The Slavic Literature Pod
The Slavic Literature Pod
1 Creator
1 Creator
The Slavic Literature Pod is your guide to one of the most important—yet understudied—literary traditions. Every episode, Russian literature PhD Candidate Matt Gerasimovich and Personable Audio Expert Cameron Lallana dive deep into big books, short stories, film, and everything in between. You’ll get an approachable introduction to the scholarship and big ideas surrounding this canon three Fridays per month.
4 Listeners
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 The Slavic Literature Pod Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Slavic Literature Pod episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Slavic Literature Pod for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Slavic Literature Pod episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
The Polykhaevs by Nilin (w/ Dr. Ian Garner)
The Slavic Literature Pod
01/21/22 • 50 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Dr. Ian Garner to cover “The Polykhaevs” by Pavel Nilin, a work that Dr. Garner had originally translated for his upcoming book, Stalingrad Lives. The Polykhaevs follows the story of an elderly couple who are seeing their grandson for the first time in the better part of a decade after he was evacuated from Stalingrad during World War 2 - although now grown, he is a stranger to them. As they get to know their grandson, memories of the war bubble to the surface...
Major themes: Rehabilitating Socialist Realism, Memories of Stalingrad, Brick-layers.
02:28 - The Polykhaevs full text on Dr. Ian Garner’s website.
42:18 - Sorry, Ian! I would have edited this out...but you could hear our ill-timed laughter in the re-take.
46:11 - “From Stalingrad to the Stars: Science Fiction and Memory in Putin’s Russia”
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
4 Listeners
Crime and Punishment p.1 (w/ Dr. Katherine Bowers)
The Slavic Literature Pod
02/04/22 • 64 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron are kicking off our Crime and Punishment series in a bloody fashion! They’ll be speaking with Dr. Katherine Bowers - an associate professor at the University of British Columbia and vice-president of the North American Dostoevsky Society- about Crime and Punishment’s relationship to narrative, to contemporary crime reporting, and oh so much more! Dostoevsky is an author that absolutely needs no introduction, so grab a stakan of vodka and start dreaming about horses - it’s Crime time, babey.
Quick note: the section between 25:30 - 28:40 is an advertisement. Subscribe to LingoPie here! And you can purchase books on Libro.fm here.
Major themes: Poking at a rotten tooth, Razumikhin the Superman, The Drunkards
01:21 - “Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity” eds. Katherine Bowers and Kate Holland
04:10: “The Rise of Crime and Punishment from the Air of the Media” by Konstantine Klioutchkine
05:05 - “Feuilleton”
08:33 - 150ish, close enough
09:06 - Crime and Punishment: When Raskolnikov leaves the police station, he loses his limp; this is a subtle allusion to the fact that he may be the real Keyser Söze.
What is To be Done: After obtaining all seven infinity stones, Rakhmetov uses his newfound power to eliminate all food that isn’t black rye bread and ham.
Zuleikha: Zuleikha is almost killed by the invading Nazi Zombies - but at the last moment, Yuzuf and Ignatov return with their newly-acquired AKMs and blow the crowd away. Zuleikha throws away her cigar and drops a one-liner as the movie fades to black.
Anna Karenina: They solve their problems with polyamory.
53:27 - Skip to 54:10 to avoid references to the ending.
54:20 - Here’s a link to check out the tweets!
58:00 - You can find Dr. Bowers’s twitter here!
58:16 - Here’s a link to Dr. Bowers’s website!
58:50 - Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
2 Listeners
Bonus 4 - Politely and Calmly Discussing 1984
The Slavic Literature Pod
03/01/21 • 36 min
Show Notes:
This week, Cameron releases some pent-up stress by yelling about 1984 for...a bit. Then Matt gets personal in a 20 Questions Gauntlet—time to find out what his most embarrassing sartorial decisions have been. Tangentially, you’ll also find out how long it takes him to google ‘sartorial.’
Also...apologies to Edith Wharton. You deserve better.
Major themes: POUM, Ranting about 1984, Converting NPCs to Russian Orthodoxy in D&D.
The music used in this episode was “Bella Ciao,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
1 Listener
Crime and Punishment p.2
The Slavic Literature Pod
02/18/22 • 63 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron continue with Part 2 of our Crime and Punishment series, now with a very heavy emphasis on punishment. Grab some black tea and a beer, then join us as we discuss Raskolnikov’s psychosomatic torture and his attemps to confess all while Razumikhin continues to be the best friend alive. And you know it wouldn’t be Dostoevsky without a death or two in the mix!
Don’t forget to read “Dostoevsky at 200: The Novel in Modernity," a collection edited by Katherine Bowers and Kate Holland!
Major themes: Dostoevsky and Rationalism, Are ideas real?,
01:24 - The Committee by Sonahhal Ibrahim, if you’re wondering.
04:30 - Here’s a link to our Discord, if you’d like to join!
04:56 - Here’s a link to our website!
24:38 - Now that I’m editing, my phrasing strikes me as confusing. To be clear, while I’m conflating the actual Crystal Palace and the cafe in Crime and Punishment, they are very much different places.
34:28 - “The Improbable Poetics of Crime and Punishment” by Greta Matzner-Gore
42:43 - Holden Caulfield, not Caulfeld, I should note. Also you should read Franny and Zooey by Salinger. Granted, it’s been years since I read Franny and Zooey, but the novel occupies the same place that Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood or Tim O’Brien’s July, July do for me. Novels that discuss...youth, meaning, age - not a theme, but rather a central topic of all the book. I don’t know how to describe it but for a young man who struggled deeply with ideas of meaning and authenticity, it meant a lot to me.
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
1 Listener
Crime and Punishment p.4
The Slavic Literature Pod
03/18/22 • 52 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron spend some time with unpleasant people in Part 4 of Crime and Punishment as Svidrigailov appears and everything is worse now. Awkward family dinners, debating your fiance into loving you, and telling your only friend to drown herself ahoy! Many things get weird in this part. Sit down, find the light of God as Dostoevsky would want, and turn in!
Quick note: the section between 28:40 - 30:05 is an advertisement. Subscribe to LingoPie here! And you can purchase books on Libro.fm here.
Major themes: Strange Men in your Bedroom, Financial Security, Reasonable Expectations for a Fiancé
10:12 - Send it to [email protected]
43:36: History.com coverage of the My Lai Massacre.
47:12 - Sonya, SIlent No More: A Response To the Woman Question in Doestoevsky’s Crime and Punishment by Elizabeth Blake
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
1 Listener
Anna Karenina p.1
The Slavic Literature Pod
05/07/21 • 46 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron kick off the Summer of Anna Karenina with Part 1 of Count Tolstoy’s famous novel! Join us as we delve into a tale of “the beauty of light and shadow,” as Matt absolutely does not want you to describe it, and explore one of the most intriguing characters ever put to the page. Oh, and Konstantin Levin is there, too. Sit back, find a partner for the Mazurka, and tune in!
Major themes: Adultery, Definitions of Evil, Special Smiles.
44:45 - Spoiler: it doesn’t.
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
1 Listener
Crime and Punishment p.3
The Slavic Literature Pod
03/04/22 • 52 min
Some ways you can support the people of Ukraine:
For Refugees
-Ukrainian Relief Efforts are fundraisers which GoFundMe has collected in one place after verifying that the money is going where the fund claims that it is. These funds have a variety of purposes, so you can look for an individual organization or purpose.
-The International Rescue Committee works to assist refugees all over the globe. This link will support the IRC infrastructure currently on the ground in Poland.
-Polish Humanitarian Action provides support to internally displaced Ukrainians as well as those refugees who have come to Poland.
Medical Aid
-Voice of Children is a Ukrainian organization that was formed in 2015 to provide psychological help to children affected by war.
-United Help Ukraine focuses on raises awareness on the war in Ukraine (their primary goal prior to the invasion) as well as distributing food and medical supplies to people affected by the war.
For Journalists
-The Kyiv Independent is a recently launched organization that emerged from the staff from the long-running Kyiv Post, which was shut down by its owner last November.
-Free Press Unlimited, an organziation that supports free and independent journalism around the world.
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron dive into family dynamics in Part 3 of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Along with Luzhin, now Pulcheria and Dunia enter the scene to see their beloved son/brother - only to find him rather different than they remember. Grab your bottom-shelf beer and sit down, we’re about to see the fundamental separation of the human heart from those around us.
Major themes: Hot Petersburg Summer, Regretting your drunk behavior, regretting your sober behavior*
*That sober behavior being writing an article justifying your own act of premeditated murder several months ago
07:26 - “Bill, Bill. I got your note...I ask you just one thing, Just give Europe to Russia.”
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
1 Listener
War and Peace p.10 (Book 4, Part 1)
The Slavic Literature Pod
04/14/23 • 57 min
Shownotes:
This week, Matt and Cameron start on Book 4, Part 1 (after diverging from our original plan to combine parts 1 and 2) and do a deep dive on how we can really analyze wisdom, on the horror of war collapsing into peace, and whether self-sacrifice can ever be a true ideal of Christianity. That’s right, it’s the big ideas section! Well - the whole book is the big ideals section, but this is a great survey of some of Tolstoy’s most interesting ideas. Grab your Youtube video of Slavoj Zizek and tune in!
Major themes: Collapsing War and Peace Together, The Nature of Wisom, The Banality of Evil
15:12 - I meant to say “Andrei,” not “Nikolai” here
18:48 - “Cry” not “die”
26:30 - Well, the prisoner per capita ratio is still high in China - just nowhere near as high as the U.S.
30:20 - I learned this in class sometime back, so I’m going to hedge this claim a bit. Here are some comparative numbers on draft dodging, but I’m unclear on how they got to these numbers (analyzing data from the U.S. gov vs. independent analyses) so I won’t say this is a definitive answer. If I can locate a study or similar research that uses a consistent methodology to analyze draft dodging these two periods, I’ll add it here.
51:57 - Some more information about Dostoevsky’s almost-execution
53:24 - Surprisingly, I was right.
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or Amazon!
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Life and Fate Read Along: Part 1, Chapter 44
The Slavic Literature Pod
02/14/24 • 7 min
Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 1, Chapter 44 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here.
If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion.
The Master and Margarita (chs. 1-9) by Bulgakov
The Slavic Literature Pod
08/18/23 • 54 min
Show Notes:
This week, Matt and Cameron kick off their next big read, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, covering chapters one through nine. Join us as we talk about how the devil definitely doesn’t exist according to the USSR, how the devil definitely does exist according to the Devil, and the true story of the Gospels (at least, if you believe the Devil). Oh, also there’s a lot to say about Soviet life. And, somehow, all these features come together much more neatly than you’d expect. But you’ll have to tune in to learn how.
Major themes: Speculating on currency, writing in the USSR, The Devil as chance
02:31 - Our episode on Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Morphine”
02:33 - Our episode on “Heart of a Dog” by Bulgakov
11:08 - A quick background on the Komsomol
39:58 - Check out our episode on Leviathan here
42:38 - “Satan in Moscow: An Approach to Master and Margarita“ by A. C. Wright
The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art.
Our links: Website | Discord
Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Threads
Questions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at [email protected] or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does The Slavic Literature Pod have?
The Slavic Literature Pod currently has 344 episodes available.
What topics does The Slavic Literature Pod cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts, Books and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on The Slavic Literature Pod?
The episode title 'The Polykhaevs by Nilin (w/ Dr. Ian Garner)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Slavic Literature Pod?
The average episode length on The Slavic Literature Pod is 29 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Slavic Literature Pod released?
Episodes of The Slavic Literature Pod are typically released every 1 day, 2 hours.
When was the first episode of The Slavic Literature Pod?
The first episode of The Slavic Literature Pod was released on Nov 13, 2020.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ