Few world leaders have garnered more fame and survived greater trials than Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

This special episode is a deep dive into his upbringing, career in media, ascendancy to the Office of the President and beyond.

Tune in to learn why he's an expert at sticking it to Moscow, how he outmaneuvered an entrenched political rival without even having a clear policy agenda, why he wanted the Minsk Accords to work so badly, and much more.

This Friday night we're gonna unpack how the seemingly (but not really all that) controversial NABU/SAPO bits played out in Ukraine (spoiler alert: democratically) and go over what this Alaska silliness is all about.

#ehkinda #podcast #stream #livestreaming

The eternal question still rings out - how many "good russians" are there and what actually makes them "good"?

In the West, there's a persistent urge to see russians as victims—powerless citizens trapped under big, bad Putin’s rule, silently hoping for change and helpless to enact it. But is that true? Or is it just another myth that we're being fed?

Unfortunately, the truth is more complicated, primarily because of how russian citizens act inside and outside of russia.

Inside russia, Putin’s support remains disturbingly high—even if that support shifts whenever a new Prigozhin figure emerges.

Outside russia, many citizens mask their identity online and abroad, while continuing to echo Kremlin propaganda and speak out against the governments of the very countries that gave them refuge.

It's a seemingly impossible moral quandary.

Why aren't there open movements of russian resistance, as we saw with Belarus?

Why can't Oscar winners like Juliia Navalnaya just say that the war is unjustified and wrong?

We get into all of this and more, and we'll probably revisit this one from time to time.

TL:DR - we'll believe in a "good russian" when we see one.

📚 CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 – Defining the “good russian”

00:06:35 – russia’s brief, sad democratic phase

00:12:06 – How to zombify a population

00:15:35 – Mini Rant: Artem’s truth bomb, pt. 1

00:15:51 – How russians mask themselves post-2022

00:21:47 – Why russian civic society is broken

00:23:42 – Are russians ashamed of their identity?

00:26:22 – Why “stop the war” is moral cowardice

00:29:01 – The illusion of Navalny

00:31:57 – Mini Rant: truth bomb pt. 2 – electric boogaloo

00:32:46 – How Navalny fooled the West

00:34:06 – Busting myths: Ukraine aid

00:39:08 – Busting myths: “Ukraine can’t win”

00:43:25 – How russian propaganda thrives in the West

00:51:53 – Spotting the zombies & final thoughts

🔗 LINKS:

Gen. Cavoli’s Senate Testimony (SACEUR):

https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/to-receive-testimony-on-the-posture-of-united-states-european-command-and-united-states-africa-command-in-review-of-the-defense-authorization-request-for-fiscal-year-2026-and-the-future-years-defense-program

@VatnikSoup on russian disinformation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA0XntvAglk

The Ukraine Deal was an unholy mess, so let's unpack what actually happened, the implications for the parties involved, and what impact the developments will have on both the war and the security landscape in the West.

Does this deal actually make sense for the parties involved on any sort of timeline? Will this deal survive the climate of the current US presidential administration? Are our allies and enemies taking note?

Tune in to find out!

Join us on Sunday for a live discussion on Ukraine's path ahead in this Brave New World of a galvanized Europe and unprecedented silliness across the Atlantic.

There will be streaming, meme-ing, and maybe screaming? We don't know.

Grab an early morning or afternoon coffee with a double shot of ВОЛЯ and join us (Artem, Stephen, and Ben) this weekend!

#ehkinda #podcast #stream #livestreaming

We're covering the latest and greatest of all the stuff that's happened since last we chatted.

00:00:00 - 00:10:32: Kursk updates and immigrants eating dogs

00:10:32 - 00:21:58: A new defense alliance for Europe?

00:21:59 - 00:32:53: On tech bros and doomed marriages

00:32:54 - 00:42:20: Trump's new cabinet

00:42:21 - 00:49:31: Yes, it always russia's fault. No, we don't want to be right about that all the time.

00:49:32 - 00:56:47: Useless Nincompoops

00:56:48 - 01:15:10: Should Ukraine be nuclear? Pros and cons

Us trying to get through this day