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It's the 1970s. The Vietnam War, Watergate and the oil crisis are stoking turmoil in America. And in southern California two middle-class rebels are about to strike back at ‘The Man' by selling CIA spy satellite secrets to the USSR.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Johnny & Brent welcome Rick Monroe to The Challenge, where they craft 5-6 different conceptual ideas for a song titled "Another Garden". Rick was an indie artist for years, formerly endorsed by Jägermeister and now Monster Energy Drinks; however, Rick Monroe & The Hitmen just signed an imprint deal with Virgin Records. Monroe has performed in 17 countries, in every U.S. state (including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), and he's a Seven-time Jaeger Meister country brand ambassador. He's toured with Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Lee Bryce, Aaron Lewis, Eli Young Band, Pat Green, Ted Nugent, and Randy Hauser, as well as opened for country music legends including the Charlie Daniels Band, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt, Patty Loveless, and more. Finally, he's entertained the USO overseas, AFV, US troops in Vietnam, and the former President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are discussing Wind of Change released in 1991 by German rock band Scoprions. A song that changed the balance of global power with nothing more than metaphors and local references. Also in this prepisode music news of the weird, listener emails and we announce next week's album. In this episode we discuss what Garrett's "freelance jobs" actually are, the fall of the USSR, using music for regime change, why Haunted Houses are not an erotic location, that Time Putin stole a Super Bowl ring, why Poison won't be touring this year, sound weapons, the Philly grave robber, David Bowie, and so much more!  Hatepod.com | TW: @AlbumHatePod | IG: @hatePod | hatePodMail@gmail.com Episode Outline: Quick update on the goings on at the world headquarters Discuss our history with the song/band Song discussion - lyrics and music Music Video How the song did worldwide Amazon reviews Listener email (just 2) Music news of the weird Announce next week's album

In this episode, we feature Michael Parenti, who passed away this week at the age of 92. A prominent political scientist and cultural critic, he delivers a powerful lecture at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1986. Parenti discusses the intricacies of US interventionism, the dynamics of capitalism, and the historical exploitation of the developing world. He challenges conventional narratives about poverty in the Global South, asserting that these nations are not poor but rather over-exploited. Join us as we unpack his insightful analysis of imperialism, capitalism, and the ongoing struggles for social justice that our oligarchs and their political class have not seemed to learn the lessons from 40 years ago, as the stature of the U.S. erodes daily on the world stage, supporting endless war in Ukraine and Palestine, disastrous trade policies, and ongoing hegemonic and regime change operations in multiple countries. Support the Podcast via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Born to a working class Italian American family in New York City, he earned his doctorate at Yale and taught political science despite being blacklisted for his political views. We re-air this Yellow lecture - referring to the poor 1980s video quality – because after the U.S war machine goes after Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, who's next, this desire for hegemonic control from this failing empire will not stop until we all step up and make it stop. And this Imperial Boomerang, what Chalmers Johnson called Blowback, it's hitting us in Minnesota, on the streets here in Los Angeles all the way to Maine. The violent methods to control and subdue smaller weaker countries, disappearing intellectuals, activists, political leaders Like I saw in Guatemala in the 90s; where activists are unalived without any fear of accountability. Minneapolis. We did it to Vietnam, we did it in Iraq, now we're doing it in…where next? For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Sources: Michael Parenti speaks at the University of Colorado, Boulder: "US interventionism, the 3rd world, and the USSR" April 15, 1986 Yellow Lecture: https://youtu.be/W10QEs-TkhU?si=ZP_D5JNOWpJ_xvuC Michael Parenti Library: https://www.youtube.com/@themichaelparentilibrary/videos Michael Parenti [https://www.michael-parenti.org/] is a U.S. political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He is the award-winning author of twenty-four books, including The Face of Imperialism (2011) and Democracy for the Few originally written in 1974 with a 9th edition published in 2010: He has taught at universities and has also run for political office. Parenti is well known for his Marxist writings and lectures, and is an intellectual of the U.S. Left. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes for an Artbound project on PBS SoCal called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 259 Photo credit: Michael Parenti

***RIP Michael Parenti*** Michael Parenti speaks at the University of Colorado, Boulder: "US interventionism, the 3rd world, and the USSR" April 15, 1986 Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14 Check out the Anti-Imperialist Archive  for more great archival mixes Join us for a live edition of Tankie Group Therapy Sunday @ 3:30 https://www.youtube.com/live/rX2hbS3eKqg    

Welcome to Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu! In this episode, Tom Bilyeu sits down for part two of his fascinating conversation with Anatoly Yakovenko, the creator of Solana. Together, they dive deep into the future of finance, the interplay between politics and technology, and how crypto and AI are shaping our world. Anatoly Yakovenko shares his unique perspective as an immigrant from the former USSR, reflecting on the distinctly American spirit of innovation, self-reliance, and problem-solving. He offers insights into how feedback loops in democracy, technological advancements, and economic incentives drive both progress and setbacks in the United States. The duo explores the challenges of building trust in an increasingly digital world—from cryptographic signatures to the limits of human perception—and discuss how AI is rapidly transforming everything from software engineering to healthcare. Anatoly Yakovenko reveals how crypto is cutting out middlemen, democratizing financial access, and why meme coins and speculative culture are here to stay. Get ready for an episode packed with optimism, critical thinking, and a clear-eyed assessment of the innovations and hurdles ahead in tech, governance, and society. Whether you're a crypto enthusiast or just curious about the forces reshaping our world, this conversation will give you plenty to think about. Quince: Free shipping and 365-day returns at https://quince.com/impactpodHomeServe: Help protect your home systems – and your wallet – with HomeServe against covered repairs. Plans start at just $4.99 a month at https://homeserve.comShopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Pique: 20% off at https://piquelife.com/impactNetSuite: Right now, get our free business guide, Demystifying AI, at https://NetSuite.com/Theory Ketone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription orderAquaTru: 20% off your purifier with code IMPACT https://aquatru.comIncogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code IMPACT at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/impactSintra AI: 72% off with code IMPACT at https://sintra.ai/impactHuel: High-Protein Starter Kit 20% off for new customers at https://huel.com/impact code impactBevel Health: Visit https://bevel.health/impact and use code IMPACT to get your first month free. What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER:  https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20show SCALING a business: see if you qualify here.:  https://tombilyeu.com/call Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.: https://tombilyeu.com/ ********************************************************************** If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu FOLLOW ANATOLY YAKOVENKO Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenkoSolana Foundation: https://solana.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of She's All Over the Place, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit and chat with the producer, Steven Lawrence, to explore The Long Way Home: Remastered and Expanded (2026) Michael Apted's long-lost documentary about Soviet underground rock legend Boris Grebenshchikov and his extraordinary 1988 journey from Leningrad to the West during the early days of Glasnost. Filmed at a moment of rare optimism inside the USSR, the documentary follows Grebenshchikov as he records an album with Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), alongside Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Ray Cooper, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, becoming one of the first Soviet musicians to collaborate openly with Western rock stars. Remastered in 4K with new 5.1 sound and expanded with a newly created epilogue, the film now brings Boris's story up to the present: his disillusionment with post-Soviet Russia, his outspoken opposition to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, and his eventual exile from his homeland. We discuss the film's disappearance for more than three decades, its rediscovery through MoMA's Film Preservation Festival, and why The Long Way Home now feels less like a period piece  and more like a warning, a memory, and a testament to the enduring power of music to resist censorship and tyranny. MoMA EVENT WEBSITE: https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/11134 MoMA SOCIAL MEDIA:o Instagram: @themuseumofmodernarto Facebook: facebook.com/MuseumofModernArt (@museumofmodernart) o LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-museum-of-modern-art/ (@the-museum-of-modern-art) o TikTok: @museumofmodernarto Threads: @themuseumofmodernarto Twitter: @MoMAFilm Stay Connected with ME: https://www.chonacas.com/links/

Author Izabella Tabarovsky—a scholar of Soviet antizionism and contemporary antisemitism, writer, journalist, and the author of Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student's Survival Guide—joins host Steven Shalowitz from her home in Jerusalem to explore the Soviet origins of modern anti-Zionism and why those ideas echo so loudly on campuses today. Born in 1970 and raised in the USSR, Tabarovsky recounts what it meant to live with state-sponsored "anti-Zionism" that functioned as a sophisticated system of discrimination against Jews, from schoolyard humiliation to university and career barriers.

Send us a textMOPB- Blind Leading the BlindPodcast Summary – Ro-Mina / MOPB S1 E4 “Boobs and Knees”This episode opens with a deep dive into Ro-Mina's background. Born in Uzbekistan during the USSR era, Ro-Mina is a Bukharian (Buharian) Sephardic Jew with Persian roots—something she considers central to her identity. She immigrated to the U.S. at age five, speaks fluent Russian, and grew up in Northeast Philly before moving to Bucks County. A longtime reality-TV fan, Ro-Mina manifested her place on TV and ultimately landed on the show through Rosalyn.Professionally, Ro-Mina partnered with her brother in a senior home-care business, which they later sold. She then invested heavily in real estate with her husband Roman, taking over design and staging while he builds, leases, and manages properties himself. Roman has supported her reality-TV ambitions from day one.Ro-Mina finds herself caught in the middle of the growing rift between Rosalyn and Hillary. While she respects Hillary's talent and hustle, she believes Hillary revealed Rosalyn's past in a way that felt malicious. She encourages Rosalyn to keep finding her voice and stay authentic, while struggling with loyalty on both sides.The recap then shifts to MOPB S1 E4 – “Boobs and Knees.” Hillary plans a lavish vow renewal after her intimate Tuscany wedding, complete with yacht tastings and nonstop criticism of the food. She continues her crusade against Maria, accusing her of inappropriate behavior and declaring she doesn't belong in the group.At Maria's DJ launch party, tensions explode. Hillary and Maria face off over accusations of name-calling, attention-seeking, and physical boundaries. The argument ends with Hillary uninviting Maria from her vow renewal—and Maria gladly accepting the dismissal.The drama escalates again at Rosalyn's billionaire-level gala, featuring a $1.2M Bulgari Serpenti necklace. Fashion rules (“boobs and knees”), etiquette wars, and reputation policing dominate the night. Taja confronts Gale over name-dropping and authenticity, while Maria exposes behind-the-scenes judgment from the group. The evening reaches peak chaos when Gale literally falls off the couch, triggering a glam emergency and unfiltered confessionals.The episode closes with fractured alliances, wounded egos, and the clear realization that Palm Beach politeness is no match for unchecked honesty, couture confidence, and unresolved grudges.Support the showhttps://www.wewinewhenever.com/

On Episode 613 of Spittin' Chiclets, The boys are joined by one of the legendary Russian 5, Sergei Fedorov after he recently got his jersey retired in Detroit. An unreal interview where he talks about defecting from the USSR, Growing up skating in northern Russia, and much more. But first, The Rangers are going full Retool mode, Vegas pulls off another insane trade, and we saw a full on tilt in college hockey. Tune in. You won't want to miss it. 00:00:00 - Start 00:00:32 - Chiclets Updates 00:17:32 - Football Playoffs 00:31:47 - Rangers Retooling 00:48:13 - Andersson Trade 00:55:05 - Around the League 01:11:23 - Sergei Fedorov 02:18:34 - Quick Hits 02:22:58 - ETC. Support the Show: Pink Whitney: Take Your Shot with Pink Whitney Draft Kings: GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD).  21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). Pass-thru of per wager tax may apply in IL. 1 per new customer. Must register new account to receive reward Token. Must select Token BEFORE placing min. $5 bet to receive $300 in Bonus Bets if your bet wins. Min. -500 odds req. Token and Bonus Bets are single-use and non-withdrawable. Token expires 2/1/26. Bonus Bets expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 1/25/26 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK. Rhoback: Use the code CHICLETS on https://Rhoback.com for 20% off your first purchase through the end of this week BodyArmor: Work hard and hydrate hard with BODYARMOR Flash I.V. Grab it at 7-ElevenYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Last time we spoke about the climax of the battle of Lake Khasan. In August, the Lake Khasan region became a tense theater of combat as Soviet and Japanese forces clashed around Changkufeng and Hill 52. The Soviets pushed a multi-front offensive, bolstered by artillery, tanks, and air power, yet the Japanese defenders held firm, aided by engineers, machine guns, and heavy guns. By the ninth and tenth, a stubborn Japanese resilience kept Hill 52 and Changkufeng in Japanese hands, though the price was steep and the field was littered with the costs of battle. Diplomatically, both sides aimed to confine the fighting and avoid a larger war. Negotiations trudged on, culminating in a tentative cease-fire draft for August eleventh: a halt to hostilities, positions to be held as of midnight on the tenth, and the creation of a border-demarcation commission. Moscow pressed for a neutral umpire; Tokyo resisted, accepting a Japanese participant but rejecting a neutral referee. The cease-fire was imperfect, with miscommunications and differing interpretations persisting.    #185 Operation Hainan Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After what seemed like a lifetime over in the northern border between the USSR and Japan, today we are returning to the Second Sino-Japanese War. Now I thought it might be a bit jarring to dive into it, so let me do a brief summary of where we are at, in the year of 1939. As the calendar turned to 1939, the Second Sino-Japanese War, which had erupted in July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and escalated into full-scale conflict, had evolved into a protracted quagmire for the Empire of Japan. What began as a swift campaign to subjugate the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek had, by the close of 1938, transformed into a war of attrition. Japanese forces, under the command of generals like Shunroku Hata and Yasuji Okamura, had achieved stunning territorial gains: the fall of Shanghai in November 1937 after a brutal three-month battle that cost over 200,000 Chinese lives; the infamous capture of Nanjing in December 1937, marked by the Nanjing Massacre where an estimated 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed in a six-week orgy of violence; and the sequential occupations of Xuzhou in May 1938, Wuhan in October 1938, and Guangzhou that same month.  These victories secured Japan's control over China's eastern seaboard, major riverine arteries like the Yangtze, and key industrial centers, effectively stripping the Nationalists of much of their economic base. Yet, despite these advances, China refused to capitulate. Chiang's government had retreated inland to the mountainous stronghold of Chongqing in Sichuan province, where it regrouped amid the fog-laden gorges, drawing on the vast human reserves of China's interior and the resilient spirit of its people. By late 1938, Japanese casualties had mounted to approximately 50,000 killed and 200,000 wounded annually, straining the Imperial Japanese Army's resources and exposing the vulnerabilities of overextended supply lines deep into hostile territory. In Tokyo, the corridors of the Imperial General Headquarters and the Army Ministry buzzed with urgent deliberations during the winter of 1938-1939. The initial doctrine of "quick victory" through decisive battles, epitomized by the massive offensives of 1937 and 1938, had proven illusory. Japan's military planners, influenced by the Kwantung Army's experiences in Manchuria and the ongoing stalemate, recognized that China's sheer size, with its 4 million square miles and over 400 million inhabitants, rendered total conquest unfeasible without unacceptable costs. Intelligence reports highlighted the persistence of Chinese guerrilla warfare, particularly in the north where Communist forces under Mao Zedong's Eighth Route Army conducted hit-and-run operations from bases in Shanxi and Shaanxi, sabotaging railways and ambushing convoys. The Japanese response included brutal pacification campaigns, such as the early iterations of what would later formalize as the "Three Alls Policy" (kill all, burn all, loot all), aimed at devastating rural economies and isolating resistance pockets. But these measures only fueled further defiance. By early 1939, a strategic pivot was formalized: away from direct annihilation of Chinese armies toward a policy of economic strangulation. This "blockade and interdiction" approach sought to sever China's lifelines to external aid, choking off the flow of weapons, fuel, and materiel that sustained the Nationalist war effort. As one Japanese staff officer noted in internal memos, the goal was to "starve the dragon in its lair," acknowledging the limits of Japanese manpower, total forces in China numbered around 1 million by 1939, against China's inexhaustible reserves. Central to this new strategy were the three primary overland supply corridors that had emerged as China's backdoors to the world, compensating for the Japanese naval blockade that had sealed off most coastal ports since late 1937. The first and most iconic was the Burma Road, a 717-mile engineering marvel hastily constructed between 1937 and 1938 by over 200,000 Chinese and Burmese laborers under the direction of engineers like Chih-Ping Chen. Stretching from the railhead at Lashio in British Burma (modern Myanmar) through treacherous mountain passes and dense jungles to Kunming in Yunnan province, the road navigated elevations up to 7,000 feet with hundreds of hairpin turns and precarious bridges. By early 1939, it was operational, albeit plagued by monsoonal mudslides, banditry, and mechanical breakdowns of the imported trucks, many Ford and Chevrolet models supplied via British Rangoon. Despite these challenges, it funneled an increasing volume of aid: in 1939 alone, estimates suggest up to 10,000 tons per month of munitions, gasoline, and aircraft parts from Allied sources, including early Lend-Lease precursors from the United States. The road's completion in 1938 had been a direct response to the loss of southern ports, and its vulnerability to aerial interdiction made it a prime target in Japanese planning documents. The second lifeline was the Indochina route, centered on the French-built Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (also known as the Hanoi-Kunming Railway), a 465-mile narrow-gauge line completed in 1910 that linked the port of Haiphong in French Indochina to Kunming via Hanoi and Lao Cai. This colonial artery, supplemented by parallel roads and river transport along the Red River, became China's most efficient supply conduit in 1938-1939, exploiting France's uneasy neutrality. French authorities, under Governor-General Pierre Pasquier and later Georges Catroux, turned a blind eye to transshipments, allowing an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tons monthly in early 1939, far surpassing the Burma Road's initial capacity. Cargoes included Soviet arms rerouted via Vladivostok and American oil, with French complicity driven by anti-Japanese sentiment and profitable tolls. However, Japanese reconnaissance flights from bases in Guangdong noted the vulnerability of bridges and rail yards, leading to initial bombing raids by mid-1939. Diplomatic pressure mounted, with Tokyo issuing protests to Paris, foreshadowing the 1940 closure under Vichy France after the fall of France in Europe. The route's proximity to the South China Sea made it a focal point for Japanese naval strategists, who viewed it as a "leak in the blockade." The third corridor, often overlooked but critical, was the Northwest Highway through Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang province. This overland network, upgraded between 1937 and 1941 with Soviet assistance, connected the Turkestan-Siberian Railway at Almaty (then Alma-Ata) to Lanzhou in Gansu via Urumqi, utilizing a mix of trucks, camel caravans, and rudimentary roads across the Gobi Desert and Tian Shan mountains. Under the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1937 and subsequent aid agreements, Moscow supplied China with over 900 aircraft, 82 tanks, 1,300 artillery pieces, and vast quantities of ammunition and fuel between 1937 and 1941—much of it traversing this route. In 1938-1939, volumes peaked, with Soviet pilots and advisors even establishing air bases in Lanzhou. The highway's construction involved tens of thousands of Chinese laborers, facing harsh winters and logistical hurdles, but it delivered up to 2,000 tons monthly, including entire fighter squadrons like the Polikarpov I-16. Japanese intelligence, aware of this "Red lifeline," planned disruptions but were constrained by the ongoing Nomonhan Incident on the Manchurian-Soviet border in 1939, which diverted resources and highlighted the risks of provoking Moscow. These routes collectively sustained China's resistance, prompting Japan's high command to prioritize their severance. In March 1939, the South China Area Army was established under General Rikichi Andō (later succeeded by Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi), headquartered in Guangzhou, with explicit orders to disrupt southern communications. Aerial campaigns intensified, with Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bombers from Wuhan and Guangzhou targeting Kunming's airfields and the Red River bridges, while diplomatic maneuvers pressured colonial powers: Britain faced demands during the June 1939 Tientsin Crisis to close the Burma Road, and France received ultimatums that culminated in the 1940 occupation of northern Indochina. Yet, direct assaults on Yunnan or Guangxi were deemed too arduous due to rugged terrain and disease risks. Instead, planners eyed peripheral objectives to encircle these arteries. This strategic calculus set the stage for the invasion of Hainan Island, a 13,000-square-mile landmass off Guangdong's southern coast, rich in iron and copper but strategically priceless for its position astride the Indochina route and proximity to Hong Kong. By February 1939, Japanese admirals like Nobutake Kondō of the 5th Fleet advocated seizure to establish air and naval bases, plugging blockade gaps and enabling raids on Haiphong and Kunming, a prelude to broader southern expansion that would echo into the Pacific War. Now after the fall campaign around Canton in autumn 1938, the Japanese 21st Army found itself embedded in a relentless effort to sever the enemy's lifelines. Its primary objective shifted from mere battlefield engagements to tightening the choke points of enemy supply, especially along the Canton–Hankou railway. Recognizing that war materiel continued to flow into the enemy's hands, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army to strike at every other supply route, one by one, until the arteries of logistics were stifled. The 21st Army undertook a series of decisive occupations to disrupt transport and provisioning from multiple directions. To sustain these difficult campaigns, Imperial General Headquarters reinforced the south China command, enabling greater operational depth and endurance. The 21st Army benefited from a series of reinforcements during 1939, which allowed a reorganization of assignments and missions: In late January, the Iida Detachment was reorganized into the Formosa Mixed Brigade and took part in the invasion of Hainan Island.  Hainan, just 15 miles across the Qiongzhou Strait from the mainland, represented a critical "loophole": it lay astride the Gulf of Tonkin, enabling smuggling of arms and materiel from Haiphong to Kunming, and offered potential airfields for bombing raids deep into Yunnan. Japanese interest in Hainan dated to the 1920s, driven by the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, which eyed the island's tropical resources (rubber, iron, copper) and naval potential at ports like Sanya (Samah). Prewar surveys by Japanese firms, such as those documented in Ide Kiwata's Minami Shina no Sangyō to Keizai (1939), highlighted mineral wealth and strategic harbors. The fall of Guangzhou in October 1938 provided the perfect launchpad, but direct invasion was delayed until early 1939 amid debates between the IJA (favoring mainland advances) and IJN (prioritizing naval encirclement). The operation would also heavily align with broader "southward advance" (Nanshin-ron) doctrine foreshadowing invasions of French Indochina (1940) and the Pacific War. On the Chinese side, Hainan was lightly defended as part of Guangdong's "peace preservation" under General Yu Hanmou. Two security regiments, six guard battalions, and a self-defense corps, totaling around 7,000–10,000 poorly equipped troops guarded the island, supplemented by roughly 300 Communist guerrillas under Feng Baiju, who operated independently in the interior. The indigenous Li (Hlai) people in the mountainous south, alienated by Nationalist taxes, provided uneven support but later allied with Communists. The Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army, in cooperation with the Navy, to occupy and hold strategic points on the island near Haikou-Shih. The 21st Army commander assigned the Formosa Mixed Brigade to carry out this mission. Planning began in late 1938 under the IJN's Fifth Fleet, with IJA support from the 21st Army. The objective: secure northern and southern landing sites to bisect the island, establish air/naval bases, and exploit resources. Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō, commanding the fleet, emphasized surprise and air superiority. The invasion began under the cover of darkness on February 9, 1939, when Kondō's convoy entered Tsinghai Bay on the northern shore of Hainan and anchored at midnight. Japanese troops swiftly disembarked, encountering minimal initial resistance from the surprised Chinese defenders, and secured a beachhead in the northern zone. At 0300 hours on 10 February, the Formosa Mixed Brigade, operating in close cooperation with naval units, executed a surprise landing at the northeastern point of Tengmai Bay in north Hainan. By 04:30, the right flank reached the main road leading to Fengyingshih, while the left flank reached a position two kilometers south of Tienwei. By 07:00, the right flank unit had overcome light enemy resistance near Yehli and occupied Chiungshan. At that moment there were approximately 1,000 elements of the enemy's 5th Infantry Brigade (militia) at Chiungshan; about half of these troops were destroyed, and the remainder fled into the hills south of Tengmai in a state of disarray. Around 08:30 that same day, the left flank unit advanced to the vicinity of Shuchang and seized Hsiuying Heights. By 12:00, it occupied Haikou, the island's northern port city and administrative center, beginning around noon. Army and navy forces coordinated to mop up remaining pockets of resistance in the northern areas, overwhelming the scattered Chinese security units through superior firepower and organization. No large-scale battles are recorded in primary accounts; instead, the engagements were characterized by rapid advances and localized skirmishes, as the Chinese forces, lacking heavy artillery or air support, could not mount a sustained defense. By the end of the day, Japanese control over the north was consolidating, with Haikou falling under their occupation.Also on 10 February, the Brigade pushed forward to seize Cingang. Wenchang would be taken on the 22nd, followed by Chinglan Port on the 23rd. On February 11, the operation expanded southward when land combat units amphibiously assaulted Samah (now Sanya) at the island's southern tip. This landing allowed them to quickly seize key positions, including the port of Yulin (Yulinkang) and the town of Yai-Hsien (Yaxian, now part of Sanya). With these southern footholds secured, Japanese forces fanned out to subjugate the rest of the island, capturing inland areas and infrastructure with little organized opposition. Meanwhile, the landing party of the South China Navy Expeditionary Force, which had joined with the Army to secure Haikou, began landing on the island's southern shore at dawn on 14 February. They operated under the protection of naval and air units. By the same morning, the landing force had advanced to Sa-Riya and, by 12:00 hours, had captured Yulin Port. Chinese casualties were significant in the brief fighting; from January to May 1939, reports indicate the 11th security regiment alone suffered 8 officers and 162 soldiers killed, 3 officers and 16 wounded, and 5 officers and 68 missing, though figures for other units are unclear. Japanese losses were not publicly detailed but appear to have been light.  When crisis pressed upon them, Nationalist forces withdrew from coastal Haikou, shepherding the last civilians toward the sheltering embrace of the Wuzhi mountain range that bands the central spine of Hainan. From that high ground they sought to endure the storm, praying that the rugged hills might shield their families from the reach of war. Yet the Li country's mountains did not deliver a sanctuary free of conflict. Later in August of 1943, an uprising erupted among the Li,Wang Guoxing, a figure of local authority and stubborn resolve. His rebellion was swiftly crushed; in reprisal, the Nationalists executed a seizure of vengeance that extended far beyond the moment of defeat, claiming seven thousand members of Wang Guoxing's kin in his village. The episode was grim testimony to the brutal calculus of war, where retaliation and fear indelibly etched the landscape of family histories. Against this backdrop, the Communists under Feng Baiju and the native Li communities forged a vigorous guerrilla war against the occupiers. The struggle was not confined to partisan skirmishes alone; it unfolded as a broader contest of survival and resistance. The Japanese response was relentless and punitive, and it fell upon Li communities in western Hainan with particular ferocity, Sanya and Danzhou bore the brunt of violence, as did the many foreign laborers conscripted into service by the occupying power. The toll of these reprisals was stark: among hundreds of thousands of slave laborers pressed into service, tens of thousands perished. Of the 100,000 laborers drawn from Hong Kong, only about 20,000 survived the war's trials, a haunting reminder of the human cost embedded in the occupation. Strategically, the island of Hainan took on a new if coercive purpose. Portions of the island were designated as a naval administrative district, with the Hainan Guard District Headquarters established at Samah, signaling its role as a forward air base and as an operational flank for broader anti-Chiang Kai-shek efforts. In parallel, the island's rich iron and copper resources were exploited to sustain the war economy of the occupiers. The control of certain areas on Hainan provided a base of operations for incursions into Guangdong and French Indochina, while the airbases that dotted the island enabled long-range air raids that threaded routes from French Indochina and Burma into the heart of China. The island thus assumed a grim dual character: a frontier fortress for the occupiers and a ground for the prolonged suffering of its inhabitants. Hainan then served as a launchpad for later incursions into Guangdong and Indochina. Meanwhile after Wuhan's collapse, the Nationalist government's frontline strength remained formidable, even as attrition gnawed at its edges. By the winter of 1938–1939, the front line had swelled to 261 divisions of infantry and cavalry, complemented by 50 independent brigades. Yet the political and military fissures within the Kuomintang suggested fragility beneath the apparent depth of manpower. The most conspicuous rupture came with Wang Jingwei's defection, the vice president and chairman of the National Political Council, who fled to Hanoi on December 18, 1938, leading a procession of more than ten other KMT officials, including Chen Gongbo, Zhou Fohai, Chu Minqi, and Zeng Zhongming. In the harsh arithmetic of war, defections could not erase the country's common resolve to resist Japanese aggression, and the anti-Japanese national united front still served as a powerful instrument, rallying the Chinese populace to "face the national crisis together." Amid this political drama, Japan's strategy moved into a phase that sought to convert battlefield endurance into political consolidation. As early as January 11, 1938, Tokyo had convened an Imperial Conference and issued a framework for handling the China Incident that would shape the theater for years. The "Outline of Army Operations Guidance" and "Continental Order No. 241" designated the occupied territories as strategic assets to be held with minimal expansion beyond essential needs. The instruction mapped an operational zone that compressed action to a corridor between Anqing, Xinyang, Yuezhou, and Nanchang, while the broader line of occupation east of a line tracing West Sunit, Baotou, and the major river basins would be treated as pacified space. This was a doctrine of attrition, patience, and selective pressure—enough to hold ground, deny resources to the Chinese, and await a more opportune political rupture. Yet even as Japan sought political attrition, the war's tactical center of gravity drifted toward consolidation around Wuhan and the pathways that fed the Yangtze. In October 1938, after reducing Wuhan to a fortressed crescent of contested ground, the Japanese General Headquarters acknowledged the imperative to adapt to a protracted war. The new calculus prioritized political strategy alongside military operations: "We should attach importance to the offensive of political strategy, cultivate and strengthen the new regime, and make the National Government decline, which will be effective." If the National Government trembled under coercive pressure, it risked collapse, and if not immediately, then gradually through a staged series of operations. In practice, this meant reinforcing a centralized center while allowing peripheral fronts to be leveraged against Chongqing's grip on the war's moral economy. In the immediate post-Wuhan period, Japan divided its responsibilities and aimed at a standoff that would enable future offensives. The 11th Army Group, stationed in the Wuhan theater, became the spearhead of field attacks on China's interior, occupying a strategic triangle that included Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, and protecting the rear of southwest China's line of defense. The central objective was not merely to seize territory, but to deny Chinese forces the capacity to maneuver along the critical rail and river corridors that fed the Nanjing–Jiujiang line and the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway. Central to this plan was Wuhan's security and the ability to constrain Jiujiang's access to the Yangtze, preserving a corridor for air power and logistics. The pre-war arrangement in early 1939 was a tableau of layered defenses and multiple war zones, designed to anticipate and blunt Japanese maneuver. By February 1939, the Ninth War Zone under Xue Yue stood in a tense standoff with the Japanese 11th Army along the Jiangxi and Hubei front south of the Yangtze. The Ninth War Zone's order of battle, Luo Zhuoying's 19th Army Group defending the northern Nanchang front, Wang Lingji's 30th Army Group near Wuning, Fan Songfu's 8th and 73rd Armies along Henglu, Tang Enbo's 31st Army Group guarding southern Hubei and northern Hunan, and Lu Han's 1st Army Group in reserve near Changsha and Liuyang, was a carefully calibrated attempt to absorb, delay, and disrupt any Xiushui major Japanese thrust toward Nanchang, a city whose strategic significance stretched beyond its own bounds. In the spring of 1939, Nanchang was the one city in southern China that Tokyo could not leave in Chinese hands. It was not simply another provincial capital; it was the beating heart of whatever remained of China's war effort south of the Yangtze, and the Japanese knew it. High above the Gan River, on the flat plains west of Poyang Lake, lay three of the finest airfields China had ever built: Qingyunpu, Daxiaochang, and Xiangtang. Constructed only a few years earlier with Soviet engineers and American loans, they were long, hard-surfaced, and ringed with hangars and fuel dumps. Here the Chinese Air Force had pulled back after the fall of Wuhan, and here the red-starred fighters and bombers of the Soviet volunteer groups still flew. From Nanchang's runways a determined pilot could reach Japanese-held Wuhan in twenty minutes, Guangzhou in less than an hour, and even strike the docks at Hong Kong if he pushed his range. Every week Japanese reconnaissance planes returned with photographs of fresh craters patched, new aircraft parked wing-to-wing, and Soviet pilots sunning themselves beside their I-16s. As long as those fields remained Chinese, Japan could never claim the sky. The city was more than airfields. It sat exactly where the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway met the line running north to Jiujiang and the Yangtze, a knot that tied together three provinces. Barges crowded Poyang Lake's western shore, unloading crates of Soviet ammunition and aviation fuel that had come up the river from the Indochina railway. Warehouses along the tracks bulged with shells and rice. To the Japanese staff officers plotting in Wuhan and Guangzhou, Nanchang looked less like a city and more like a loaded spring: if Chiang Kai-shek ever found the strength for a counteroffensive to retake the middle Yangtze, this would be the place from which it would leap. And so, in the cold March of 1939, the Imperial General Headquarters marked Nanchang in red on every map and gave General Okamura the order he had been waiting for: take it, whatever the cost. Capturing the city would do three things at once. It would blind the Chinese Air Force in the south by seizing or destroying the only bases from which it could still seriously operate. It would tear a hole in the last east–west rail line still feeding Free China. And it would shove the Nationalist armies another two hundred kilometers farther into the interior, buying Japan precious time to digest its earlier conquests and tighten the blockade. Above all, Nanchang was the final piece in a great aerial ring Japan was closing around southern China. Hainan had fallen in February, giving the navy its southern airfields. Wuhan and Guangzhou already belonged to the army. Once Nanchang was taken, Japanese aircraft would sit on a continuous arc of bases from the tropical beaches of the South China Sea to the banks of the Yangtze, and nothing (neither the Burma Road convoys nor the French railway from Hanoi) would move without their permission. Chiang Kai-shek's decision to strike first in the Nanchang region in March 1939 reflected both urgency and a desire to seize initiative before Japanese modernization of the battlefield could fully consolidate. On March 8, Chiang directed Xue Yue to prepare a preemptive attack intended to seize the offensive by March 15, focusing the Ninth War Zone's efforts on preventing a river-crossing assault and pinning Japanese forces in place. The plan called for a sequence of coordinated actions: the 19th Army Group to hold the northern front of Nanchang; the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Advance Army (the 8th and 73rd Armies) to strike the enemy's left flank from Wuning toward De'an and Ruichang; the 30th and 27th Army Groups to consolidate near Wuning; and the 1st Army Group to push toward Xiushui and Sandu, opening routes for subsequent operations. Yet even as Xue Yue pressed for action, the weather of logistics and training reminded observers that no victory could be taken for granted. By March 9–10, Xue Yue warned Chiang that troops were not adequately trained, supplies were scarce, and preparations were insufficient, requesting a postponement to March 24. Chiang's reply was resolute: the attack must commence no later than the 24th, for the aim was preemption and the desire to tether the enemy's forces before they could consolidate. When the moment of decision arrived, the Chinese army began to tense, and the Japanese, no strangers to rapid shifts in tempo—moved to exploit any hesitation or fog of mobilization. The Ninth War Zone's response crystallized into a defensive posture as the Japanese pressed forward, marking a transition from preemption to standoff as both sides tested the limits of resilience. The Japanese plan for what would become known as Operation Ren, aimed at severing the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway, breaking the enemy's line of communication, and isolating Nanchang, reflected a calculated synthesis of air power, armored mobility, and canalized ground offensives. On February 6, 1939, the Central China Expeditionary Army issued a set of precise directives: capture Nanchang to cut the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway and disrupt the southern reach of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces; seize Nanchang along the Nanchang–Xunyi axis to split enemy lines and "crush" Chinese resistance south of that zone; secure rear lines immediately after the city's fall; coordinate with naval air support to threaten Chinese logistics and airfields beyond the rear lines. The plan anticipated contingencies by pre-positioning heavy artillery and tanks in formations that could strike with speed and depth, a tactical evolution from previous frontal assaults. Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, undertook a comprehensive program of reconnaissance, refining the assault plan with a renewed emphasis on speed and surprise. Aerial reconnaissance underlined the terrain, fortifications, and the disposition of Chinese forces, informing the selection of the Xiushui River crossing and the route of the main axis of attack. Okamura's decision to reorganize artillery and armor into concentrated tank groups, flanked by air support and advanced by long-range maneuver, marked a departure from the earlier method of distributing heavy weapons along the infantry front. Sumita Laishiro commanded the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, with more than 300 artillery pieces, while Hirokichi Ishii directed a force of 135 tanks and armored vehicles. This blended arms approach promised a breakthrough that would outpace the Chinese defenders and open routes for the main force. By mid-February 1939, Japanese preparations had taken on a high tempo. The 101st and 106th Divisions, along with attached artillery, assembled south of De'an, while tank contingents gathered north of De'an. The 6th Division began moving toward Ruoxi and Wuning, the Inoue Detachment took aim at the waterways of Poyang Lake, and the 16th and 9th Divisions conducted feints on the Han River's left bank. The orchestration of these movements—feints, riverine actions, and armored flanking, was designed to reduce the Chinese capacity to concentrate forces around Nanchang and to force the defenders into a less secure posture along the Nanchang–Jiujiang axis. Japan's southward strategy reframed the war: no longer a sprint to reduce Chinese forces in open fields, but a patient siege of lifelines, railways, and airbases. Hainan's seizure, the control of Nanchang's airfields, and the disruption of the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway exemplified a shift from large-scale battles to coercive pressure that sought to cripple Nationalist mobilization and erode Chongqing's capacity to sustain resistance. For China, the spring of 1939 underscored resilience amid mounting attrition. Chiang Kai-shek's insistence on offensive means to seize the initiative demonstrated strategic audacity, even as shortages and uneven training slowed tempo. The Ninth War Zone's defense, bolstered by makeshift airpower from Soviet and Allied lendings, kept open critical corridors and delayed Japan's consolidation. The war's human cost—massive casualties, forced labor, and the Li uprising on Hainan—illuminates the brutality that fueled both sides' resolve. In retrospect, the period around Canton, Wuhan, and Nanchang crystallizes a grim truth: the Sino-Japanese war was less a single crescendo of battles than a protracted contest of endurance, logistics, and political stamina. The early 1940s would widen these fault lines, but the groundwork laid in 1939, competition over supply routes, air control, and strategic rail nodes, would shape the war's pace and, ultimately, its outcome. The conflict's memory lies not only in the clashes' flash but in the stubborn persistence of a nation fighting to outlast a formidable adversary. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Japanese invasion of Hainan and proceeding operations to stop logistical leaks into Nationalist China, showcased the complexity and scale of the growing Second Sino-Japanese War. It would not merely be a war of territorial conquest, Japan would have to strangle the colossus using every means necessary.  

**Discussion of Finland coffee facts begins at 6:27****Discussion of conspiracy theory begins at 10:00**What if I told you one of the world's happiest, most peaceful countries… doesn't actually exist?  I'm talking about the happiest country on earth, Finland.  Land of saunas, coffee, Nokia phones, and endless lakes and forests.   But what if this so-called nation was nothing more than a convenient illusion created to fuel Japan's love of Sushi and avoid any regulatory oversight?  Today, we're diving into one of the internet's strangest conspiracy theories, the claim that Finland… isn't real.  The land mass we see on maps?  Not even real, that's just open Baltic ocean. And the people who claim to be Finnish?  They're just residents of eastern Sweden or Norther Estonia led to believe they reside in Finland.  We'll trace how this theory started, who supposedly benefits from it, and why thousands of people online actually believe it.  Join us on another deep dive as we try to find out if Finland really exists.Send us a textSupport the showTheme song by INDA

Le 11 janvier, le conflit ukrainien a atteint 1 418 jours, égalant la durée de la Seconde Guerre mondiale entre l'URSS et l'Allemagne nazie. Traduction:On January 11th, the Ukrainian conflict reached 1,418 days, matching the duration of World War II between the USSR and Nazi Germany in history. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Send us a textToday we cover the tensions between the USSR and the US as well as the start of detente. We will also briefly cover the border conflict between the USSR and China that almost led to war between the two communist behemoths.Support the show

We're continuing from 11 Nov 2025, discussing the first subsection in his next chapter, chapter 5 (The Relation of Ideological Tyranny to the Authoritarian State), called "Revelation 13 as a Model of Ideological Tyranny" based on the insights from a master observer of both types of totalitarian socialisms on the Left, national socialism -- sometimes called fascism -- and the kind of socialism that the Communists in East Germany and Russia had during the 1900s, during the life of Dr. Thielicke. (USSR meant Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). We go from pp. 53 thru the top of 62. (See 11 Nov 2025, "Ideologies as Idolatry" for the last episode in this series). Our return guest today on The Republican Professor Podcast is the former professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg in West Germany, Dr. Helmut Thielicke, Ph.D., D.Theol. (Philosophy and Theology). Professor Thielicke once again joins us through his teaching in his Theological Ethics, Vol. 2: Politics. My copy was purchased at Old Capitol Books (new location) in Monterey, California, across from Nick the Greek restaurant on Alvarado Street (their old location was 559 Tyler, Monterey, CA, across from the Peet's Coffee and was formerly Book Haven for many years), and is a hard copy published in 1969 by Fortress Press and edited by William H. Lazareth. Thielicke died before he was able to come on to The Republican Professor Podcast. We thank Fortress Press for making the book available. Check out their catalogue for a full listing of their very interesting titles, and buy one. Get a copy of this for yourself and following along in our transformative, performative reading of it as we make fair use on his insights, with fresh scholarly commentary from me, and allow it to shape our understanding of American Politics. This is part 10 in a series on The Republican Professor Podcast, an introduction to theological reflection on American government. Here, we continue the topic of the nature and power of "ideology" in Communist Socialist and National Socialist (sometimes called by others fascistic socialism/fascism). Our very special guest today is, once again, the esteemed and long-time Professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg, Helmut Thielicke. And I've invited Professor Thielicke to join us today through my transformative, performative reading (with my scholarly commentary upon) and fair use of his teaching on this topic in his magisterial "Theological Ethics, Volume 2: Politics." My copy of the book was published in 1969 by Fortress Press. Please buy a copy of the book and follow along with our study of this material. Please, please support your brick and mortar used book dealers as well. Professor Thielicke died before we were able to invite him in person as a guest on the podcast. Thanks to Fortress Press, the book is still in print and would be a valuable addition, indeed, to your personal library. Please support the work of Fortress Press and buy the book, and check out the other selections that they carry, as well. The Republican Professor Podcast is a pro-deeply-conversing-on-the-theological-aspects-of-the-nature-of-government podcast. Therefore, welcome Professor Helmut Thielicke ! The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. To financially support this podcast, comment on today's episode, or to make a suggestion for a topic or guest for the podcast or Substack newsletter, send an email to therepublicanprofessor@substack.com . We'd love to hear from you. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/

This video is a clip of my stream "The God of War: The Story of the Mad Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg." If you would like to watch the entire stream please click the following link. https://youtube.com/live/Y3JCc2dxhJ4

Last time we spoke about the climax of the battle of Changkufeng. A 7–10 August clash near Changkufeng and Hill 52 saw a brutal, multi-front Soviet push against Japanese positions in the Changkufeng–Hill 52 complex and adjacent areas. The Korea Army and Imperial forces rapidly reinforced with artillery, long-range 15 cm and other pieces, to relieve pressure. By 7–8 August, Soviet assault waves, supported by tanks and aircraft, intensified but Japanese defenses, including engineers, machine-gun fire, and concentrated artillery, prevented a decisive breakthrough at key positions like Noguchi Hill and the Changkufeng spine.  By 9–10 August, continued Japanese counterfire, improved artillery neutralization, and renewed defenses kept Hill 52 and Changkufeng in Japanese control, though at heavy cost. The frontline exhaustion and looming strategic concerns prompted calls for intensified replacements and potential diplomatic considerations. It seemed like the battle was coming to an end.   #184 The Lake Khasan Truce Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The casualties were atrocious for both sides, yet they continued to mobilize more forces to the conflict area. While the Russians appeared uninterested in all-out war, they were not rushing to settle the crisis through diplomacy and, at the front, were launching "reckless" counterattacks at inconvenient locations, presumably to occupy positions useful for bargaining. The local Soviet military, having ceded the hills at the outset, must also have been anxious about its prestige. The Kwantung Army's potential threat to the flank undoubtedly made the Russians nervous. Although the leading echelon of the 104th Division did not reach Hunchun until the evening of 13 August, Japanese intelligence heard that the Red Army Headquarters staff at Khabarovsk had detected movements of Kwantung Army elements around 10 August and had been compelled to take countermeasures: they reinforced positions along the eastern and northern Manchurian frontiers, concentrated the air force, ordered move-up preparations by ground forces in the Blagoveshchensk district, and commandeered most of the motor vehicles in the Amur Province. By shifting its main strength to the eastern front, the Kwantung Army exerted, as intended, a silent pressure. The covert objective was to restrain and divert the Russians and to assist Japanese diplomacy, not to provoke war. Nevertheless, an American correspondent who visited the Changkufeng area in mid-August privately reported that the Kwantung Army was massing large numbers of troops near the border and expected further trouble.  Toward its weak neighbor in Korea the Kwantung Army rendered every support. Apart from its major demonstration in eastern Manchuria, the Kwantung Army promptly sent whatever reinforcements of artillery, engineers, and other units that Seoul had desired. Being also intimately involved in anti-Soviet military preparations, the Kwantung Army understandably wanted the latest and most authentic information on Russian Army theory and practice. The Changkufeng Incident furnished such a firsthand opportunity, and the professional observers sent from Hsinking were well received at the front. Military classmate ties contributed to the working relationships between the armies. As one division officer put it, the teams from the Kwantung Army came as "friends," not only to study the battlefield by their respective branches of service but also to assist the front-line forces; "the Kwantung Army was increasingly helpful to us in settling the incident." Foreign Minister Ugaki felt that the pressure of troop movements in Manchuria played a major part in the Russians' eventual decision to conclude a cease-fire. From Inada's viewpoint, it had been a "fine and useful demonstration against the Soviet Union." Pinned at Changkufeng, the Russians did not or could not choose to react elsewhere, too. Army General Staff officers believed that clear and consistent operational guidance furnished by Tokyo produced good results, although the fighting had been very hard for the front-line Japanese troops because of the insistence on exclusive defense, the curbs on interference by the Kwantung Army, and the prohibition on the use of aircraft. It had been close, however. Only by conscious efforts at restraint had the small war at Changkufeng been kept from spilling over into neighboring areas. Escalation of combat in early August had caused the Japanese government to try to break the diplomatic impasse while localizing the conflict. On 2 August Premier Konoe assured the Emperor that he intended to leave matters for diplomacy and to suspend military operations as soon as possible, an approach with which the government concurred. The Changkufeng dispute had been accorded priority, preceding overall settlements and the creation of joint commissions to redefine the borders. On the 3rd, after coordinating with the military, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Shigemitsu that the front-line situation had become "extremely critical" and that a quick suspension of fighting action should be proposed. Soviet and Japanese troops should be pulled back to the setup as of 30 July.  In the midst of the Changkufeng Incident, the USSR intensified harassing tactics against the last Japanese consulates located within the Soviet Union. Forty-eight hour ultimatums to quit the country were delivered to the consuls at Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk on 3 and 4 August, respectively. Although the Japanese government warned that it might retaliate, the Russians were unyielding. The foreign ambassadors, Mamoru Shigemitsu and Maxim Litvinov met on August 4th, whereupon Shigemitsu argued, the best procedure would be to suspend military operations on both sides and to restore the status quo. Litvinov in a long manner explained the stance of the USSR as Shigemitsu put it "the Soviet side had a disposition to cease fighting, provided that conditions were satisfactory."  The Russians were stalling at the very time the Red Army was bending every effort to retake Changkufeng. Coordination between the Army, Navy, and Foreign Ministers produced cease-fire conditions which were rushed to the Japanese ambassador on 6 August. Two alternate lines were proposed, to which both armies would pull back. After the creation of a buffer zone, discussions could begin concerning delineation of boundaries in the region of the incident. The Hunchun pact could be the basis for deliberations, demarcation to be effected by joint investigations on the spot in consultation with documents in the possession of Manchukuo and the USSR; the Japanese would serve only as observers. Shigemitsu conferred once more with Litvinov for three and a half hours on 7 August, but no progress was made. Litvinov insisted that a clash could be averted only if Japanese forces pulled However Litvinov's positive reaction to the idea of a demarcation commission was seen as a good sign.  On August the 10th, both sides seemed to have reached a similar conclusion that a cease-fire needed to rapidly be implemented. At 11pm that night Litvinov called the embassy, asking for Shigemitus to see him as fast as possible. Shigemitsu arrived around midnight whereupon Litvinov showed him a draft of a final accord: 1. Japanese and Soviet forces shall cease all military activities on 11 August at noon local time. Instructions to that effect are to be issued immediately by the governments of the USSR and Japan.  2. Japanese as well as Soviet troops shall remain on those lines which they occupied at midnight local time on 10 August.  3. For redemarcation of the portion of frontier in dispute, there shall be created a mixed commission of two representatives from the USSR and two representatives from the Japanese-Manchurian side, with an umpire selected by agreement of both parties from among citizens of a third state.  4. The commission for redemarcation shall work on the basis of agreements and maps bearing the signatures of plenipotentiary representatives of Russia and China. Shigemitsu agreed to the inclusion of a Japanese commissioner on the Manchukuoan delegation, but he could not assent to the addition of a neutral umpire. Moscow received the news of the truce with gratification mingled with surprise. Few realized that the USSR had taken the step of appeasing or at least saving face for the Japanese even after Shigemitsu had pleaded for and won a cease-fire. The world was told by the Russians only that specific overtures for cessation of hostilities had originated with the Soviet authorities. In general, it was not difficult to guess why the Russian government, distracted by the European political scene and apprehensive about a two-front war, agreed to a cease-fire at Changkufeng.  The slowness of communication across the many miles between Moscow and Tokyo did nothing to alleviate nervousness in the Japanese capital during the night of 10–11 August. Ugaki wrote in his diary that, "after ten days of tension, the struggle between the Japanese and Soviet armies on the USSR–Manchukuo border had reached the decisive brink". Complicating the situation was the fact that, late on 10 August, the president of Domei News Agency conveyed to Konoe a message from one of his Moscow correspondents. Purporting to sum up Shigemitsu's latest outlook, the report stated that success in the negotiations seemed unlikely. The contents of the message were transmitted to Ugaki and Itagaki. Consequently, Konoe and his associates spent a fearful and depressed night. Shigemitsu's own report, sent by telegram, arrived frustratingly slowly.  After definite information had been received from Shigemitsu, Harada happily called Kazami Akira, the prime minister's chief secretary, and Konoe himself. "Until the accord was implemented," Kazami had said, "we would have to be on the alert all day today." Konoe and Kazami seemed "a little relaxed anyhow." Inada had finally retired past midnight on 10–11 August, "agreement or no agreement. I must have been dozing from fatigue when the jangle of the phone got me up. It was a message saying that a truce had been concluded the preceding midnight. Just as I had been expecting, I said to myself, but I felt empty inside, as if it were an anticlimax." The call had to have been an unofficial communication, perhaps the latest Domei news, since the records showed that definitive word from the embassy in Moscow did not reach Tokyo until after 10:00. Attache Doi's report to the Army General Staff came at about 11:00. This was extremely late in terms of getting Japanese troops to cease operations at 13:00 Tokyo time (or noon on the spot); a tardy imperial order might undo the Moscow accord. Complicating this matter of split-second timing was the fact that the first official telegram from Shigemitsu referred to unilateral Japanese withdrawal by one kilometer. At the Japanese high command level, there was agitated discussion when initial word of these arrangements arrived. Inada speculated that on 10 August the Russians had staged persistent close-quarter assaults against Changkufeng and seized the southern edge eventually, although repulsed at all other points. Moscow may have agreed to a truce at that midnight because they expected that the crest of Changkufeng would be in their hands by then and that a fait accompli would have been achieved. Some officers argued that the Russian forces were suffering "quite badly and this caused the authorities' agreeability to a cease-fire." Most exasperating, however, was the provision stipulating a one-sided military withdrawal. Admittedly, such action had been under discussion by the Army General Staff itself, particularly after Terada's sobering appeal of 10 August. It was another matter to have a Japanese withdrawal dictated by the USSR while Russian troops did not have to budge. Initial puzzlement and chagrin began to yield to rationalization. The Japanese side seemed to have made a concession in the negotiations, but there must have been significance to the phrase which said, "the line occupied by Japanese forces has been taken into due consideration." Japanese troops had presumably advanced to the edge of the frontier, while Russian soldiers had not come even close. Thus, it must have been necessary to have the Japanese units withdraw first, to fix the boundaries, since it had been the Japanese who had done the greater advancing. One Japanese office remarked "A pull-back was a pull-back, no matter how you looked at things—and we were the ones who had to do it. But the atmosphere in the command had been far from optimistic on 10 August; so we decided that it was unnecessary to complain about this issue and we approved the agreement in general. Both the senior and junior staff levels seemed to be quite relieved." The 11th of August had been an awkward day to conduct liaison between the Foreign Ministry, the Army, and the Throne, since the Emperor was leaving Hayama to visit naval installations in the Yokosuka area and the navy air unit in Chiba from morning. By the time a conclusive report on the cease-fire could be conveyed to the monarch, he was aboard the destroyer Natsugumo at Kisarazu. Naval wireless facilities in Tokyo had to be used to transmit coded messages to Admiral Yonai, the Navy Minister, for delivery to the Emperor. This was done shortly before 14:45 According to Yonai, the Emperor "was very pleased and relieved when I reported to him… about the conclusion of the truce accord." The appropriate Imperial order was approved promptly. But not until 15:00, two hours after cease-fire time at Changkufeng, did word of Imperial sanction reach the high command.  Japanese soldiers in the lines recalled nothing special on 11 August. "We didn't hear about the truce till the last minute," said one, "and we had become so inured to enemy artillery we hardly noticed any 'last salute.' From Tokyo, on 11 August, it was reported that the Japanese side had suspended operations promptly at noon, as agreed, but that sporadic bursts of fire had continued to come from the Soviet side. Colonel Grebennik, when asked after the war whether the combat did end at noon, replied petulantly: "Yes, but not quite so. The fighting actually ceased at 12:05." According to him, the tardiness was the Japanese side's fault.  The Japanese press told readers that "the cease-fire bugle has sounded—the frontier is cheerful now, 14 days after the shooting began." All was quiet in the area of Changkufeng, where the sounds of firing ceased at noon "as if erased." The most intense period of stillness lasted only a few minutes and was followed by the excited chattering of soldiers, audible on both sides. Korea Army Headquarters spoke of the "lifting of dark clouds [and] return of the rays of peace." In Hongui, a Japanese combat officer told a Japanese correspondent: "Suddenly we noticed the insects making noise; the soldiers were delighted. Once the fighting stopped, Japanese national flags were hoisted here and there along our front. … After the Russians observed what we had done, they broke out red flags also, at various points in their trenches." Some Japanese soldiers were given cookies by Soviet medical corpsmen. At Hill 52, an infantryman remembered, the Japanese and the Russians were facing each other, 50 meters apart, that afternoon. "We just lay there and stared at each other for two hours, waiting grimly. But it was well past cease-fire now, and those same Russians finally started to wave at us. Later that day, when Soviet troops came to salvage their KO'd tanks, we 'chatted' in sign language." After the cease-fire, Ichimoto, whose battalion had seen the most difficult fighting, stuck his head above the trench and waved hello to some Soviet officers. "They waved back. It gave me an odd sensation, for during the furious struggle I had considered them to be barbarians. Now I was surprised to see that they were civilized after all!" A rifleman at Changkufeng remembered swapping watches with an unarmed Russian across the peak. The Japanese front-line troops stayed in their positions confronting the Russians and conducted preparations for further combat while cleaning up the battlefield. Soviet troops also remained deployed as of the time of the cease-fire and vigorously carried out their own construction. The day after the cease-fire went into effect, Suetaka escorted an American reporter to the front. At Changkufeng:  "carpenters were making wooden receptacles for the ashes of the Japanese dead. Funeral pyres still were smoldering. . . . From our vantage point the lieutenant general pointed out long lines of Soviet trucks coming up in clouds of dust [which] apparently were made deliberately in an effort to conceal the trucks' movements, [probably designed] to haul supplies from the front. Soviet boats were pushing across [Khasan] . . . and Soviet soldiers were towing smashed tanks back from no-man'sland. On the Japanese side there was a pronounced holiday spirit. Soldiers, emerging from dugouts, were drying white undershirts on near-by brush and bathing in the Tumen River. The soldiers were laughing heartily. A few were trying to ride a Korean donkey near Changkufeng's scarred slope. The general pointed out three Soviet tanks behind the Japanese advance lines east of Changkufeng. He said the Russians had hauled back seventy others [on the night of 11 August]. . . . The writer was shown a barbed wire fence immediately behind a wrecked village on the west slope of Changkufeng which the general said the Soviet troops built at the beginning of the fighting. Possiet Bay also was pointed out, clearly visible across the swamp." Soviet losses for what became known as the battle of Lake Khasan for the Russians and the Changkufeng incident for the Japanese, totaled 792 killed or missing and 3,279 wounded or sick, according to Soviet records. The Japanese claimed to have destroyed or immobilized 96 enemy tanks and 30 guns. Soviet armored losses were significant, with dozens of tanks knocked out or destroyed and hundreds of "tank troops" becoming casualties. Japanese casualties, as revealed by secret Army General Staff statistics, were 1,439 casualties, 526 killed or missing, 913 wounded; the Soviets claimed Japanese losses of 3,100, with 600 killed and 2,500 wounded. The Soviets concluded that these losses were due in part to poor communications infrastructure and roads, as well as the loss of unit coherence caused by weak organization, headquarters, commanders, and a lack of combat-support units. The faults in the Soviet army and leadership at Khasan were blamed on the incompetence of Blyukher. In addition to leading the troops into action at Khasan, Blyukher was also supposed to oversee the trans-Baikal Military District's and the Far Eastern fronts' move to combat readiness, using an administrative apparatus that delivered army group, army, and corps-level instructions to the 40th Rifle Division by accident. On 22 October, he was arrested by the NKVD and is thought to have been tortured to death. At 15:35 on 11 August, in the Hill 52 sector, high-ranking military delegates bearing a white flag emerged from the Soviet lines and proceeded to Akahage Hill, about 100 meters from the Japanese positions. Cho, as right sector chief, was notified. He sent three lieutenants to converse with the Russians; they learned that the Soviets wanted the Japanese to designate a time and place for a conference. This word was conveyed to Suetaka, who had already dispatched Lieutenant Kozuki to the heights east of Shachaofeng to contact the Russians. Around 4:20, the commander canceled Kozuki's mission and instructed Cho to reply that the delegation ought to convene near the peak of Changkufeng at 18:00 Cho set out promptly with several subordinates; they reached the Changkufeng crest a little before 6. The Russians then said they wanted to meet the Japanese near the Crestline southeast of Changkufeng, the excuse being that the peak was too far for them to go and that they could not arrive by the designated time. Cho took his team to the location requested by the Russians. There, the Japanese found 13 Soviet soldiers and a heavy machine gun on guard, but the Russian delegates had not arrived, although it was 6:18. The irked Japanese clocked a further delay of two minutes before the Russian truce chief, Gen. Grigory M. Shtern, rode up on horseback with a party of eight. Both delegations saluted, the chiefs and team members identified themselves, and all shook hands. The Soviet team was made up of Corps General 3rd rank Shtern, 38, chief of staff, Far East area army; Brigade Commissar Semenovsky political major general, 37 or 38; Colonel Fedotev, 42; and Major Wabilev, about 30. Interpreting for the Russians was Alexei Kim. In Colonel Cho's opinion, "It was always necessary to take the initiative in dealing with the Soviets. So, even in such matters as shaking hands or conversing, he always did things first." During the exchange of greetings, Cho teased Shtern about his bandaged forehead. "A Japanese artillery shell got you, didn't it?" he asked. But Cho began formal discussions on a more dignified note: "Cho: It is very much to be regretted that the Japanese and Soviet armies had to get involved in combat around Changkufeng. Nevertheless, I laud the consummation of the Mos­cow accord on the part of both governments. And, I must say, your forces were quite brave and patriotic. Shtern: I agree with you. The Japanese Army, too, was courageous and strong." Negotiations would go on at the local level and diplomatic level for many days. In Tokyo, on the morning of 13 August, Ugaki had gone to the Meiji shrine to "report" on the cease-fire and to express his gratitude. At 10:00, when received in Imperial audience, he discussed the Changkufeng Incident. "I humbly regret to have troubled Your Majesty so unduly in connection with an unimportant affair on the Soviet-Manchurian frontier" at a time when the monarch was confronted by grave national problems. A long and winding road lay ahead before the incident as a whole was settled, but a good start had been made and "we are going to be even more careful in handling matters, although the Soviet regime  consists of devious, vicious scoundrels." Recognition of the Japanese Army's performance was accorded by the highest authorities in the homeland. As soon as the fighting ceased, Kan'in transmitted a message of appreciation. The day after the cease-fire, the command in North Korea issued a generous communique: "We pay homage to the Japanese for defending themselves against 100 planes, 200 tanks, and 60 pieces of heavy artillery. Our admiration for the bravery of both armies is of the highest." At 14:00 on the 15th, Kan'in was received in audience and reported on the settlement of the crisis. Said the Emperor: "We are gratified by the fact that, during this incident at Changkufeng, Our officers and men achieved their mission fully and manifested prudence and forbearance while confronting difficult circumstances with small forces. Our profound condolences to the casualties. Convey this message to the officers and men." A wire was dispatched promptly to Nakamura. With Imperial use of the wording "Changkufeng Incident," the nomenclature for the affair was fixed in Japan. When the cabinet met on 16 August, the decision was reached officially. After the Changkufeng affair, Japanese officers claimed that the Soviets had dispatched tactical experts "to ascertain why their elite Far Eastern forces had not been able to achieve satisfactory results. They realize the urgency of this investigation in preparation for any great war." Specifically, the AGS heard that on the day of the cease-fire, Blyukher had sent an investigative team of commissars under Romanovsky to the scene. Japanese experts on the USSR speculated that the experience at Changkufeng ought indeed to have impressed the Red Army: "Our forces did seize the hill and hold it. After comparing the strengths involved ... the Russians may well have had to modify their estimates." According to one Japanese commentator, improvements in political leadership were judged imperative by the USSR, gainsaying claims that the Soviet Army had been strengthened through the purge of alleged Japanese tools. Soviet authorities would conclude "As a test of doctrine, the fighting had confirmed the correctness of the basic principles embodied in the 1936 Field Service Regulations." The Soviet infantry had paid dearly for this, as well as for the deficiencies in tactical training. Defense Commissar Voroshilov admitted, "We were not sufficiently quick in our tactics, and particularly in joint operations in dealing the enemy a concentrated blow." In the view of historian Mackintosh: "The Soviet success at Lake Khasan was bought at the cost of heavy casualties and exposed serious defects in the mobilization machinery and the training of troops. There can be little doubt that these factors checked to some extent the Soviet Government's overoptimistic estimate of its own military strength and cast doubt on the effectiveness of its policy of expansion in all fields of military organization". Writing a year and a half after Changkufeng, an Mainichi reporter observed that the greatest harvest from the incident was tangible Japanese experience in determining the fighting strength of the Russians. Purchased with blood, this knowledge could provide valuable evidence for future combat operations. It was a question whether Changkufeng really possessed such strategic significance as was claimed for it, but the Soviet policy of bluff could be interpreted as substantiating the weakness of the defenses of Vladivostok. "The Russians used all kinds of new weapons at Changkufeng and tipped their whole hand. But although mechanization of the Red Army had attained high levels with respect to quantity, their weaknesses in technique and quality were laid bare." Imaoka observed that since the Changkufeng Incident marked the first time that the Japanese and Soviet armies engaged each other in combat involving large strategic elements, divisional and above, Russian fighting strength was studied with keen interest. The Japanese did not rate the capacity of the officers or Soviet quality, in general, as especially high. Still, the Russians did possess quantitative abundance, and Japanese losses had been heavy because the enemy had fired masses of ammunition against fixed targets. Suetaka seemed to have comprehended the scope of tangible Soviet strength in equipment and materiel, as shown by his comment: "I felt deeply that if the gap in manpower went beyond limits, it would be inevitable for our casualties to increase tremendously; this might even cause us danger in specific local areas." Few Japanese officers saw anything new in Soviet tactical methods, although considerations of mass were ever-present. Not only intelligence experts but the whole army worked on ways of coping with Soviet forces that would have the numerical advantage by 3:1. Most awesome was the "fantastic abundance" of hostile materiel, although the Russians could not deploy to surround the Japanese because of the geography. An AGS expert on the USSR summed it up: "We learned that Soviet strength was up to expectations, whereas Japanese arms and equipment had to be improved and reinforced." Worded in a multiplicity of ways, the Japanese conclusion was that patient imperial forces had won a great victory by defending the contested border with flesh vs. steel and by limiting the Changkufeng Incident, till the end, against enemy hordes supported exclusively by planes and tanks. Japanese infantrymen admit that the combat soldiers did not savor their disadvantages. "All our materiel was inferior in quality and particularly in quantity. We had the impression that whereas we relied on muscle power, the enemy used engines. This rendered our fighting particularly hard, but we had full confidence in our spiritual strength [i.e., superiority]."  Nevertheless, the Japanese mode of tactical operation, asserted Iwasaki, the Korea Army senior staff officer, was "the worst possible: fighting with hands tied." This meant that the Russians could fight "to their hearts' content," committing tanks and planes, and striking from all directions. A front-line infantry commander commented: "One's troops ought to be provided meaningful reasons for fighting and for dying happily. It is cruel to ask officers and men to meet masses of steel and to shed their blood without visible cause, and apparently because of inadequate combat preparations." The cease-fire agreement was concluded "at just the right time," General Morimoto admitted. A secret report prepared by AGS analysts sheds light on the larger question of what the army thought it had learned about itself and the Soviet enemy: "In studying Changkufeng, one ought to bear a number of cautions in mind: (1) The incident broke out when we were concentrating on the holy war against China; severe limitations on combat operations were imposed by the necessity to adhere to a policy of nonenlargement. (2) Apparently, the enemy also adopted a policy of localization while continuously attempting to recapture the high ground in the Changkufeng area. (3) Our forces employed units which were on Phase-1 alert from beginning to end; in terms of quality, the personnel were excellent—mainly active-duty types, from key men down. But our numbers were far inferior, and our organization and equipment were not of the best. In addition, we committed no planes or tanks, whereas the enemy used plenty. (4) The 19th Division was thorough, rigorous, and realistic in its combat training prior to the engagement. (5) Battlefield terrain seriously limited the enemy's attacks, especially tank action. But while the Tumen restricted assaults against our flanks and rear, it hampered our own services of supply, notably the provision of position construction materials." The Japanese learned few or erroneous lessons from the Changkufeng affair; the Kwantung Army, for example, was convinced that everything had been handled badly in 1938 by the Korea Army and the high command. When a dispute arose in 1939 at Nomonhan on another border lying between Outer Mongolia and Manchukuo, the staff in Hsinking fostered escalating measures. The USSR, however, learned in 1937 and 1938 that the Japanese Army seemed to respect only force.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Changkufeng incident or battle of Lake Khasan clash saw a fierce Soviet push against Japanese positions around Changkufeng and Hill 52. The cease-fire ended the incident, but not the conflict. Despite the brutal lessons learned by both sides, a much larger conflict would explode the next year that would alter both nations throughout WW2.   

** We'll be discussing this episode on Tuesday, January 13th (8 pm ET/5 pm PT) in our online gathering, Macro ‘n Chill. We've invited Erald Kolasi to join us. So bring your questions. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/aYopZXEIQ9SPN9gQL2ajXQSteve welcomes back Erald Kolasi, physicist-economist, author, and friend of the podcast. Erald is here to do a demolition job on “institutional” development fables like Acemoglu & Robinson's Why Nations Fail. He argues that by treating good institutions as the master key (inclusive vs. extractive) they smuggle in a liberal moral scoreboard while dodging the real motors of history: power, class struggle, imperial systems, and material constraints like energy, trade dependence, war, and ecological shocks.To “steelman” Acemoglu and Robinson's position, Erald uses their favorite showcase case – North vs. South Korea. He lays out their comparison of the “tyrannical dictatorship” vs the “open” society and presents their explanation for these differences.Erald then flips the script: the DPRK outperformed for decades, then crashed not because its “institutions got worse,” but because the USSR collapsed. Cheap, subsidized energy disappeared, wrecking agriculture and triggering famine.The pattern repeats across history. Using examples like China and Venezuela, the episode explores how wars, sanctions, resource access, and global power structures shape economic outcomes far more than abstract institutional rules. Development is a struggle rooted in material conditions and geopolitical realities, not a neutral competition between better or worse policy designs.Erald Kolasi is a writer and researcher focusing on the nexus between energy, technology, economics, complex systems, and ecological dynamics. His book, The Physics of Capitalism, came out from Monthly Review Press in February 2025. He received his PhD in Physics from George Mason University in 2016. You can find out more about Erald and his work at his website, www.eraldkolasi.com. Subscribe to his Substack: https://substack.com/@technodynamics

Russia's history is a rich tapestry featuring Czars, totalitarian regimes, and pivotal events. Explore the journey from Peter the Great to modern times, including the Soviet Union's rise and fall.Understand life in the USSR, the heroics of a Soviet soldier preventing nuclear disaster, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Chapters:00:00:00 - Ernest Hemingway: The Ineffective KGB Spy09:53:21 - The Soviet Soldier Who Averted Nuclear War00:20:22 - Experiences of Soviet Gulag Prisoners00:33:01 - Life on the Diomedes00:44:14 - Rasputin: Russia's Secretive Figure00:56:08 - Insights into the Russian Revolution01:07:49 - Unusual Soviet Russian Cuisine01:20:02 - Post-Soviet Union Collapse Events01:33:05 - Peter The Great's Modernization of Russia01:44:07 - The Kursk Submarine Explosion01:54:27 - Life Under Soviet Rule 00:00:00: Ernest Hemingway: The Ineffective KGB Spy09:53:21: The Soviet Soldier Who Averted Nuclear War00:20:22: Experiences of Soviet Gulag Prisoners00:33:01: Life on the Diomedes00:44:14: Rasputin: Russia's Secretive Figure00:56:08: Insights into the Russian Revolution01:07:49: Unusual Soviet Russian Cuisine01:20:02: Post-Soviet Union Collapse Events01:33:05: Peter The Great's Modernization of Russia01:44:07: The Kursk Submarine Explosion01:54:27: Life Under Soviet Rule #Russia #PetertheGreat #USSR #SovietUnion #Rasputin #RussianRevolution #SovietGulag #KurskSubmarine See show notes: https://inlet.fm/weird-history/episodes/6961427c57fbf383c7839654 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teodora Hadjiyska is one of the top researchers in the world when it comes to the 1959 mystery of the Dyatlov Pass. Nine Russian adventurers were looking for some great skiing when tragedy struck and to this day, the mystery about what happened to them at Dyatlov Pass remains shrouded in secrecy and conspiracy.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spaced-out-radio--1657874/support.

Amelia, Rudy and Matt sit down to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's political economy, with a focus on the distinct periods. We discuss the "information problem" and how it frames the discussion, before detailing the history of the DPRK's formation after Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. We then discuss the detailed planning period, its unraveling in the mid 80s, and the Arduous March period after the collapse of the USSR, before finishing off with the present periods of market reform and market elimination. References: Charles K. Armstrong - The North Korean revolution, 1945-1950 Ellen Brun, Jacques Hersch - Socialist Korea: a case study in the strategy of economic development Liu Jinlong - Crying Forests: Political Ecology in the DPRK Yang Mun-su - North Korea's Planned Economy and Marketization Daniel Schwekendiek - A Socioeconomic History of North Korea Phillip H. Park - History of Economic Management in North Korea Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia - A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976

U.S. Senator Ted Budd talks about life before Washington, including his family roots in New Jersey and with the New York Knicks.  How a trip to the U.S.S.R. while at Appalachian State University changed his life and family forever and informs how he approaches public service today. Sen. Budd also discusses life in the Senate, his unlikely across-the-aisle friendship with Sen. John Fetterman, and why he believes listening matters in politics.  The conversation offers a deeper look at the man who will be NC's senior senator in less than a year.   Skye and Brian also break down #ncpol's first week of the New Year, including House oversight hearings, Governor Josh Stein's latest endorsement, Republicans finding reasons to celebrate, and the passing of a former Speaker whose legacy shaped state politics today. The Do Politics Better podcast is sponsored by New Frame, the NC Travel Industry Association, the NC Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, the NC Pork Council, the NC Realtors, and the NC Healthcare Association.

Send us a textJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Michael J. Carley, retired Professeur at the Université de Montréal, for a discussion of his groundbreaking trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s: Stalin's Gamble, Stalin's Failed Alliance, and Stalin's Great Game. Drawing on decades of archival research, Carley challenges the familiar Cold War narrative that paints Stalin and Hitler as “dual dictators” and instead uncovers a forgotten history of the Soviet Union's sustained efforts to build a collective security alliance against Nazi Germany.Sachs and Carley explore how Britain, France, and the United States repeatedly rejected these overtures, shaped by anti-communism, imperial interests, and deep-seated prejudices that cast the USSR - not Hitler - as the greater threat. This strategic blindness, Carley argues, helped pave the way to World War II and has since been obscured by Western historiography and popular culture.This episode offers listeners a powerful narrative of missed opportunities, ideological blinders, and the consequences of mistrust among great powers. It is a story from the 1930s with striking resonance today, revealing how historical misunderstanding can shape international politics, and how the failures of statecraft then echo in our world now.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:Books by ⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!

MOTIVE AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A NARCISSIST Colleague Paul Gregory. In the final segment, Gregoryexplores Oswald's motive, arguing that history has underestimated his intelligence and manipulativeness. Despite his dyslexia and poor education, Oswald successfully manipulated government officials in both the US and USSR. The motive was rooted in a desire to prove his greatness to the world—a belief instilled by his mother—and to prove his manhood to Marina, who viewed him with scorn. Oswald viewed the trial as a platform to broadcast his political theories and achieve historic status. Ultimately, Gregory concludes the assassination was the act of a narcissist trying to escape insignificance and domestic failure by committing a "monstrous act." NUMBER 8

Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has systemically targeted Ukraine's civilian infrastructure–especially its energy systems–as a core part of Russia's strategy. Since the start of the war, there has been over 2000 air, drone, and artillery attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine. Electricity grids, nuclear power plants, transmission lines, gas facilities, dams and water supply systems have all been turned into battlegrounds. This week alone, Russia's overnight strikes hit energy and industrial infrastructure so hard that more than a million households in Odessa were left without power. This conflict is redefining what modern war looks like, where critical infrastructure is not just collateral damage but a deliberate target, where the frontlines runs not only through trenches but through the power grids. To unpack this further, we are joined by Theresa Sabonis-Helf, she is a professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Masters program, serving as the Chair of the Science, Technology and International Affairs concentration. Prior to joining Georgetown, she was a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College. She has lived and worked in seven countries of the former USSR and has assisted two of these countries with the development of their National Security Strategies.The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global experts, frontline practitioners, and senior decision-makers who are shaping how we understand and respond to international risk. From geopolitical volatility and organised crime, to cybersecurity threats and hybrid warfare, each episode explores the forces transforming our world and what smart leaders must do to navigate them. Whether you're a board member, policymaker, or risk professional, The International Risk Podcast delivers actionable insights, sharp analysis, and real-world stories that matter.The International Risk Podcast is sponsored by Conducttr, a realistic crisis exercise platform. Visit Conducttr to learn more.Dominic Bowen is the host of The International Risk Podcast and Europe's leading expert on international risk and crisis management. As Head of Strategic Advisory and Partner at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms, Dominic advises CEOs, boards, and senior executives across the continent on how to prepare for uncertainty and act with intent. He has spent decades working in war zones, advising multinational companies, and supporting Europe's business leaders. Dominic is the go-to business advisor for leaders navigating risk, crisis, and strategy; trusted for his clarity, calmness under pressure, and ability to turn volatility into competitive advantage. Dominic equips today's business leaders with the insight and confidence to lead through disruption and deliver sustained strategic advantage.Tell us what you liked!

Send us a textToday, we cover the Korean War and other Cold War activities that the US and the USSR dabbled in. Support the show

In this first episode of season 3 we go into depth in discussing the Seeger family's trip around the world, lasting from August, 1963 to early June 1964. We'll examine several of the performances Pete makes as he and the Seeger family make their geographical traverse through a dozen and a half countries, and will also discuss the wide variety of music and dance that the Seegers documented along the way. Get ready to hear about an often unspoken piece of Pete Seeger's musical and cultural work in the family's travels from Western Samoa, Australia and India to East Africa and West Africa, the Levant, western and central Europe, and eventually the USSR. We'll discuss the greater meaning of the work Pete and the Seeger family were doing, and in doing so, hopefully have a most holistic understanding of this under-researched period of Pete's Seeger work.

Alya Shandra is Editor-in-chief at Euro Maidan Press. She has a background in environmental science and NGOs. During the Euromaidan revolution Alya Shandra launched an indy-media outlet called Euromaidan Press, and that project was fuelled by her interest in how to help Ukraine permanently move beyond being a post-communist post-colony country and evolve into becoming a free and democratic society that tackles corruption and nepotism. ----------LINKS:https://euromaidanpress.com/author/alya/https://x.com/alyashandrahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alya-shandra-5b1a68b/ ----------BOOKS: Ihor Kozlovskyi - Man at the Crossroads: Reflections on Existential IntelligenceStanislav Aseyev - The Torture Camp on Paradise StreetFILMS:Alexander Dovzhenko - Earth (1930)ARTISTS:Fedir Krychevsky - The triptych “Life” (1925-1927)----------Silicon Curtain is a part of the Christmas Tree Trucks 2025 campaign - an ambitious fundraiser led by a group of our wonderful team of information warriors raising 110,000 EUR for the Ukrainian army. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/christmas-tree-trucks-2025-silicon-curtainThe Goal of the Campaign for the Silicon Curtain community:- 1 armoured battle-ready pickupWe are sourcing all vehicles around 2010-2017 or newer, mainly Toyota Hilux or Mitsubishi L200, with low mileage and fully serviced. These are some of the greatest and the most reliable pickups possible to be on the frontline in Ukraine. Who will receive the vehicles?https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/christmas-tree-trucks-2025-silicon-curtain----------The Steel Porcupine https://www.thesteelporcupine.com/I'm proud to say that this series of ‘Ukrainian advent' interviews is supported by The Steel Porcupine – a unique and powerful film about a country that refuses to lie down, a people who turned themselves into a fortress of needles when Russian tanks rolled in. The Steel Porcupine is an unforgettable cinematic experience that exposes Russia's campaign of extermination in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people's spirit to resist and prevail. It follows soldiers, volunteers and people who decided that survival meant resistance, not submission.Created by the makers of the acclaimed To the Zero Line, this is another film about humanity, that clearly states there is no such thing as neutrality when war crimes are being committed systematically by Russia, and on a scale in Europe only comparable to World War Two. Set to a haunting soundtrack featuring music by Philip Glass, and blending rare archival footage with original material, it is an impactful work of art and storytelling, as well as being informative.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------

There is and has been an attempt to rewrite the history and legacy of Lenin. Was he the brutal dictator and murderous leader history shows he was, or just a misunderstood leader, betrayed before he could fulfill his plan for "the people".  In this episode we look at Vladimir Lenin. Who was he, how did he get in power, was he really all that bad and why is it important we learn the true history?Email us at: downtherh@protonmail.com

LAM SON 719 AND THE FAILURE OF VIETNAMIZATION Colleague Geoffrey Wawro. The 1971 invasion of Laos (Lam Son 719) exposed the failure of Vietnamization, as South Vietnamese troops were routed without USground support, proving they lacked the leadership and logistics to fight alone. By 1972, only massive American air power, reinstated by Nixon during the Easter Offensive, saved South Vietnam from collapse, while Nixonsimultaneously pursued détente with China and the USSR to isolate Hanoi. The relentless "Linebacker" bombing campaigns eventually forced North Vietnam back to the negotiating table, though the peace deal essentially replicated terms available years earlier. NUMBER 15

President Trump has claimed to have solved eight conflicts since he began his second term. One of those is between Azerbaijan and Armenia, rivals since the collapse of the USSR, whose leaders met with Trump in the Oval Office this summer. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky and producer Katia Patin travelled to the Armenian border with Iran to assess whether that agreement could lead to peace. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

President Trump has claimed to have solved eight conflicts since he began his second term. One of those is between Azerbaijan and Armenia, rivals since the collapse of the USSR, whose leaders met with Trump in the Oval Office this summer. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky and producer Katia Patin travelled to the Armenian border with Iran to assess whether that agreement could lead to peace. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

THE DANGERS OF TRANSACTIONAL NATIONALISM Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley warns that suppression in republics often leads to uncontrollable demands for liberty, citing the collapse of the Shah's Iran and the USSR. He distinguishes between "tribal nationalism," based on shared history, and "state nationalism," which is often transactional. Copley argues that transactional systems eventually fail because the state runs out of resources to trade for support, leading to corruption and the potential fracturing of society. NUMBER 14 1680 CHARLES II OF GREAT BRITAIN

SHOW 12-29-25 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR UR THE PRINCESS'S MUSEUM AT THE DAWN OF HISTORY Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Moudhy Al-Rashidintroduces Ennigaldi-Nanna, a princess and high priestess of the moon god in the ancient city of Ur. Excavators discovered a chamber in her palace containing carefully arranged artifacts from eras much older than her own, effectively serving as a museum. A clay cylinder found there acted as a museum label, preserving the history of ancient kings to lend legitimacy to her father, King Nabonidus, and his dynasty. NUMBER 1 THE STORIES TOLD BY MESOPOTAMIAN BRICKS Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Moudhy Al-Rashidexplains how millions of mud bricks reveal the history of ancient Mesopotamia, from the construction of massive temples to the 9-kilometer wall of Uruk. These bricks were often stamped with the names of kings to ensure their deeds were known to the gods. Beyond royal propaganda, bricks preserve intimate moments, such as the accidental paw prints of dogs or footprints of children left while the clay dried in the sun. NUMBER 2 GILGAMESH AND THE BIRTH OF WRITTEN LEGEND Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Al-Rashid discusses Cuneiform, a writing system used for over 3,000 years to record languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. She details the Epic of Gilgamesh, a tale of a tyrannical king who finds wisdom and friendship with the wild man Enkidu. While Gilgamesh was likely a real historical figure, his story evolved into high poetry about mortality and leadership. The segment notes that kingship was believed to have descended from heaven. NUMBER 3 HOMEWORK AND HEARTACHE IN ANCIENT SCHOOLS Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Excavations of a "schoolhouse" in Nippur revealed thousands of practice tablets, showing the messy first attempts of children learning to write. These artifacts include literary accounts of school life, complaints about food, and even teeth marks from frustrated students. The curriculum was rigorous, covering literacy and advanced mathematics like geometry, which was essential for future scribes to calculate field yields and manage the bureaucracy. NUMBER 4 THE ALCOHOLIC TYRANTS OF THE WEST Colleague Professor James Romm. James Romm introduces Syracuse as a dominant power in the 4th century BCE under the rule of Dionysius the Elder, who rose from clerk to autocrat. Dionysius fortified the city's geography to create a secure military base and adopted the Persian custom of polygamy, marrying two women on the same day. This created a rivalrous, "unhappy family" dynamic in a court notorious for heavy drinking and "Syracusan tables" of excess. NUMBER 5 PLATO'S FAILED FIRST MISSION TO SICILY Colleague Professor James Romm. Professor Romm details Plato's background, including his connection to the Thirty Tyrants in Athens and his philosophy of "forms." Plato was invited to Syracuse by Dion, who hoped the philosopher could reform the tyrant Dionysius the Elder. However, this first visit was a disaster; Plato attempted to lecture the ruler on ethics and moral behavior, resulting in the philosopher being dismissed from the court with dishonor. NUMBER 6 THE BANISHMENT OF DION Colleague Professor James Romm. Plato returned to Syracuse to tutor Dionysius the Younger, hoping to create an enlightened monarch, but found a court defined by drunkenness and immaturity. The experiment failed when Dion, Plato's ally, sent a letter to Carthage that the tyrant interpreted as treason. Dionysiusbanished Dion and kept Plato under a form of house arrest to maintain the appearance of an alliance, while the tyrant solidified his power. NUMBER 7 A PHILOSOPHER OBSERVES A COMING WAR Colleague Professor James Romm. At the Olympic Games, Plato met the exiled Dion and learned that the tyrant had confiscated Dion's property and given his wife to another man. Despite the growing tension, Plato visited Syracuse a third time in 361 BCE to attempt reconciliation. Romm argues that Plato's harsh description of the "tyrannical man" in The Republic was directly inspired by his personal observations of living under the roof of the Syracusan tyrant. NUMBER 8 REVOLUTION, ASSASSINATION, AND CHAOS Colleague Professor James Romm. Dion launched an invasion to liberate Syracuse, but the revolution unleashed chaotic populist passions he could not control. After ordering the assassination of a rival, Dion fell into a depression and was eventually assassinated by a faction of his own army. Rommnotes that ancient historians, including Plutarch, largely protected Dion's reputation to safeguard the prestige of Plato's Academy, despite Dion's failure to become a true philosopher king. NUMBER 9 THE TYRANT WHO BECAME A SCHOOLTEACHER Colleague Professor James Romm. Professor James Romm discusses the surprising fate of Dionysius II, the tyrant of Syracuse. After the Corinthian leader Timoleonarrived to liberate the city, Dionysius surrendered and was allowed to retire to Corinth rather than facing execution. There, the former absolute ruler became a music teacher, leading to the proverb "Dionysius is in Corinth," a saying used for centuries to describe the unpredictability of fortune and the fall of the powerful. NUMBER 10 PHILOSOPHER KINGS AND THE RIVER OF HEEDLESSNESS Colleague Professor James Romm. James Romm explores Plato's Republic, arguing that philosophers make the best kings because they perceive the true "forms" of justice rather than earthly shadows. The discussion turns to the "Myth of Er," a story of the afterlife where souls travel for a thousand years before choosing their next life. Plato warns that drinking too deeply from the River of Heedlessnesserases memory, whereas philosophers strive to recall the forms. NUMBER 11 PLATO'S LETTERS AND THE WHITEWASHING OF DION Colleague Professor James Romm. The conversation examines Plato's thirteen letters, specifically the five Romm believes are genuine regarding the Syracuse affair. Platoviewed himself as a wise lawgiver capable of reforming a tyrant, though he was naive about practical politics. In the seventh letter, Plato attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of his associate Dion, spinning the narrative to portray Dion as a virtuous victim of evil rather than admitting his political failures. NUMBER 12 THE RETURN OF THE NOBLE MONARCH Colleague Gregory Copley. Gregory Copley argues that the world has reached "peak republicanism," where republics have become inefficient political battlegrounds. He defines nobility not as a class structure, but as a quality of honorable leadership that embodies the state's values. Copley suggests modern monarchies, like that of King Charles III, are reinvigorating this role by acting as apolitical symbols of unity and diplomacy, unlike elected leaders who only represent their voters. NUMBER 13 THE DANGERS OF TRANSACTIONAL NATIONALISM Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley warns that suppression in republics often leads to uncontrollable demands for liberty, citing the collapse of the Shah's Iran and the USSR. He distinguishes between "tribal nationalism," based on shared history, and "state nationalism," which is often transactional. Copley argues that transactional systems eventually fail because the state runs out of resources to trade for support, leading to corruption and the potential fracturing of society. NUMBER 14 CONSTITUTIONS, BELIEF, AND THE EMPIRE Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley describes the US Constitution as the "de facto crown" holding the American empire together, though it faces challenges from populist movements. He argues that a "faith-based electorate" or a "belief in beliefs" is essential for social unity, noting that when people stop believing in God, they will believe in anything. Monarchy utilizes mysticism and continuity to maintain this unity, a quality difficult for republics to replicate. NUMBER 15 THE REASSERTION OF ANCIENT EMPIRES Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley contends that China is reasserting its identity as an empire, with the Communist Party seeking legitimacy by connecting with imperial history despite previous rejections of the past. Similarly, he views Vladimir Putin as a nationalist attempting to restore the memory and grandeur of the Russian Empire. The segment concludes by suggesting the US might "lease" the symbolic nobility of King Charles III during state visits to borrow necessary leadership prestige. NUMBER 16

Martin Armstrong sees a panic cycle rapidly approaching the world in 2026, and he thinks that the EU is set for a USSR-style collapse as radical political ideology trumps logic amongst the European elite, who are desperate to maintain their grasp on power, even at the cost of their own citizens. Martin outlines how he sees the death of the EU playing out, why Zelensky is openly committing war crimes, why NATO wants World War 3, and much more.Get Your 'Stack Silver Not Fiat' Shirt: https://commodity-culture-shop.fourthwall.com/products/stack-silver-not-fiat-t-shirtArmstrong Economics: https://www.armstrongeconomics.comSocrates: https://www.socratesplatform.comFollow Martin Armstrong on X: https://x.com/ArmstrongEconFollow Jesse Day on X: https://x.com/jessebdayCommodity Culture on Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/CommodityCulture

On Christmas Day, we bring our year-end tradition to a close by counting down our top five books of 2025. From beloved classics to unexpected discoveries, these final picks reflect a reading year shaped by curiosity, challenge, and joy. Settle in with us for a reflective conversation about the books that defined 2025 . . . and the anticipation of new reading adventures waiting in 2026!2026 Novella Book ClubWe have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector* September: Prelude, by Katherine MansfieldDiscussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).We've got some fantastic author-focused episodes lined up for the foreseeable future, and we want to give you plenty of time to dive in if you'd like to read along with us. These episodes come around every ten episodes, and with our bi-weekly release schedule, you'll have a few months to get ready for each. Here's what we have in store:* Episode 125: Flannery O'Connor* Episode 135: William Faulkner* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor* Episode 155: Naguib MahfouzThere's no rush—take your time, and grab a book (or two, or three) so you're prepared for these as they come!Shownotes* The Secret of Secrets, by Dan Brown* The Melancholy of Resistance, by László Krasznahorkai, translated by George Szirtes* Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust, translated by C K Scott Moncrieff, Terence Kilmartin, and D.J. Enright* Dr Chizhevsky's Chandelier: The Decline of the USSR and other Heresies of the Twentieth Century, by Dan Elkind* The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan* Palinuro of Mexico, by Fernando del Paso, translated by Elisabeth Plaister* The Tunnel, by William Gass* A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry* The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, by Aubrey Hartman* Free Day, by Inès Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger* Crazy Genie, by Inès Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger* The Motion of the Body Through Space, by Lionel Shriver* Ultramarine, by Mariette Navarro, translated by Eve Hill-Agnus* North Sun, by Ethan Rutherford* We Are Green and Trembling, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Robin Myers * The Adventures of China Iron, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre* Slum Virgin, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Frances Riddle* Skylark, by Dezső Kosztolányi, translated by Richard Aczel* Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, by François-Réne de Chateaubriand, translated by Alex Andriesse* Effingers, by Gabriele Tergit, translated by Sophie Duvernoy* Bomarzo, by Manuel Mujica Lainez, translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee* Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf* The Sweet Dove Died, by Barbara Pym* The Bear, by Andrew Krivak* Bear, by Marian Engel* Small Reckonings, by Karin Melberg Schwier* The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, by Beth Brower* The City and Its Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel* The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland, by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin* A Strange and Sublime Address, by Amit Chaudhuri* A New World, by Amit Chaudhuri* The Immortals, by Amit Chaudhuri* Incompleteness, by Amit Chaudhuri* Sojourn, by Amit Chaudhuri* Friend of My Youth, by Amit Chaudhuri* Afternoon Raag, by Amit Chaudhuri* The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford* Anima: A Wild Pastoral, by Kapka Kassabova* Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe, by Kapka Kassabova* Käsebier Takes Berlin, by Gabriele Tergit, translated by Sophie Duvernoy* The Story of a Life, by Konstantin Paustovsky, translated by Douglas Smith* Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman, translated by Robert Chandler* Stalingrad, by Vasily Grossman, translated by Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler* The Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton* Sea, Poison, by Caren Beilin* The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio* The Stronghold, by Dino Buzzati, translated by Lawrence Venuti* A Love Affair, by Dino Buzzati, translated by Joseph Green* The Singularity, by Dino Buzzati, translated by Anne Milano Appel* The Bewitched Bourgeoisie: Fifty Stories, by Dino Buzzati, translated by Lawrence Venuti* Waiting for the Barbarians, by J.M. Coetzee* The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James* Daisy Miller, by Henry James* The Ambassadors, by Henry James* The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James* Washington Square, by Henry James* The Coxon Fund, by Henry JamesOther* Shawn's Review of Small ReckoningsJoin the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordWant to share your thoughts on these upcoming authors or anything else we're discussing? Join us over on Discord! It's the perfect place to dive deeper into the conversation—whether you're reading along with our author-focused episodes or just want to chat about the books that are on your mind.We're also just now in our third novella book club, where we're reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark. It's a fantastic book, and we'd love to have you join the discussion. It's a great space to engage with fellow listeners, share your insights, and discover new perspectives on the books you're reading.The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a bookish conversation hosted by Paul and Trevor. Every other week, we explore a bookish topic and celebrate our love of reading. We're glad you're here, and we hope you'll continue to join us on this literary journey!A huge thank you to those who help make this podcast possible! If you'd like to support us, you can do so via Substack or Patreon. Subscribers receive access to periodic bonus episodes and early access to all new episodes. Plus, each supporter gets their own dedicated feed, allowing them to download episodes a few days before they're released to the public. We'd love for you to check it out! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mookse.substack.com/subscribe

Stop gambling with volatility and start investing with predictable, risk-adjusted returns. In this episode, Mike Zlotnik shares how he built a career in private credit and industrial real estate using disciplined underwriting and "margin of safety" investing. Get to know the strategies that create stable cash flow and long-term wealth.   Key Takeaways To Listen For The "Jar of Honey" move that scored Mike a $160K deal discount How post-2008 chaos became the catalyst for Tempo Funding's rise Why underwriting the person matters more than underwriting the deal A sale-leaseback strategy that performs like a bond, but with upside Crucial mindset shift: invest to earn or invest to learn?   Resources/Links Mentioned In This Episode How to Choose a Smart Real Estate Investing Fund by Mike Zlotnik | Kindle Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn by John C. Maxwell | Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover   About Mike Zlotnik Mike Zlotnik is the CEO of TF Management Group and has been a real estate fund manager since 2009, following a successful career as a software executive. Known as "Big Mike" for both his stature and his integrity, he brings a deep analytical approach to private credit and real estate investing. A former political refugee from the USSR, Mike is now a U.S. citizen living in Brooklyn with his wife and four children. He holds a mathematics degree from Binghamton University, is a chess master, and is active in top investor mastermind groups. Mike is also the author of How to Choose a Smart Real Estate Investment Fund and host of The Big Mike Fund Podcast.   Connect with Mike Website: BigMikeFund Podcast: Big Mike Fund: Apple Podcasts   Connect With UsIf you're looking to invest your hard-earned money into cash-flowing, value-add assets, reach out to us at https://bobocapitalventures.com/.   Follow Keith's social media pages LinkedIn: Keith Borie Investor Club: Secret Passive Cashflow Investors Club Facebook: Keith Borie X: @BoboLlc80554

The intriguing memoir Tom Johnson recently released is called Driven: A Life in Public Service from LBJ to CNN and it's full of amazing anecdotes. Tom joined the White House in his early twenties, was the one to inform LBJ of Martin Luther King's shooting, was a giant in newspapers and cable news, and loaned Gorbachev a pen that was used to sign the paperwork dissolving the USSR. Tom's personal story is a little more vulnerable and fragile. He tells of experiencing a suicidal depression in a time when such things were never discussed, being of the opinion that depression was a sign of weakness, and getting it treated anyway at the behest of his wife. Tom also shares his regrets, now at age 84, about being so driven by his career and accomplishments that he gave his family far less of his time and attention than he should have. It's a moving interview about someone who had a front row seat for history and is now examining what it all meant.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you're part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 

In 1989, Boris Yeltsin walked into a Houston supermarket — and walked out ready to end an empire. What he saw in Texas that day would shake the foundations of the Soviet Union. * Hi Red Elvis fans! Today we're sharing an episode from the Very Special Episodes podcast. Follow Dana Schwartz down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Special thanks to composer Evan Mack for letting us play a clip of “Make Your Move,” from his original opera Yeltsin in Texas. Learn more at evanmack.com. And thanks to Yelena Biberman for sharing her story. Check out her excellent podcast How to Kill a Superpower.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation, Tony sits down with Vladimir to trace a journey shaped by persecution, the supernatural, and an unmistakable calling from God. From underground church life in the USSR and terrifying demonic encounters to prophetic dreams, miraculous provision, and stepping out in faith, Vladimir shares how spiritual warfare isn't theoretical, it's lived. Together, they unpack portals, prayer and fasting, distraction as a weapon of the enemy, and why so many believers never realize the doors they've opened. This episode isn't just testimony; it's a challenge to stop living passively, put in the reps, and become spiritually disciplined in a world designed to keep you distracted. Please pray for Tony's wife, Lindsay, as she battles breast cancer. Your prayers make a difference! If you're able, consider helping the Merkel family with medical expenses by donating to Lindsay's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/b8f76890 Become a member for ad-free listening, extra shows, and exclusive access to our social media app: theconfessionalspodcast.com/join The Confessionals Social Network App: Apple Store: https://apple.co/3UxhPrh Google Play: https://bit.ly/43mk8kZ The Counter Series Available NOW: The Counter (YouTube): WATCH HERE The Counter (Full Episode): WATCH HERE Tony's Recommended Reads: slingshotlibrary.com If you want to learn about Jesus and what it means to be saved: Click Here Bigfoot: The Journey To Belief: Stream Here The Meadow Project: Stream Here Merkel Media Apparel: merkmerch.com My New YouTube Channel Merkel IRL: @merkelIRL My First Sermon: Unseen Battles SPONSORS SIMPLISAFE TODAY: simplisafe.com/confessionals GHOSTBED: GhostBed.com/tony CONNECT WITH US Website: www.theconfessionalspodcast.com Email: contact@theconfessionalspodcast.com Vladimir's YouTube Channel: God's Voice Today MAILING ADDRESS: Merkel Media 257 N. Calderwood St., #301 Alcoa, TN 37701 SOCIAL MEDIA Subscribe to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/2TlREaI Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/theconfessionals/ Discord: https://discord.gg/KDn4D2uw7h Show Instagram: theconfessionalspodcast Tony's Instagram: tonymerkelofficial Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheConfessionalsPodcas Twitter: @TConfessionals Tony's Twitter: @tony_merkel Produced by: @jack_theproducer OUTRO MUSIC Joel Thomas - Photosynthesis YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify

This week's episode of Economic Update is an adaptation from a talk Professor Wolff gave at Yale University on December 2, 2025, to the Yale Political Union. In this presentation, he discusses the significance of the title "Marx was Right," which Yale offered, and points out that, over the last 75 years, such a topic or event would not likely have occurred on that campus. He provides a basic summary of critical points throughout Marx's work where he has been proven "right." Professor Wolff also discusses how and why socialism has evolved, from the rise and fall of the USSR to the rise of the People's Republic of China.   The d@w Team Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a DemocracyatWork.info Inc. production. We make it a point to provide the show free of ads and rely on viewer support to continue doing so.  You can support our work by joining our Patreon community:  https://www.patreon.com/democracyatwork Or you can go to our website: https://www.democracyatwork.info/donate     Every donation counts and helps us provide a larger audience with the information they need to better understand the events around the world they can't get anywhere else.  We want to thank our devoted community of supporters who help make this show and others we produce possible each week. We kindly ask you to also support the work we do by encouraging others to subscribe to our YouTube channel and website: www.democracyatwork.info

Aliia Roza is a former secret agent turned women's empowerment coach, public speaker, and influencer with over 1 million followers on Instagram who specialized in seduction and psychological manipulation to dismantle human and drug trafficking networks for the Russian government. Born in Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, in the former USSR to a distinguished Kazakh-Tatar military family, father Colonel Timerbulat Roza of the KGB 1st Chief Directorate (retired FSB general-lieutenant), mother Gulnara Roza daughter of Red Army Colonel Khasan Timerbulatov (Order of the Red Banner, Berlin 1945); she was rigorously trained under a state program for officers' children in martial arts and psychological conditioning, later graduating from Russia's Military Academy of Internal Affairs and earning a master's in fashion from London's Istituto Marangoni plus certification in human sexuality from Kinsey University. Selected for elite KGB-style training, Roza infiltrated criminal rings to rescue underage girls from sex trafficking; during one mission she was abducted and beaten by gang members but rescued by a target who had fallen in love with her, prompting her final operation, witness-protection status, defection from Russia, identity change, and relocation to Europe. Since 2018 an ambassador for London's Best Beginnings Charity (endorsed by the British Royal Family and personally introduced to Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III), Roza founded the Roza Club, organizing 30+ humanitarian events backed by Cartier, Rolls Royce, Damiani, Roberto Cavalli, and House of Garrard to aid underprivileged women and children in London and Paris. A 2017 Miss Asia International Beauty crowned by Sushmita Sen, she earned Forbes Woman Empowerment recognition at Cannes and Venice Film Festivals (2019, 2022) and speaks at the United Nations and World Changers Summit in Vatican City. She co-hosts the podcast To Die For with Neil Strauss, has signed with Topic Studios for a life documentary, and is writing a book exposing KGB spy techniques to help readers spot manipulation in relationships and daily life; her column “How to Dress Like a Spy” translates espionage confidence into practical fashion and self-empowerment advice for women. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Get $10 Off @BRUNT with code SRS at https://bruntworkwear.com/SRS #BRUNTpod Head to https://lumen.me/SRS for 15% off your purchase. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Check them out at https://roka.com and use code SRS for 20% off sitewide. Go to https://helixsleep.com/srs for 20% Off Sitewide Aliia Roza Links: Book Preorder - https://www.rozaclub.com/spybook IG - https://www.instagram.com/aliiaroza YT - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOlgX-RrnrBsbWpNhkGtd9w LI - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliia-roza-17710a39 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mikhail Zygar is a renowned Russian dissident journalist living in exile in the USA. He was the founding editor-in-chief of independent news channel TV Rain in Russia. He publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and fled into exile days later. Despite persistent death threats, he continues to write fearlessly about his homeland. In November 2025 he joined Intelligence Squared to discuss the fall of the Soviet Union and why that period can help explain the failure of democracy in today's Russia. His new book, The Dark Side of The Earth, draws on hundreds of interviews – from key players including Mikhail Gorbachev to ordinary men and women – to build a rich and nuanced account of the collapse of the USSR. It is the personal story of a child of the Soviet Union, a testament to those who believed democracy was possible in Russia, and an indictment of the cynical leaders who ultimately seized power. Zygar shed light on questions such as how did the end of the Soviet Union set the stage for Putin's rise? And what happens when leaders and citizens lose faith in their ideals? In this conversation, Zygar discussed the path from communism to Putinism, the dangers of cynicism and what Russia's political history can teach us in the West about our politics too. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I'm back with an oldschool style episode, because I really needed a break from the news - so I give You the story of professor Igor Lipsits - if you remember, he was a guest on the show and talked about the Russian economy not so long ago - about how back in 1989, the Politburo tasked him with trying to save the financial health of the USSR.And, please - if you can, donate for a truck for the Ukrainian army for the Christmas season:https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/christmas-tree-trucks-2025-the-eastern-border/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mikhail Zygar is a renowned Russian dissident journalist living in exile in the USA. He was the founding editor-in-chief of independent news channel TV Rain in Russia. He publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and fled into exile days later. Despite persistent death threats, he continues to write fearlessly about his homeland. In November 2025 he joined Intelligence Squared to discuss the fall of the Soviet Union and why that period can help explain the failure of democracy in today's Russia. His new book, The Dark Side of The Earth, draws on hundreds of interviews – from key players including Mikhail Gorbachev to ordinary men and women – to build a rich and nuanced account of the collapse of the USSR. It is the personal story of a child of the Soviet Union, a testament to those who believed democracy was possible in Russia, and an indictment of the cynical leaders who ultimately seized power. Zygar shed light on questions such as how did the end of the Soviet Union set the stage for Putin's rise? And what happens when leaders and citizens lose faith in their ideals? In this conversation, Zygar discussed the path from communism to Putinism, the dangers of cynicism and what Russia's political history can teach us in the West about our politics too. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comShadi is a Washington Post columnist and a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He runs a substack with Damir Marusic called Wisdom of Crowds, and his new book is The Case for American Power. It's the third time Shadi has been on the Dishcast. We hashed out the National Security Strategy and the future of US leadership in the world, if any.For two clips of our convo — on Bush's idealism leading to anarchy in Iraq, and whether Trump's amorality is stabilizing the Middle East — head to our YouTube page.Other topics: Shadi raised with a mixed identity (American/Muslim/Arab); both parents from Egypt where he spent summers; the reinvention of immigrants; the peace and prosperity of the ‘90s; our innocence shattered on 9/11; external and internal jihad; religion in public life; the Koran; blasphemy laws in the UK; Charles Taylor and the loss of enchantment; political cults like MAGA and SJW; Deneen and other post-liberals; Obama's realism in the Mideast; the Arab Spring; Islam's tension with liberalism; how Israel undermined Obama; the settlements; Gaza; Muslim views of women and gays in the West; the US intervening in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Persian Gulf; oikophobia; elites opening up China and creating a rival; Taiwan; Russia after the USSR; the invasion of Georgia and Crimea; the Syrian war and refugee crisis; the war in Ukraine; Vance in Munich; and Trump's pressure on NATO to arm itself.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Simon Rogoff on the narcissism of pols and celebrities (from Diddy to Churchill to Trump), Laura Field on the intellectuals of Trumpism, Arthur Brooks on the science of happiness, Vivek Ramaswamy on the right's future, and Jason Willick on trade and conservatism. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

James brings back astrophysicist Brian Keating for a practical takedown of moon-landing conspiracy claims—and a wider lesson in how to reason when everyone has a microphone. From the Van Allen belts to “the flag waving,” Keating separates physics from folklore, explains what evidence actually looks like (hello, laser retroreflectors), and gives a playbook for engaging friends who've gone down the rabbit hole—without losing your mind.MAKE SURE TO WATCH: Brian Keating's Video Debunking the Moon Landing Conspiracy TheoryWhat You'll Learn:A simple framework for arguing well: define the claim, demand specific evidence, check physics and history, and compare against competing explanations.Why the Van Allen belts don't “fry” astronauts and how Apollo minimized exposure (trajectory + speed + shielding).How we still verify Apollo today (lunar laser ranging off Apollo-placed mirrors).How to spot trope-based arguments (appeals to vibes, selective papers, “we haven't gone back, therefore it never happened”).Timestamped Chapters:[00:00] Opening: “What's up with Candace Owens?” Setting the table: Bart Sibrel, viral platforms, and why this matters.[02:30] Rogan, Jesse Michels, and the megaphone effect. Platforms amplify doubt; why it sticks.[04:20] Thiel salons & the culture wars around ‘science.' Belief, institutions, and physics “stagnation.”[06:15] The debate that never happened. Why Sibrel refused; what counts as a real debate.[15:45] Physics 101: Van Allen belts. Charged particles, trajectories, dose vs. time.[23:10] “We haven't gone back” ≠ “we never went.” South Pole analogy; politics, cost, and program shifts.[30:00] Flag shadows, cameras, and remote control. Why the photo/camera myths fail basic engineering.[35:05] Apollo 1, the ‘lemon,' and what actually happened. Tragedy, design fixes, and conspiratorial leaps.[44:10] Keating's NASA work. Aviation safety, non-destructive evaluation, and why ‘NASA is useless' is unserious.[57:10] Hard evidence you can measure: Apollo retroreflectors, seismographs, and international confirmations.Core references:Van Allen radiation belts — NASA overview. NASA ScienceLunar laser retroreflectors (Apollo 11/14/15) — NASA & background. NASASoviet Luna 15 crashed during Apollo 11 (context on USSR verification/competition). NASAPeople, platforms, and episodes mentioned:Buzz Aldrin vs. Bart Sibrel (2002 incident) — background. HISTORYBart Sibrel — Danny Jones episode featuring Charles Duke (context). YouTubeJesse Michels on The Joe Rogan Experience (recent appearance). YouTubeHistorical context:Apollo 1 fire & the “lemon” (hung on a simulator, not the flight capsule). SpaceCultural notes referenced in-episode:Celebrity moon-hoax chatter (recent coverage of the Kardashians' comments). People.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For nearly two centuries, international relations have been premised on the idea of the "Great Powers." As the thinking went, these mighty states—the European empires of the nineteenth century, the United States and the USSR during the Cold War—were uniquely able to exert their influence on the world stage because of their overwhelming military capabilities. But this conception of power fails to capture the more complicated truth about how wars are fought and won.  Our focus on the importance of large, well-equipped armies and conclusive battles has obscured the foundational forces that underlie military victories and the actual mechanics of successful warfare. Phillips O'Brien suggests a new framework of "full-spectrum powers," taking into account all of the diverse factors that make a state strong—from economic and technological might, to political stability, to the complex logistics needed to maintain forces in the field.  Drawing on examples ranging from Napoleon's France to today's ascendant China, he offers a critical new understanding of what makes a power truly great. Phillips Payson O'Brien is a professor of strategic studies and head of the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is the author of six books, including his latest War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union was twice as devastating as the Great Depression for those who lived there. It immediately led to widespread economic chaos and a breakdown of public services, plunging millions into a difficult period where mere survival was the priority. As one Russian described, after hyperinflation wiped out their family's savings, "my parents still had the same 50,000 rubles... But by then, all they could afford to buy with it was a pair of winter boots for my mother." There was optimism that democracy could emerge, but thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, the victory over totalitarianism feels alarmingly short-lived, with the unresolved unraveling of the Soviet empire now directly fueling global crises like the war in Ukraine. The people currently in power in Russia, belonging to what some call the last Soviet generation--meaning they absorbed Soviet culture but not Soviet faith--carry a deep, cynical disbelief in democracy and human rights, demonstrating how the core structures of empire remain entrenched in the governing forces today. Today's guest is Mikhail Zygar, author of The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-Lived Victory Over Totalitarianism, and we explore his decade-long investigation, drawing on hundreds of never-before-public interviews with figures like Mikhail Gorbachev, the first leaders of post-Soviet republics, and democracy activists, to reveal how the USSR's demise was primarily driven by a collapse of faith in communist ideals, and we examine the parallel it creates for liberal democracy today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.