buds. Zach Harper, Mo Dakhil and Jay King.The RundownDid Daryl Morey make a mistake? Do people love/hate Daryl?Closing windows and assetsJay not sold on the NetsEastern Conference StackedTrade Deadline LosersLuka & BertansFirst time Latvians have been traded for each other?Quiet West, Quiet SunsCeltics fix defense Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Steven Rinella talks with Brandon Palaniuk, Carl Jocumsen, Hayden Sammak, Seth Morris, Phil Taylor, Corinne Schneider, and Janis Putelis. Topics discussed: the first Aussie to grace the podcast studio and the first Aussy to ever make it to the top 100 bass anglers in the world in America; Chester's family's Old Fashioned kit; three Janises out of ten Latvians; the cancellation of Spring Bear season in WA and just how outrageous it is; native bull trout vs. invasive lake trout; when college kids win $1 million in a fishing tournament; insane entry fees; when 2nd place is so far from 1st; Brandon's DQ, $1k per foot, and owning your own mistake even though the rule is questionable; Fantasy Fishing; under the camera's eye; polygraphs for fishing stories; Steve getting Brandon and Carl to fish his mom's lake; the litigation-worthy bucket thing; Rinella Sr. supposedly pulling a 5 pound largemouth out of the lake where Steve was born; Angler of the Year; the A to Z of the tournament process; physically and mentally not being able to live without it; pursuing what makes you happy; Steve's dream to be a professional trapper; clinch or improved clinch?; and more. Connect with Steve and MeatEater Steve on Instagram and Twitter MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube Shop MeatEater Merch Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In episode 3 we look into the ‘car culture' of Latvia! The majority of Latvians like their cars and with that comes a unique culture. We discuss the major topic of BMW vs AUDI, car park socialising and hitch hiking as well as share our personal car history in Latvia. And we also talk about the unwritten code of the ‘Latvian eye contact' when you pull up to a red light next to someone... Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to subscribe, like and share!! And stay 'Kinda Latvian'! Instagram - @kindalatvian
Who was the Butcher of Latvia? Before World War II Herbert Cukurs was a a national hero. He put Latvia on the map. If you're looking for an American equivalent, think Amelia Earhart or Charles Lindbergh. Cukurs was a big deal. But after the Nazis occupied Latvia, Cukurs became a monster, participating in the murder of 30,000 men, women, and even children. How did this decorated and ingenious aviator betray friends and neighbors and became a savage criminal with the blood of thousands on his hands? “Good Assassins: Hunting the Butcher" came out of Stephan Talty's work on a related book, The Good Assassin. Explore other parts of this story in the book: Buy The Good Assassin In July 1941, the Germans invaded Latvia. The Nazis fought their way into the capital, Riga, and soon sent the Soviet soldiers, who had occupied Lativa for the previous year, running to the east. Another kind of horror emerged, one now directed at Jews. The Nazis began passing anti-Semitic laws. They encouraged Latvians to direct their hatred at their Jewish neighbors. They declared that Jews had helped the Soviets to occupy Latvia and carry out atrocities. They said Jews had betrayed their country, and they needed to pay for it. It was a lie of course, but it worked. Round-ups began almost immediately. What added to the terror was that it was often their fellow Latvians who took the lead in the violence But why did the Butcher kill some of his neighbors and spare others? Maybe he did it for the money? But there's no record of him asking for any. Maybe he only saved young women? No, he actually spared at least one Jewish man, a doctor he'd known before the war. So what was it? The testimonies of witnesses answer one question clearly: Cukurs was guilty. So why did he still have defenders? I found half a dozen eyewitnesses to his actions, and later I came across statements from fellow Latvians in his commando unit. They confirmed he'd been part of the massacres. So why did he transform from hero to mass murderer? I went through other possibilities. Maybe he'd always been an anti-Semite and just hid it until the Nazis came. Maybe the Germans had forced him to kill. That was the explanation of many non-Germans who murdered Jews during the war. Maybe that was part of the answer. But then, I'd read a testimony talking about how the Butcher seemed to enjoy killing. There was more than one testiony. It just didn't fit the idea that he was forced to do anything. So I had no answers. Even the survivors in their testimonies couldn't give a reason. Most of them were as baffled as I was. Maybe there were others who fit this pattern. Friendly towards Jews before the war and then joined in the massacres, but saved the occasional victim. Maybe there were historians who'd found killers like this, and that would help give some insight into Cukurs. I started making some calls. It was a start, a way to try to get inside Herbert Cukurs' mind. • Written and Hosted by STEPHAN TALTY • Produced and Directed by SCOTT WAXMAN and JACOB BRONSTEIN • Executive Producers: SCOTT WAXMAN and MARK FRANCIS • Story Editor: JACOB BRONSTEIN • Editorial direction: SCOTT WAXMAN and MANGESH HATTIKUDUR • Editing, mixing, and sound design: MARK FRANCIS • With the voices of: NICK AFKA THOMAS, OMRI ANGHEL, ANDREW POLK, MINDY ESCOBAR-LEANSE, STEVE ROUTMAN, STEFAN RUDNICKI • Theme Music by TYLER CASH • Archival Researcher: ADAM SHAPIRO • Thanks to OREN ROSENBAUM Learn more at DiversionPodcasts.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
In May 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of global military conflict did not cease with the German capitulation. Millions of lost and homeless concentration camp survivors, POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and Nazi collaborators in flight from the Red Army overwhelmed Germany, a nation in ruins. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate refugees and attempted to repatriate them. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained more than a million displaced persons left behind in Germany: Jews, Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and other Eastern Europeans who refused to go home or had no homes to return to. The Last Million would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, temporary homelands in exile, divided by nationality, with their own police forces, churches and synagogues, schools, newspapers, theaters, and infirmaries. The international community could not agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of debate and inaction, the International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from postwar labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept refugees for resettlement, finally passed a displaced persons bill. With Cold War fears supplanting memories of World War II atrocities, the bill granted the vast majority of visas to those who were reliably anti-Communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators and war criminals, while severely limiting the entry of Jews, who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the controversial partition of Palestine and Israel's declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany. A masterwork from acclaimed historian David Nasaw, The Last Million: Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War (Penguin, 2020) tells the gripping yet until now largely hidden story of postwar displacement and statelessness. By 1952, the Last Million were scattered around the world. As they crossed from their broken past into an unknowable future, they carried with them their wounds, their fears, their hope, and their secrets. Here for the first time, Nasaw illuminates their incredible history and, with profound contemporary resonance, shows us that it is our history as well. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at VanLeerIdeas@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In May 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of global military conflict did not cease with the German capitulation. Millions of lost and homeless concentration camp survivors, POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and Nazi collaborators in flight from the Red Army overwhelmed Germany, a nation in ruins. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate refugees and attempted to repatriate them. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained more than a million displaced persons left behind in Germany: Jews, Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and other Eastern Europeans who refused to go home or had no homes to return to. The Last Million would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, temporary homelands in exile, divided by nationality, with their own police forces, churches and synagogues, schools, newspapers, theaters, and infirmaries. The international community could not agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of debate and inaction, the International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from postwar labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept refugees for resettlement, finally passed a displaced persons bill. With Cold War fears supplanting memories of World War II atrocities, the bill granted the vast majority of visas to those who were reliably anti-Communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators and war criminals, while severely limiting the entry of Jews, who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the controversial partition of Palestine and Israel's declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany. A masterwork from acclaimed historian David Nasaw, The Last Million: Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War (Penguin, 2020) tells the gripping yet until now largely hidden story of postwar displacement and statelessness. By 1952, the Last Million were scattered around the world. As they crossed from their broken past into an unknowable future, they carried with them their wounds, their fears, their hope, and their secrets. Here for the first time, Nasaw illuminates their incredible history and, with profound contemporary resonance, shows us that it is our history as well. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at VanLeerIdeas@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In May 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of global military conflict did not cease with the German capitulation. Millions of lost and homeless concentration camp survivors, POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and Nazi collaborators in flight from the Red Army overwhelmed Germany, a nation in ruins. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate refugees and attempted to repatriate them. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained more than a million displaced persons left behind in Germany: Jews, Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and other Eastern Europeans who refused to go home or had no homes to return to. The Last Million would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, temporary homelands in exile, divided by nationality, with their own police forces, churches and synagogues, schools, newspapers, theaters, and infirmaries. The international community could not agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of debate and inaction, the International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from postwar labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept refugees for resettlement, finally passed a displaced persons bill. With Cold War fears supplanting memories of World War II atrocities, the bill granted the vast majority of visas to those who were reliably anti-Communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators and war criminals, while severely limiting the entry of Jews, who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the controversial partition of Palestine and Israel's declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany. A masterwork from acclaimed historian David Nasaw, The Last Million: Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War (Penguin, 2020) tells the gripping yet until now largely hidden story of postwar displacement and statelessness. By 1952, the Last Million were scattered around the world. As they crossed from their broken past into an unknowable future, they carried with them their wounds, their fears, their hope, and their secrets. Here for the first time, Nasaw illuminates their incredible history and, with profound contemporary resonance, shows us that it is our history as well. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at VanLeerIdeas@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/van-leer-institute
The Latvians are coming - providing gifts of aphorism and poop hats. Joe and Daniel do their best to forward roll through the very best royal wedding news Google Translate has to offer. Dreadful commemorative figurines are discussed and a Danish woman refuses to admit she may have an accent. Find the show on Twitter @windsorknotpod, and you can get in touch over at show@windsorknotpod.com. Oh yeah, and chuck us a review over on Apple Podcasts, won't you? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ian Pannell tells us how the story of Robin Hood is proving popular with one of the Syrian rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Will Grant, on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday's election in Mexico, finds himself in what he describes as 'the most dangerous place I've ever been.' Hampi in India may once have been the heart of one of the biggest empires in Asia, but Anthony Denselow says it's increasingly drained of daily life. Damien McGuinness has been learning that pagan traditions emerge from the past - and the forest - when Latvians go out to celebrate midsummer. And Dany Mitzman reveals that at an Italian wedding food is more important than speeches - and confetti isn't something you throw, it's something you eat!
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