Podcasts about motherland

This episode we're covering Death Valley, the Welsh cozy mystery on BritBox that's basically Midsomer Murders but with even more unpronounceable town names and a retired actor solving crimes for fun. This is also our first video episode! Come check us out on YouTube or patreon.com/cluedunnitpodcast!  In this episode: Retired TV detective actor John Chapel (Timothy Spall) teams up with eager-but-junior DS Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) to investigate a murder at a 15-year high school reunion. The guesses:

Julia Glenmark, Simon Strömstedt och Kid Eriksson med gruppen Tjuvjakt är nya på sjätteplatsen med ny version av sina pappors klassiska VM-hit. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. Den nya generationen har gjort en cover på pappornas fotbolls-hit ”När Vi Gräver Guld I USA”. Julia Glenmark, Simon Strömstedt och Kid Eriksson med gruppen Tjuvjakt är den här veckan nykomlingar på sjätteplatsen. Zara Larsson knuffar ner FELICIA från förstaplatsen med nygamla ettan ”Midnight Sun”. FELICIA är nu tvåa med ”My System”. Greczula får lämna med ”Half Of Me”. Lars Winnerbäck är bubblare med ”Hälsningar” liksom Jacqline med ”On Top” och Toussaint ”Tusse” Chiza med ”Motherland”.

Today, I'll sell you my pickle for a nickel at this year's Mississippi Pickle Fest, June 13th and 14th, with Coordinator Jana Dear, then we'll check out what's happening around your fitness neck of the woods, before a final stop and fitness check-in with IFBB Pro Pia Nabila Nedjar, & NPC Builder, Terrance "Bigg Tee" Thomas! Stay tuned, buckle up and hold on tight for your Next Stop, Mississippi!"What's Happening Around Your Neck of the Woods" Event Listing:Out of Office Adult Field Day 26'11th Annual NPC Battle on the Gulf CoastSixth Annual Rainbow Run 5KTomato Festival 5K Run/Walk2026 Dash 'N Splash Race for Brain and Spinal Cord InjuryFarm Bureau 30th Annual Watermelon Classic 5K Run, 5K Walk and 1 Mile Fun RunWatch this episode on MPB's YouTube Channel: Next Stop Mississippi – MS Pickle Fest 26', Fitness Check-In with Pia Nedjar & Terrance Thomas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

️ Nuevo episodio de *Series en Serio* cargadito de estrenos, dramas universitarios, sectas opresivas, videoclubs eróticos y madres británicas al borde del colapso social. Esta semana arrancamos con tertulia con los oyentes y un análisis de Eurovisión 2026 antes de sumergirnos en un menú seriéfilo tan variado como delirante. Visitamos la inquietante isla de *La Maldición de Widow's Bay* (Apple TV+), donde las maldiciones locales parecen mucho más reales de lo esperado; hablamos de *Unconditional*, el nuevo drama emocional de Apple TV+; y viajamos hasta México con *Santita* (Netflix), una dramedia romántica marcada por las segundas oportunidades y las heridas del pasado. También comentamos *Los no elegidos / Unchosen* (Netflix), thriller británico sobre sectas ultrarreligiosas y manipulación; la ambiciosa adaptación de *La Casa de los Espíritus* (Prime Video); y *Cochinas* (Prime Video), una comedia española ambientada en un videoclub noventero donde el feminismo y el cine erótico revolucionan un barrio entero. Además, analizamos *Off Campus*, romance universitario entre jugadores de hockey y dramas sentimentales, y cerramos con *Amandaland*, el spin-off de *Motherland* que vuelve a demostrar que nadie retrata mejor el clasismo incómodo y la maternidad competitiva que los británicos. Y, por supuesto, también salen títulos como *Half Man*, *Hacks*, *Prisoner* y *Citadel*. Humor, sarcasmo, recomendaciones, rajadas y mucho caos televisivo. Lo normal en esta casa. Minutado: 00:00 — tertulia con los oyentes 23:30 — Análisis de Eurovision 2026 33:30 — La maldición de window's Bay (Apple TV+) 43:10 — Unconditional (Apple TV+) 51:40 — Santita (Netflix) 1:03:00 — Unchosen (Netflix) 1:09:00 — La casa de los espíritus (Amazon Prime) 1:17:30 — Cochinas (Amazon Prime) 1:25:30 — Off Campus (Kiss Me) en Amazon Prime 1:34:30 — Amandaland (BBC)

Today, on Nakba Day, we're honored to share a very special interview with you.Nakba Day commemorates the mass displacement of Palestinians that began on May 15, 1948. “Nakba,” the Arabic word for “catastrophe,” refers to the forced expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians and the destruction and depopulation of over 500 Palestinian villages, towns, and cities by Zionist militias and, later, the Israeli army.In this episode, Maisa co-hosts with We Rise apprentice Hannah in an interview with Saif Abu Keshek a member of the steering committee for the Global Sumud Flotilla. This interview was recorded at the International People's Tribunal on Palestine in Barcelona, where the People's Tribunal charged the settler colonial state of Israel of genocide and ecocide in November 2025. Together, we discuss how people's tribunals can serve as both a tool and strategy in the Palestine Liberation movement.We also speak about the central role of Palestinian political prisoners in the struggle for liberation. Political prisoners are not only symbols of resistance — they are our compass, grounding the movement in steadfastness, sacrifice, and collective responsibility.Earlier this year, on April 30, Saif — a Spanish national of Palestinian origin — and Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila were abducted while sailing alongside dozens of activists as part of the latest humanitarian mission organized by the Global Sumud Flotilla. Saif and Thiago were imprisoned in Israel for 10 days under brutal conditions, where they endured torture and took part in a hunger strike.The Global Sumud Flotilla continues to sale to break the siege on Gaza. GlobalSumudFlotilla.org@GlobalSumudFlotillaWe Rise will be releasing exclusive interviews with the People's Tribunal organizers and people who shared live testimony in Barcelona, stay tuned in to We Rise Production for episode release. InternationalSolidarity.org/tribunal@InternationalPeoplesFrontThis episode features music by DAM, Abu Arab, Ahmad Kaabour and sounds from the the International People's Tribunal on Palestine in Barcelona.

Motherland spin-off Amandaland is back for a second series, starring Lucy Punch as Amanda and Joanna Lumley as her frosty mum, Felicity. Nuala McGovern talks to the show's award-winning writer and co-creator Holly Walsh about what's in store for the SoHa crew second time around, as Amanda navigates life as a single mum of teenagers, juggling online influencing and her ‘co-labs' with her dreams of moving up in the world.The classically trained pop musician Rosalía topped many end of year polls for her opera-influenced album, Lux. This week she graced the stage at the O2 Arena as her sell-out tour reached London and last week it was announced she'll receive the 2026 Ivor Novello award for International Songwriter of the Year. Pop Critic of The Observer, Kitty Empire joins us to profile the artist.TV personality Vicky Pattison, psychotherapist Gabrielle Rifkind and comedian Helen Thorn join Nuala to discuss tackling difficult conversations in our personal lives.The mainstreaming of violent sexual content is reshaping society, according to Clare McGlynn, a Professor of Law at Durham University, whose first book, Exposed, was published yesterday. In Clare's view, the problem isn't porn per se, it's patriarchal porn - pornographic content that was once niche and difficult to find, including incest, racism and rape, that has been normalised and is widely consumed. Clare joins Anita Rani to discuss the harms of extreme pornography.It was Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday on Friday 8 May and the BBC has launched a week-long celebration of his work and legacy. So we wanted to take this moment to shine a spotlight on women working in nature programmes. Sophie Darlington was one of the first female wildlife cinematographers and her work has earned her a BAFTA and an Emmy. She joins Nuala to talk about her work and Sir David.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Simon Richardson

Motherland spin-off Amandaland is back for a second series, starring Lucy Punch as Amanda and Joanna Lumley as her frosty mum Felicity. Nuala McGovern talks to the show's award-winning writer and co-creator Holly Walsh about what's in store for the SoHa crew second time around, as Amanda navigates life as a single mum of teenagers, juggling online influencing and her ‘co-lab' with her dreams of moving up in the world. A review into the death of 21‑year‑old showjumper Katie Simpson has found 'institutional misogyny' and 'systemic failures' within the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The review, commissioned by the Department of Justice and released yesterday, found that not one officer seriously considered abuse or coercive control during the initial investigation. Katie died six days after being admitted to hospital in in 2020 and her death was initially treated as suicide. The PSNI has acknowledged the review and apologised to Katie's family. Nuala is joined by Allison Morris, Crime Correspondent at the Belfast Telegraph who's been following the case.What if the next five minutes were your last? That's the question the American born author Ilona Bannister wants us to answer in her latest novel Five. Set on a train station platform we meet five strangers: a child, a mother, a businessman, an old woman and a gambler. Unbeknownst to them they are facing a countdown where in just five minutes one of them will die. Ilona tells Nuala what drew her to this idea. A case in Denmark is prompting public debate and urgent questions about child protection practices and the treatment of Greenlandic people. The case centres on a Greenlandic mother, Keira Alexandra Kronvold, whose newborn daughter was taken into care just two hours after birth in 2024, following the use of controversial psychometric assessments known as FKU tests. Critics say these tests, conducted in Danish and based on culturally specific assumptions, have disproportionately led to Greenlandic children being removed from their families. Her case has now reached the Danish high court, with a decision due imminently, and now the United Nations has intervened. Joining Nuala to discuss are Miranda Bryant, the Guardian's Nordic correspondent, and Tillie Martinussen, a former MP in Greenland from the Cooperation Party.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd

If you've ever heard of the notion that women are here to birth a new earth I want you to stick around because I think you're going to appreciate this episode. The term birthing the New Earth is too commonly thrown around amongst the Feminine Spiritual Community and that just causes trouble and confusion. HOW are women birthing the New Earth? What we find is that women don't KNOW how and hence, that leaves them in a place of misunderstanding and not actually birthing the new earth but instead just connecting with Feminine Energy, which is something COMPLETELY different. I break down the EXACT understanding of Birthing the New Earth and what is required for women to do this...HINT HINT...we just started doing the thing inside LINEAGES OF MU. 

In this episode, we dive into a powerful conversation about what it means to live in diaspora. As people whose homelands are shaped by ongoing struggle and displacement, we reflect on how living away from our ancestral lands informs our identities, relationships, and sense of belonging.Lubna & Tina illuminate our histories of migration and displacement from Falasteen & the islands known as The Philippines. They share how these legacies of displacement continue to shape their communities in the diaspora today.Lubna Morrar is poet, hairstylist and makeup artist. She is a Palestinian community organizer and activist from the Bay Area.Tina Shuaf-Bahar is a Filipino community organizing, singer and culture worker who has long been involved in migrant rights organizing, connecting struggles in her homeland to those faced by workers in the Bay Area.Together we explore how re-membering our languages, food and cultural practices are antidotes to resist pressures like assimilation and generational separation from our lands. We also reflect on how embodying dignity becomes a powerful act of resistance and resilience.Special thanks to Kendall of We Rise and KPFA for hosting us as we recorded our conversationMusic from El Fanoun, Mass Bass, Ruby Ibarra, Ana Tijoux featuring Shadia Mansour & Nitty Scott

Top 4 at 4 Christopher Gabriel joins the show to talk all tings Tennessee Bob goes to the Motherland

Step inside a high-level accountability call where we break down why the top 10% of your year—exactly 36.5 days—should be dedicated to "not doing shit." This isn't a pass to be lazy; it's a strategic requirement to ensure that when you are working, you are 100% effective.[Key Takeaways in This Part]

Max and Maria are joined by journalist and author Julia Ioffe to discuss her recent book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy. Motherland is available now from HarperCollins Publishers.

0:00 - The Avalanche doused the Calgary Flames 9-2 last night at Ball Arena and scored multiple power play goals! Plural! It was almost a perfect night, except for one thing. Cale Makar left the game and didn't return because of an "upper body injury." We haven't received any updates yet. How concerned are we? How concerned did Coach Bednar sound in his postgame presser yesterday?13:52 - The Lions signed Center Frank Ragnow out of retirement late last season, but he didn't play a snap for them because he didn't pass his physical. He had a Grade 3 hamstring strain! Turns out, he had to pay back part of his signing bonus. The Lions claim that they've made other players do this before, like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, so the precedent has been set. Really? Come on, Fords. You guys aren't low on cash. Let the man keep his money.After that, George Paton spoke at the NFL Owners meeting yesterday and said he likes the RB room. Of course he's going to say that. But, we're not sure we like it as much as he does! There's still plenty of room for improvement.31:47 - Oh, by the way...the referee who Dan Hurley (allegedly) headbutted was asked about the incident and said the whole "incident" was nothing. They looked at each other. That's it. Oh, by the way...NASA is going back to the moon soon and nobody here on Earth seems to care about it. Oh, by the way...The NFL expanded their "Global Markets Program" for the upcoming season. The New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns were given the market rights for Vic's Motherland. 

Send us Fan MailHello, passionate travelers! This is Paul, welcome to this special episode pertaining solely to our 14-Day Kenya & Egypt—Safaris, Great Pyramids & Nile River Cruise bucket list trip. An unforgettable journey through the wilds of Kenya and the treasures of Egypt! Discover the legendary Maasai Mara Natural Reserve, the scene of the annual Great Migration. At Lake Nakuru, contemplate the amazing landscapes and spot diverse birdlife before heading to Egypt to marvel at the Great Pyramids and experience the wonders of the Nile on a 4-night full-board river cruise!Joining me today is a special guest, world traveler, the star associate in The Joy of Vacation by Dream Vacations travel agency, and I call her Ms. TikTok, my daughter Shornay. Besides keeping me straight in summarizing this amazing trip, she can provide her perspective. I am both jealous of, and proud of her, for having beat me to some bucket list locations—including the continent of Africa, even though I have been traveling for over 40 years.A couple of years ago Cheryl, my wife, and I, along with Shornay, pursued a brand extension and started The Joy of Vacation travel agency. In our announcement to friends, we stated a vision of someday leading a group to the Motherland, and we are proud to see this come to fruition.Questions or to book: pthornton@dreamvacations.comOnline brochure: https://v2.app.moguplatform.com/trips/46015-paulDo you have a dream car? Support the showSupport thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/newSupport Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulthContact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.htmlBook Cruises http://www.thejoyofvacation.com/US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast)The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingCruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterruptedThe Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgainIntl Orders via Amazon

Radio correspondent and actress Lavender sat down with Evan Matthews, the director of "Motherland" (2025), to talk about his experience in the film industry and what it was like shooting in the Hudson Valley for his film. You can find Evan on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/evanbmatthews/. More details on the film can be found at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28628125/. To support independent films like this one, you can give them a positive rating, leave a review, and share them with a friend.

First, Elizabeth “EP” Press covers the recent Troy City Council Meeting where community members voiced their concerns with Flock cameras in Troy. Then, Sephora Quinones speaks with Policymaker and Professor at the University at Albany Bria Nickerson of about the women who have influenced her work Later on, Arbor Mae joins us in studio to talk about the Femme Queer Songwriter's Showcase next Friday at MoJo's Cafe After that, Lavender talks to Evan Matthews about his experience in the film industry, and his film “Motherland” which was shot in the Hudson Valley Finally, McKenna Conners brings us a piece on urban farming and food justice Co-Hosts: Jacob Boston, Richard Sleeper | Produced By: Jacob Boston

"Italy, you win!" - J.J Martin, Mamma MilanoWelcome to Episode #136:Today I share some inspiration from the book Mamma Milano by J.J Martin. J.J Martin is a visionary, creative and designer that lives in Milan. She moved to Italy many years ago and later started her fabulous fashion empire and lifestyle brand La Double J.  Today is just some musing over this beautiful book, making a life in Italy and her vibrant world of colour and flair. If in Milano you can visit her beautiful world on Sant' Andrea in the Quadrilateral della Moda - the fashion zone of Milan. Enjoy, Michelle xImage from the Book "Mamma Milano: Lessons from the Motherland"Shownotes A Writer in Italy InstagramSubstack - At My TableMichelle's BooksMusical Scores by Richard JohnstonA Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way.Support the show

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid increases in industrial production, the “Greening the Motherland” campaign promoted conservationist tree-planting nationwide. Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China (Stanford UP, 2025) explores the seemingly contradictory rhetoric and desires of Chinese conservation from the early twentieth century through to the present. Drawing on literary, cinematic, scientific, archival, and digital media sources, Cheng Li investigates the emergence, evolution, and devolution of Chinese conservationist ideas. Combining literary, historical, and environmental studies approaches, he shows that these ideas acquired their value and assumed their power precisely because of their malleability and adaptability. Li historicizes authoritarian environmentalism and probes the global-local dynamics underlying conservationist ideas that energize environmental impulses in China. Examining ethnic borderlands, the Beijing political center, and China's growth on the world stage, this book demonstrates the strength of Chinese environmentalism to adapt and survive through tumultuous change lies in what seems to be a weakness: its inconsistency and contestation. Cheng Li is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in modern Chinese environmental literature, film, science fiction, and history. He is a literary scholar and a cultural historian. His research focuses on cultural history, ecocriticism, and infrastructure. Yadong Li is an anthropologist-in-training. He is a PhD candidate of Socio-cultural Anthropology at Tulane University. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here we go then, guys, this is Life In The Peloton's Race Radio presented by SHOKZ.   Opening Weekend was a total monster start to the Spring Classics! It had everything: dramatic moments, dominant performances, and a healthy dose of that beautiful Belgian charm we've all missed over the winter. Man, it's good to be back…on my sofa watching.   Whilst I was at home catching the replay on the TV with a coffee (I'm looking forward to a cleansing Jupiler when I'm there in person for De Ronde), my old mates Harry Dowdney and Stuart Downie were right there on the ground getting in amongst the action for Race Radio. They crossed the English Channel, braved the Flemish weather, and got stuck in across the weekend at Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne to bring you this amazing first episode of this new and exciting series, and I'm pumped to share it with you.    Here's what you can look forward to in this episode, from the men behind it themselves:   Harry: I love the smell of cobbles in the morning! Especially after a wakeup call from our old friend Juan Antonio Flecha, surely the best Spanish classics rider of all time, and an absolute gentleman to boot. But there's more – we met a couple more legends of the sport on our now-customary pitwalk, but I won't spoil that just yet. We also had a bit of fun putting together a dramatic re-enactment of an edition of Kuurne that you'll probably never see the likes of again.   Stu: What a way to start the year. I purposefully avoided watching anything live, knowing that my first fix was going to be live and direct into my eyeballs at Opening weekend, and it did not disappoint. I know some folks think MVDP turning up at the last minute is dull, but I totally disagree – there's nothing like seeing a living legend surf a wall, against one of the sport's most iconic backdrops. Unbelievable scenes. It also helps to have a boss who can point you in the direction of a really good beer, so this was truly a great start to a year of racing. We hope you love it as much as we did.   Life In The Peloton's Race Radio presented by SHOKZ is taking it up a level this year; the boys are going to be right there at the roadside throughout the year, soaking it all in and sharing it with you guys. The coolest races, for the real bike racing fans. I loved listening to this episode; it really did take me back to the Motherland. I could almost smell the frites and taste the grit in between my teeth.   Of course, none of this would be possible without support from our presenting partner SHOKZ. If you're after the best sports headphones - be it for cycling, running, or even swimming - get across to SHOKZ's website, and enjoy a cheeky discount for being a LITP listener.    Also, if you want to be in with a chance to WIN a pair of SHOKZ headphones, fill in the survey below and you could bag yourself one of three pairs up for grabs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQjNx-Xyc1jjj8cqVrWLrORQq-VDa6WZIniD_x4R__BYx3tg/viewform    Guys, I know I always say this, but I really hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I do. If you live and breathe all things Flandrien and loved hearing about it from Harry & Stu, drop the boys a line at raceradio@lifeinthepeloton.com and let them know! Harry & Stu's next outing will be in May to one of my favourite races – the hipster's Paris-Roubaix, Tro-Bro Léon. I can't wait.   Cheers, Mitch

Luke Pepera discusses his debut book, "Motherland." From warrior-queens to Wakanda, from hajj to holy memories, Pepera chats with Gareth Russell about how he used history, anthropology, the memories held by landscape, and the legacy of great buildings to create his critically acclaimed book.

Q-Tip describes this album better than anyone: "Back in the days when I was a teenagerBefore I had status and before I had a pagerYou could find the Abstract listenin' to hip-hopMy pops used to say, it reminded him of BebopI said, "Well, Daddy, don't you know that things go in cycles?Way that Bobby Brown is just amping like Michael"It's all expected, things are for the lookin'If you got the money, Quest is for the bookin'Come on everybody, let's get with the fly modeStill got room on the truckload of black boomListen to the rhymes, then get a mental pictureOf this black man, and black woman fixtureWhy do I say that? 'Cause I gotta speak the truth, manDoin' what we feel for the music is the proof, andPlanted on the ground, the act is so togetherBona fide strong, you need leverage to severThe unit, yes, the unit, yes, the unit called the jazz isDelivering each year an LP filled with street goodsYou can find it on your rack in your record storeIf you get the record, say your thoughts are adoredAnd appreciated, 'cause we're ever so glad we made itWe work hard, so we gotta thank GodDishin' out the plastic, do the dance 'til you're spasticIf you diss—it gets drasticListen to the rhyme, 'cause it's time to make gravyIf it moves your booty, then shake, shake it, babyAll the way to Africa, A.K.A. the Motherland" -Q Tip, ExcursionsEp Links:Taiyamo Denku (boom-bap from Milwaukee): https://www.instagram.com/taiyamodenku/ A Tribe Called Quest's “Sgt Pepper of Hip Hop”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90T2fhsSX7ICONCEPT ALBUM RANKINGS: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.supatier.com/tierlist/019a64d9-9691-7ed1-87e9-1fc99161d9c0/tachp-ranked-tierlist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠OUR DISCORD: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/2stA2P7pTC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠OUR MERCH: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://flyoverstatepark.creator-spring.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠OUR YOUTUBE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/flyoverstatepark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EVERYTHING ELSE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/FlyoverStatePark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week on Pop Therapy, I'm joined in person in LA, by Reza Jackson - and this one moves.We go back to his Iranian-Canadian upbringing and what it's meant to claim his culture proudly as an adult. From building a content career to relocating to LA, Reza shares how he's stayed deeply connected to the Persian community while carving out his own lane.We dive into The Valley: Persian Style, the cast dynamics, and why authentic representation actually matters. And yes - we get into his Michael Jackson impersonation journey, the art-versus-artist debate, the upcoming biopic, and the ethics of supporting an icon with accusations against him.Reza talks ambition, growth, and what the next five years hold - not just for him, but for elevating Iranian culture on a global stage.Identity. Performance. Legacy. And a little moonwalk energy.Support Reza:IG: @reza_jaxTikTok: @rezajacksonWatch: The Valley: Persian Style on Bravo, Peacock and Hayu.Support the show:IG: @jana.firestoneYouTube: @poptherapypodcastTikTok: @janafirestoneWebsite: www.janafirestone.comThis episode was filmed at Lazy Pickle Studios, in Los Angeles.Supported as always by the brilliant Sam Talbot. Work with him at www.samtalbot.com.au

Recorded on January 15, 2026 Book talk starts at 24:45 EVENTS Tracie and Barb will be attending NoCKRs - April 23-26, 2026 in San Juan Bautista.   Our Sweater KAL has ended and prize winners will be announced at the end of this podcast.  Thank you to everyone who participated! Our spring KAL will be the One-Skein KAL!  Find that beauitful skein of yarn you've been saving for someday and knit it up into whatever you want - a hat, a cowl, mitts or socks.  The only rules are that your project must use at least 100 yards of yarn and be all from a single skein of yarn.  We will cast on for this KAL starting February 1 and go through May 15.   KNITTING Barb has finished: Bankhead #37   Barb has Cast On: 1.  Effortless Cardigan by Zabeth, using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted, in the Dove Heather colorway 2.  Stephanie's One-Row Scarf by Stephanie-Pearl McPhee, using a Caron Upside Down Cake in the Peanut Butter colorway   Tracie has finished: 1.  Felix Pullover by Amy Christophers from her combo spin 2.  Vanilla socks with FLK heel in Dreaming of Hue 75% SW Merino/25% Nylon in Unicorn Tails 3.  Melt The Ice Hat  by Paul S. Nearly in Psych Ward Yarns Hecka Fingering and Queensland Collection Sugar Rush Solids held together 4.  Melt the Ice Badge - #3D version by Hasani, in Malabrigo Rios   Tracie has Cast-on 1.  Zephyr Mark II By Celia Cahill in Invictus Yarns Tenacity in Wicked Guitar Riffs 2.  The Simple Thing by Melina Brell in WoolFolk Fär in color 28   Tracie has frogged/ put into Hibernation: Chicory Pullover by Susan Moskwa using Malabrigo Washted in the Pascal colorway     BOOKS   Barb has Finished:   1.  Motherland by Julia Ioffe - 2 stars   2.  The Correspondent - 5 stars   3.   The Writing Retreat - 3 stars     Tracie has finished:   1.   James by Percival  Everett- 3.5 stars   2.  Poisoned Love Carlton Smith - 4 stars   3.  What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall  - 2.5 stars   4.  North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - 4 stars   5.   Broken Ground (Karen Pirie #5) by Val McDermid - 4 stars

I had a chance to chat with actor Jimmy Akingbola, who plays Geoffrey in the hit tv series Bel-Air. From building a family with the cast of Bel-Air, to projects like Mission to Motherland, Jimmy continues to reshape his identity.-What cracked in you emotionally?-What do you want audiences to take away from the final season of Bel-Air?-What makes you want to tell the stories as a global storyteller?Instagram:@jimmyakingbola@jamir_smithJamirSmith.com

Becky, Holly, Jakob, and Austin talk about books of the 2020s, trends in reading and publishing, our hopes for the future, and a couple of predictions for the next big thing. This reading data: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump Books mentioned include: Spillover by David Quammen, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, The Plague by Albert Camus, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,  These Precious Days and Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, There is a Door in This Darkness by Kristin Cash ore, All Fours by Miranda July, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, What Were We Thinking by Carlos Lozada, Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen, Just Us by Claudia Rankine, The Trees by Percival Everett, Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette, Intimacies and A Separation by Katie Kitamura, Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, Ducks by Kate Beaton, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, The Most by Jessica Anthony, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, Autocracy Inc by Anne Applebaum, Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, Doppleganger by Naomi Klein, Detransition, Baby by Torry Peters, Woodworking by Emily St. James, Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan, Diary of a Misfit by Casey Parks, Jesus Wept by Philip Shenon, Romney by McKay Coppins, Motherland by Julia Ioffe, The Gales of November by John U. Bacon, Murderland by Caroline Fraser, King of Kings by Scott Anderson, All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilberty, Challenger by Adam Higginbotham, More Everything Forever by Adam Becker, Red White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca, The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, Wanderhome by Jay Dragon, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The House in the Cerulean sea by TJ Klune, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Women by Kristin Hannah, Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey,  The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, Alchemised by SenLinYu, Convent Wisdom by Ana Garriga and Carment Urbita, The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo, We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, Berry Song by Michaela Goade, Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, The Tragedy of True Crime by John J. Lennon, The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne,  We Tell Ourselves Stories by Alissa Wilkinson, Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik, Enshittification by Cory Doctorow, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Back After This by Linda Holmes, The Caretaker by Ron Rash And authors Patricia Lockwood,  Claire Keegan, Rachel Kushner, Timothy Snyder, Helen Garner, Casey Plett, Mr Beast/James Patterson, Stephen Graham Jones, Silvia Moreno Garcia, and more!

Georgina Godwin is joined by Maria Alyokhina, who shares insight into her latest memoir, Political Girl, and her hopes for the future of Russia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Editor - Nigel Williams How to Get to Heaven From Belfast editor Nigel Williams once again finds himself cutting with showrunner Lisa McGee.  Having first worked with McGee on her hit series, Derry Girls, the two are back together for a show that features Lisa's well-known witty dialogue and quirky characters, but this time all wrapped up in a mystery. How to Get to Heaven From Belfast is an eight-part series that follows three longtime friends. Now in their late 30s, but still as close as ever, the girls are about to embark on the most thrilling adventure of their lives. When an email arrives, telling them about the death of the estranged fourth member of their childhood gang, a series of eerie events at her wake set them on a dark, dangerous and hilarious odyssey through Ireland and beyond.  Together they try to piece together the truth of the past. It's a show about friendship, memory and what happens when life doesn't turn out quite like you'd expected. NIGEL WILLIAMS Nigel Williams is one of the most highly sought-after editors in comedy. He hit gold in 2000 when two strangers were looking to cut a pilot. Those strangers were Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Together they made one of the biggest comedies of all time, The Office. Nigel then went on to edit some of the most successful comedies on TV, including Extras, Outnumbered, Motherland, Horrible Histories and Tracey Ullman's Show. Nigel also edited 5 seasons of Episodes, starring Matt Leblanc, in Los Angeles, working with Jeffrey Klarik and David Crane (creator of Friends). Williams was thrilled that his recent work on hit show Derry Girls was recognized with a coveted BFE award for Best Editor. He has also co-founded Wrap Party Agency, and is committed to promoting more diversity and inclusion within post-production. Visit Extreme Music for the new Extreme Music panel for Avid Media Composer See which Avid Media Composer is right for you Subscribe to The Rough Cut podcast and never miss an episode Visit The Rough Cut on YouTube

Sorry for the delay makkale. Perusa irundha naala late aairuchu. Episode ah sonnom.Leave your comments in the Instagram post of this episode to get featured in the next episode. Please follow/ subscribe to our podcast. Follow us on Instagram in the below links

This week, we review the update of the MotherLand

Send us a textThe Power of No Like many women of earlier generations the ability to utter the word “no” was difficult. But I quickly learnt its power when I arrived in NYC at age 16 and had to survive a new and abstract environment .Fresh from a village in the Corentyne  of nearly 500 people  I landed in Greenwich Village , Manhattan- the bohemian community of artists, hippies, gamsters, gangsters where live accelerated- surrounded by cozy pubs,  pool halls, record shops, vintage clothing shops ( where I found my first style in a Balenciaga dress, and Givaunchy coat for  than one hundred dollars, feasted on lunches at a Cuban cafetiera - arroz, black beans, and fried platanos for less than five dollars… traded Vidal Sassoon haircuts for fashion tips with my new friend, Miwa… a  metropolis exploration where I learned to unreign my free will to bolster and materialise an infinite sense of creativity. I trained myself to learn the word “no”, No to taking the easy route No to being exploitedNo to jobs that underpaid immigrantsNo to unscrupulous landlordsThe most aggrieved No was to my father who was adamant about my pursuing my academic studies. The power of No did not alleviate mistakes and blindspots along the way but it safeguarded my focus. I had no choice but to succeed with my new life. With the power of NO, I was able to step by step build a new life with revolutionary clothing designs and empowered the brand name Maya which fashion designs in the seventies were featured by 80% of America's hi fashion fashion retailers. I had delved into unearthing remembered skills. Then cancer struck at the height of my fashion career. A five year long journey that took me through the first fire of imitation of adult life. Cancer rerouted me back to the rich ground of my Vedic ancestry. My father was the pivotal oarsman In this transition. He reminded me that my birth path was a sacred one. I belonged not to the path of celebrity, but to the path of service. Just like that the power of No which had rapidly grown my success in the fashion world morphed into itself to bail me out of the cursory industry of commerce and commodity. His echo was a resounding NO to my life in the fashion industry. I closed the doors to my quintessential Madison Ave boutique, Closed all retailers access to my designs, closed out my licensing project that had just opened its first flagship store. The journey of Yes had begun: Yes to realigning with ancestral wisdom. Yes to being the first of my family to return to the Motherland. Yes, to the grace of an intensely disciplined and structured vocation of studying Vedas. Yes to my remarkable Guru, who was one of the rare and authentic scholar of Vedas. After my spiritual initiation, I returned to a fresh blossoms of  new life, with abundant pristine energy, and opened the Wise Earth School for disseminating Ayurveda holistic  medicine way of life.  The Spiritual Life of YES40 years of Yes ( while there were thousands of noble deeds and  lessons culled in these years, what stands out in the wane of energy is the priceless cost of Yes.Yes to women who needed my spiritual energy without accountabilityYes to women who needed a mother because their own relationship with their mother was deficient. Yes to those who needed to heal without doing the work Yes to the Support the showMay Peace Be Your Journey~www.mayatiwari.comwww.facebook.com/mayatiwariahimsa.Buzzsprout.com Mothermaya@gmail.com Get Maya's New Book: I Am Shakti: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/I-am-shakti Amazon.com Bookshop.org

I feel directionless in life, I don't know what to choose next, and I need to figure things out. Because in Motherland? I have no other choice. I've been goal setting, problem solving, and trying to learn how to take care of myself in an effort to find a solution. But one thing keeps getting in the way. How do I mother others without someone mothering me? Key Takeaways:    [1:09] My TV interview and why I chose the title Motherland [3:08] Waiting for things I know won't happen  [4:48] My mom's losing her independence and I'm left mothering myself [6:52] My psychic, visit from Molly who told me to get rid of manipulators  [8:08] Being told to take care of myself and not take things personally  [9:39] Being parentified as a child, but wanting to change [12:27] Making outcome based goals makes me feel like a failure [13:22] Working on my mobility is a process goal [16:18] If I stay where I am, how will I change? [18:02] I've never really taken good care of myself  [19:19] I need to promote my book and figure out my podcast  [22:32] I am at a fork in the road and don't know how to make things happen  [23:59] Enjoy whatever your January will be   Resources:   My Psychic Medium My TV Interview   Connect with Barb:   Website   Facebook    Instagram   Be a guest on the podcast    YouTube   The Molly B Foundation  

Russian-born journalist Julia Ioffe is one of America's most influential voices on Russia-US relations, reporting on Putin's regime for over 15 years. Her new book, Motherland – which has been longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award for Non-Fiction – tells the stories of the many women who have shaped modern Russia, from feminist revolutionaries to the fearless members of Pussy Riot and Yulia Navalnaya. In December 2025, Ioffe joined CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward to share her insights on life inside Putin's Russia and the possibilities for political change. She explored the history of modern Russia through the lives of its women, from the Bolshevik revolution to the present day, shining a spotlight on the remarkable women who, with enormous courage, defy Putin's regime and are fighting for a better future for their country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russian-born journalist Julia Ioffe is one of America's most influential voices on Russia-US relations, reporting on Putin's regime for over 15 years. Her new book, Motherland – which has been longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award for Non-Fiction – tells the stories of the many women who have shaped modern Russia, from feminist revolutionaries to the fearless members of Pussy Riot and Yulia Navalnaya. In December 2025, Ioffe joined CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward to share her insights on life inside Putin's Russia and the possibilities for political change. She explored the history of modern Russia through the lives of its women, from the Bolshevik revolution to the present day, shining a spotlight on the remarkable women who, with enormous courage, defy Putin's regime and are fighting for a better future for their country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Rising For Our Motherlands, we take listeners on a guided tour of two of Oakland's most powerful and politically significant murals: the Oakland to Palestine Solidarity Mural (completed in 2014) and the SUMUD: Resistance Until Liberation Mural at Uptown Body and Fender (completed in 2024).Oakland to Palestine Solidarity MuralIn the first part of the episode, we walk listeners through the Oakland to Palestine Solidarity Mural, a monumental public artwork that centers the image of the tree as a global symbol of life, resilience, and resistance.Spanning 157 feet wide and 22 feet tall, the mural is composed of nine individual panels, each painted by a different artist or collective. Through distinct interpretations of the tree motif, the mural draws connections between shared histories of colonization, environmental exploitation, the internal exile of Indigenous peoples, and ongoing struggles for justice.Together, these panels form a stunning public tribute to the human spirit and its unassailable right to thrive in the face of political oppression and injustice—wherever it occurs in the world.SUMUD: Resistance Until Liberation MuralLater in the episode, we are joined by Yasmeen, a Bay Area community member involved in the SUMUD mural project, and Al Juthoor, a local Bay Area Dabke group. Yasmeen shares insights into the production process, artistic vision, and political motivations behind the mural.The SUMUD: Resistance Until Liberation Mural is a collaborative project between artists and activists in the U.S. and Palestine. It explores and confronts the deep interconnections between systems of incarceration, colonization, and repression in both places, while affirming the vitality of the Palestinian Liberation Movement. The mural serves both as a memorial to this historical moment and as a living expression of collective struggle—locally and globally.In both the U.S. and Palestine, art is often a political act. This mural stands as a testament to the imagination, brilliance, and creativity of resistance, even under conditions of imprisonment and occupation. As Zionist forces enact ongoing death and destruction in Gaza and Palestine, creating this mural together as a community affirms a shared commitment to resistance, solidarity, and liberation.Sumud is an Arabic word meaning the steadfast will to survive, endure, and remain connected to the land.Featured music & audio clips in this episode: Mohammed Assaf, voices of Emory Douglas, Keven Cooper and Um Eyad, various national & international news segments, and chants from students, local Bay Area activists, and organizers.Graphic includes a portrait of Um Eyad by Art Forces lead artist Susan Greene, in collaboration with Peps 357 (Spoon) and Asha Sudra (Kufiyeh).  Podcast art created by nicole gervacio.Learn more: Oakland to Palestine Mural: https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/Sumud Mural: SumudMuralOakland.org

What does it mean to be an artist for the people? In this episode of Rising for Our Motherlands, we talk with muralists and cultural workers Cece Carpio and Chris “C” Gazaleh about making art in movement spaces — from the Philippines and Palestine to the murals that filled downtown Oakland after the George Floyd uprisings.Cece Carpio uses acrylic, ink, aerosol, and installations to tell stories of immigration, ancestry, resistance, and resilience. Her bold portraits blend folkloric forms with urban art techniques, honoring everyday people and their thriving presence. Cece has created and exhibited work across the world and currently serves as Galleries Manager for the San Francisco Arts Commission and Public Art Advisor for the City of Oakland.More: CeceCarpio.com | @CeceCarpioChris “C” Gazaleh is a San Francisco–born visual artist, musician, writer, organizer, and educator whose work uplifts Palestinian history, culture, and the struggle for freedom. Rooted in hip hop and graffiti, he developed his style early on and deepened his connection to his heritage while learning Arabic in Detroit. After returning home, he joined General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) at San Francisco State University, helped create the Edward Said mural, and began painting murals throughout the community, working with youth to spread knowledge, love, and cultural pride.More: CGazaleh.com | @CGazalehTogether, we explore how art becomes a language for our families, nurtures collaboration, and uplifts community voices — and what it means to create under capitalist and imperialist systems.Special thanks to Women's Audio Mission and DJ Ari for hosting the recording of this episode.Featuring Music by Excentrik & Chris Gazaleh, Ruby Ibarra, Abe Batshon, Kimmortal, Public Enemy, Anderson Paak, & GingeeA huge thank you to Salma Taleb, Hesham Jarmakani, Francesca Juico, Chris Wanis, and Carmelo Ibanez for our beautiful theme music and to our co-conspirator & We Rise producer Cat Petru for weaving our voices and songs together.Podcast art created by nicole gervacio.

Welcome Aboard FLIGHT OSO! Buckle up! and get ready for take off as we take you on a musical journey! I've always carried a deep passion for African music, and today I'm truly blessed to share my first-ever 3 Step mix, created in the Motherland ! The Beautiful Continent of Africa. After flying over 20 hours, I arrived in South Africa, as soon as I landed I felt the rhythm, the energy, and the spirit that defines this sound. The drums, the grooves, the soulful melodies — this is music that moves beyond the dance floor and straight into the soul. As a DJ and producer, this mix represents more than a moment — it's a connection. A celebration of culture. A reflection of love, healing, and unity through sound. This is 3 Step! This is Africa! This is love! Thank you for listening, feeling, and sharing this journey with me. Send Me Videos of you listening to my mix on Instagram @OSOCITY So I can Post Them

Good morning! In today's episode of Cafecito y Croquetas, we sit down with returning friend of the fam, Orlando Mendez – aka the Cuban Cowboy ☕

In this intimate reflection, Colombian-American producer Tasha Sandoval takes listeners with her as she returns to her native Colombia, after a lifetime of living in the United States, first as a Latina immigrant and then as a US citizen. For a few years, Tasha has had a growing desire: to find out what life would be like if she relocated to the country her parents left, her homeland. And she’s not the only one–Latin American diasporas in the U.S., including many U.S.-born Latinos, are seeking connections to their ancestral homelands. Tasha takes us on her journey as she tries to answer a question: What happens when you are willing to return home? Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa. Follow the show to get every episode. Follow us on TikTok and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.