#415 – Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
4.7 • 13K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2024
⏱️ 208 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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EPISODE LINKS:
Serhii's X: https://x.com/splokhy
Serhii's Website: https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/serhii-plokhii
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute: https://huri.harvard.edu/
Serhii's Books: https://amzn.to/3OS2EqK
2006 - The Origins of the Slavic Nations
2010 - Yalta: The Price of Peace
2012 - The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires
2014 - The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union
2015 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
2016 - The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story
2017 - Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation
2018 - Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
2021 - Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis
2021 - The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine's Past and Present
2022 - Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disaster
2023 - The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History
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OUTLINE:
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(00:00) - Introduction
(09:10) - Collapse of the Soviet Union
(25:19) - Origins of Russia and Ukraine
(38:22) - Ukrainian nationalism
(46:04) - Stepan Bandera
(1:15:05) - KGB
(1:30:03) - War in Ukraine
(2:06:19) - NATO and Russia
(2:17:22) - Peace talks
(2:31:09) - Ukrainian Army head Valerii Zaluzhnyi
(2:37:46) - Power and War
(2:48:37) - Holodomor
(2:55:09) - Chernobyl
(3:05:43) - Nuclear power
(3:15:20) - Future of the world
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is a conversation with Sirhi Plohi, a historian at Harvard University |
| 0:05.1 | and the director of the Ukrainian Research Institute also at Harvard. |
| 0:09.6 | As a historian, he specializes in the history of Eastern Europe with an emphasis on Ukraine. |
| 0:16.5 | He wrote a lot of great books on Ukraine and Russia, the Soviet Union, on Slavic peoples |
| 0:22.3 | in general across centuries, on Chernobyl and nuclear disasters, |
| 0:26.7 | and on the current war in Ukraine, a book titled The Russo-Ukraine War, the Return of History. |
| 0:35.6 | And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. |
| 0:38.3 | Check them out in the description. |
| 0:39.8 | It is, in fact, the best way to support this podcast. |
| 0:43.2 | We got 8 sleep for naps, shopify for making stores, |
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| 0:52.4 | Choose wisely my friends. |
| 0:53.8 | Also, if you want to work with our amazing team |
| 0:57.4 | or just get in touch with me, |
| 0:59.0 | go to Lex Friedman.com slash contact. |
| 1:01.8 | And now, onto the full ad reads. |
| 1:04.1 | As always, no ads in the middle. |
| 1:05.8 | I try to make these interesting, |
| 1:06.9 | but if you skip them, please still check out the sponsors. |
| 1:10.3 | I enjoy their stuff, maybe you will too. |
| 1:13.0 | Now, let's talk about naps. |
| 1:15.0 | This episode is brought to you by 8 Sleep and it's a pod 3 cover. |
... |
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