Science City in Siberia
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2017
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Thousands of scientists moved to deepest Siberia to dedicate their lives to research. The Soviet authorities began building the city in 1957. Academics were enticed there by the promise of housing and interesting work. Olga Smirnova spoke to Dr Victor Varand who made his life in Akademgorodok, or Academic City.
Photo: Scientists at work in Academic City. Credit: Victor Varand.
Transcript
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| 0:34.4 | My name's Linda Davies and I commission podcast for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.3 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely |
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| 1:06.0 | Hello and welcome to the Witness Podcast from the BBC World Service. History as told by the people who were there. |
| 1:14.0 | I am Olga Smyrova. |
| 1:16.0 | Today we are going back to 1957. |
| 1:19.0 | When Soviet authorities decided to build a science city in the depths of Siberia. |
| 1:24.0 | Thousands of scientists went to work in academic city as it became known. |
| 1:28.0 | My first impression was that of bewilderment, to be honest. I came here from the city and everything was different here. |
| 1:40.0 | The houses were right in the middle of the forest. It was so quiet and the air seemed so fresh. |
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