What Next - The Russians Invaded. The Opera Played On.
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 July 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Persistent Russian missile strikes since February and an ongoing blockade have silenced Odesa’s normally busy port—but not its 19th century opera house. Performances now end with a singing of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Guest: Ekaterina Tsymbalyuk, a soloist at the Odesa Opera.
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode is brought to you by Best Buy. Whether you're searching for exciting gifts or trying |
| 0:05.2 | to snag the hottest holiday deals, Best Buy is here to help. From air friars for the aspiring |
| 0:10.4 | foodies in your life, to smartwatches, your fitness friends will love. Best Buy is your |
| 0:15.3 | gifting destination for everyone on your list. Best Buy makes it easy to get your gifts how and when |
| 0:20.4 | you need them with free next day delivery on thousands of items, as well as same day delivery and |
| 0:25.6 | in store pickup options. Shop great deals on gifts now. At Best Buy. |
| 0:37.0 | Katarina Simba Yuk always knew she wanted to be a musician since she was in kindergarten. |
| 0:42.8 | But Katya, that's what her friends call her. She grew up in Western Ukraine. When she was a kid, |
| 0:48.6 | the country had just become independent. And that made getting access to her preferred instrument, |
| 0:54.7 | the piano almost impossible. Mostly people didn't have money and my mom actually didn't have money |
| 1:03.2 | for buying piano for me. And she said, please Katya, because a lot of children, you know, |
| 1:08.7 | like children, oh today I want tomorrow, I don't want, I change my mind and she said, |
| 1:13.6 | oh yeah, I have kids I know. Yeah, please. And I said, no mom, I promise you, I will never change my mind. |
| 1:18.8 | And she did it for me. And I remember, I really remember this moment when I, when four guys |
| 1:32.9 | was taking this piano on first floor and my mom was watching it and I was kissing my mom's arms |
| 1:40.8 | because I was so happy and I said, mom, I'm so grateful. Thank you so, so much. And she was, okay, |
| 1:47.2 | I will see, I will see how you will practice. And so I never, after that, I didn't even have |
| 1:56.0 | a thought to quit music school never. In music school, Katya picked up singing. She had a rock band |
| 2:06.6 | at 16. But then she fell in love with opera. Now she performs out of a 19th century theater in Odessa. |
| 2:14.1 | This opera house, it looks straight out of a fairy tale. It's got lots of red velvet, |
| 2:19.8 | Rococo wall panels covered in gold leaf. Oh, it's, it's the most beautiful place I think in our |
| 2:27.9 | city. And it's really, it's one of the most beautiful, beautiful opera theaters in the world. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.