Ukraine - History in the Making
When I started the conversation series ”Ukraine - History in the Making” I could have never imagined where this journey would lead me. It all started in March 2023 after I got home from an exchange stay in Chile and felt, that I had to do more for Ukraine, than what I did on my social media accounts and on the streets in the spring and summer of 2022. I think most of us remember that initial period after Ruzzia’s the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Speaking from a European/Danish point of view it was a time of big fear, desperation and uncertainty, but also a time of high hopes, energy and big solidarity. In the very first conversation of the show with Veronika Netrebenko, she says the following about the feelings of Ukrainians during the Maidan Revolution: ”We understood we gotta fight for it, and it was something totally different, we felt different, we felt that we need to fight for it”. To a certain degree I believe you can say the same about what happened within the hearts and minds of Europeans after Ruzzia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We also felt different, and I also thinkt that we immediately understood that the time of ”peace” was over, but our problem is, that we still dont want to accept it. I realised when I got home from Chile before the spring of 2023, just how far we were from accepting the fact, that we have to stand up, both for Ukraine and for ourselves, much more than what we like to make ourselves believe we are doing and have done. The energy from 2022 was already gone the following year, solidarity declarations towards Ukraine went from many to few and the war became much less prevalent in news headlines. Because of this development concerning our collective sentiment towards Ukraine, I decided that the best way to help Ukraine would be to start a conversation series in which I spoke with Ukrainians, experts or politicians in English and Danish. I wanted Ukranians to have a platform from which they could tell their story, I wanted experts to come on and explain my listeners and I why Ukraine is existentially important. And I wanted politicians to come on, because they have the power to do things and the freedom to speak much more clearly about the subject than what many experts can do. All this took me on a journey I could have never imagined. I could highlight almost all conversations and experiences, but let me share two things: I’ll NEVER(!!!) forget the Ukrainians I spoke with, whose families had to stay in now temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine, where they are, in some cases subject to brutal oppression and torture, and I will also NEVER forget my own trip to Ukraine in February 2024, that came about after I spoke with Jens Alstrup, Chairman of the Danish Organisation, Freedom for Ukraine. The last thing I started with the podcast was a specific ”Ukraine History Series” within the broader show in which me and the team i gathered present the history of Ukraine over 10-15 episodes. We well get back to that as soon as I, the host Emil, have figured out my general professional situation after finishing my education in February 2025.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Fredag den 8. september talte jeg med Magnus Flensborg, kandidat til Europa-Parlamentsvalget 2024 for Socialistisk Folkeparti. Det er anden samtale i en række af samtaler med unge kandidater til EP-valget, hvor jeg indtil videre skal tale med i hvert fald en kandidat mere. I samtalen med Magnus går vi i dybden med, hvordan han blev kandidat, hvor han er i sin kampagne, og hvad hans chancer er. Derudover taler vi om hans motivation for at stille op og selvfølgelig om Magnus' visioner for, hvordan østeuropæiske lande som Ukraine og Georgien på sigt kan blive en fuldbyrdig del af den frie demokratiske europæiske familie.
Lyt med og bliv klogere!
Link til Magnus' FB: https://www.facebook.com/magnusflensborgeu
Link til Magnus' Insta: https://www.instagram.com/magnusflensborgeu/
Link til Magnus' X: https://twitter.com/Mflensborgeu
Saturday Sep 09, 2023
Saturday Sep 09, 2023
On Wednesday 6 September, I spoke to Anastasia Krasnoshchoka who is the Co-Founder of Ukrainian Dialogues which is an NGO focusing on deepening social, political, scientific, and cultural ties between Denmark and Ukraine. However, Anastasia is first and foremost an artist and dancer with a big heart for Ukrainian culture. In the conversation we talk about the dance-performance “Flowers also cry” where Anastasia is both the choreographer, a dancer and as we hear in the conversation someone who has worked a loth behind the scenes to make the performance become a reality. As I learn in the conversation she also had a significant role in the Maidan-revolution, which is always relevant to talk more about!
Listen along and get smarter.
Link to Ukrainian Dialogues on FB: https://www.facebook.com/UAdialogues
Link to Ukrainian Dialogues on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/CthFig5sW-t/
Link to tickets for “Flowers also cry” which I think everyone should go see. Ticket sales are donated to Ukraine: https://billetto.dk/e/flowers-also-cry-billetter-860994/social
Saturday Sep 02, 2023
Saturday Sep 02, 2023
Fredag den 1. september talte jeg med Jonas Pullich Knudsen, kandidat for Venstre til Europa-Parlamentsvalget 2024. Vi taler selvfølgelig om Jonas´ position ift. Ukraine, og så taler vi om Europas bredere sikkerhedspolitiske situation. Udover det når vi vidt omkring, hvad angår Jonas visioner i EP-parlamentet, såfremt han kommer ind, mens vi også indledningsvist vender, hvordan Jonas ser på det at være en ung kandidat på "kun" 21 år.
Lyt med og bliv klogere!
Sunday Aug 27, 2023
Sunday Aug 27, 2023
On Thursday, August 24th (Ukraine's Independence Day), I spoke with Diana Trushova. We talk about the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the history of National Independence Day, the current state of the war and finally, we briefly share our expectations of what Ukraine will be on the other side of the war. Incidentally, this is not the first time Diana and I have spoken. We also spoke last April when I interviewed her as part of my bachelor thesis. It never ceases to amaze me how willing so many Ukrainians are, in the midst of everything they are going through, to come out and share their story.
Listen along and get smarter.
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
This is the second Slava Ukraini episode. This means, that as in the first one, it's not a conversation, but a monologue. In the first monologue in the beginning of May I shared my thoughts going into the Ukrainian counteroffensive. In this monologue I react to the course of actions between that time and today. What is the state of the counteroffensive as of now? Why does a lot of western following of the war frustrate me? Why must the war in Ukraine take a more prevalent position in Western political agenda? And much more of course.
Slava Ukraini and Heroyam Slava! 🇺🇦
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
On Saturday the 5th of August I spoke with Karina Golovko. Karina and her family are from an area of Eastern Ukraine that is under Russian occupation and has been since the start of the full scale war. Karina herself was in Kyiv when the full scale invasion happened. From there she fled to Scotland in the spring last year. Unfortunately, her family and parents are in a very different situation. They are in occupied Russian territory, and as if that's not terrible enough in itself a deeply tragic thing happened to Karina and her family. Her father was forced into a Russian prison camp in the beginning of the full scale war. He was there for five months without the family hearing from him. In the conversation, Karina explains what it was like to flee Ukraine and settle in Scotland while getting no news of her dad and only being able to speak with her mother through connections intercepted by Russian security police.
Listen along and get smarter.
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Onsdag den 2. august talte jeg med Alexander Blavnsfeldt, landsformand for SF Ungdom. Vi taler om koranafbrændinger, venstrefløjen, Østeuropa, værdier, rammerne for politisk aktivisme og meget mere.
Link til SF Ungdom på FB: https://www.facebook.com/sfungdom
Link til SF Ungdom på IG: https://instagram.com/sf_ungdom?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Friday Jul 28, 2023
Friday Jul 28, 2023
On the 27th of July I spoke with Mariia Bublyk. Mariia is from Kyiv and has lived there throughout the war. We talk about life as an ordinary Ukrainian since the large-scale invasion, her job as an English teacher focusing on psychological traumas for her students and much more.
Listen along and get smarter. Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Lørdag den 16. juli talte jeg med Niels Jespersen, chefredaktør for Netavisen Pio og tidligere konstabel i Afghanistan. Vi taler om den internationale magtbalance med fokus på, hvorfor Ukraine er blevet et offer for Vestens mislykkedes krige i Mellemøsten.
Lyt med og bliv klogere.
Link til DR-klip med Niels: https://www.facebook.com/Debatten/videos/546050170673572/
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
On the 10th of July I spoke with Olena Dudko from Ukraine. Olena has a major in International Law and is the International Officer at the organisation 'European Youth of Ukraine'. Besides that Olena has always been active in the struggle for a Ukrainian future with full integration into the EU and other Western institutions. We talk about the most important stories surrounding the war as of July 2023 this being the Ukrainian offensive, cluster munitions, the ongoing NATO-summit and the possible outcomes of what Russia is or is not planning to do at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Listen along and get smarter. Slava Ukraini!
Links to "European Youth of Ukraine" on social media:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/euroyouthua/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/euroyouth.org.ua
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EuroYouthUA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-youth-of-ukraine/