The Story of Belarus

The Story of Belarus

This is The Story of Belarus - The nation, its history and a new hope. This special podcast documentary aims to help listeners better understand a society which has shown great acts of courage in its fight for political rights, freedom and independence. This limited 10-part podcast series is prepared and produced by Talk Eastern Europe. In this series, we explore various aspects of Belarus. We take a deeper look at the history, identity, economy, society and recent political developments taking place there. The series is written and produced by Adam Reichardt and Maciek Makulski, the co-hosts of Talk Eastern Europe. Additional research is done by Anastasia Starchenko. The podcast is published by the Jan Nowak-Jezioranski College of Eastern Europe in Wroclaw. This podcast is financed by Solidarity Fund PL within the framework of the Polish development cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and the grant titled: “In Solidarity with Belarus”. The podcast expresses exclusively the views of the speakers and cannot be identified with the official stance of the Solidarity Fund PL nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

Episodes

Introducing The Story of Belarus. The nation, its history and a new hope

November 19, 2020 • 1 min
The first part of the series will be available after November 23rd 2020!

The country of Belarus has been dominating international news headlines since the forged August 2020 presidential election and the massive protests that broke out since then.

To understand the processes taking place in this country and to give our audience a deeper context and background, Talk Eastern Europe is preparing a special documentary podcast series.
Th...
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Episode 1: In search of the Belarusian national idea

November 23, 2020 • 40 mins
The premiere episode of the Story of Belarus poses the questions on the origins of Belarusian statehood and what are the roots of “Belarusianness”. The examples of the two pre-WWII Belarusian states, the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and contemporary reflections of the past in Belarusian national identity discourse are the main topics of this episode.

Hosted by: Maciek Makulski

Guest Speaker: Nelly Bekus, Associate Rese...
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Episode 2: From the Great Patriotic War to the fall of the Soviet Union

November 23, 2020 • 29 mins
In this episode, we take a look at two of the most important events which have shaped modern Belarus and the contemporary Belarusian identity: the experience of the Second World War and the fall of the Soviet Union. The level of devastation that Belarus experienced during the war was an important element in shaping Belarus during the Soviet period. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Belarusian National Front emerged hoping to ca...
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Episode 3: The rise and rule of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Part I

November 23, 2020 • 23 mins
Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus for 26 years. How did this little known figure rise to the highest office in the newly independent post-Soviet space? What were his motivations for power and how did he stop the nascent national movements that were trying to create a new Belarus strongly tied to the historical idea of the country? This episode is the first of two-parts dedicated to looking at Lukashenka, the man, his history ...
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Episode 4: The rise and rule of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Part II

November 23, 2020 • 36 mins
This episode deals with the formative period of the Lukashenka system of power. After winning the only free and fair elections in 1994, “the last dictator of Europe’’ started to build his authoritarian regime. His initial ambitions went beyond Belarus itself. His dream was to become a leader of a new federal Russian-Belarusian state. The coming to power of Vladimir Putin frustrated these plans and at the same time started a new per...
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Episode 5: Discovery of Belarusian culture and language

November 23, 2020 • 42 mins
Belarusian culture possesses a long history of prolific authors and creators. However, it is still a bit unknown to a broader public. This episode brings examples of the most outstanding artists and writers of Belarus, remarks on the role of Belarusian language in culture creation and consumption as well as a discussion about the difficult situation of the Belarusian artists due to the repressions from the state authorities during ...
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Episode 6: Digital side of the revolution: The impact of IT specialists on the protests

November 30, 2020 • 24 mins
This episode explores why and how the Belarusian IT community engaged in the 2020 protests. It provides also the basic characteristics of this community as a social group as well as discusses the significance of the IT sector for the Belarusian economy.

Hosted by: Maciek Makulski

Guest speaker: Aliaksandr Papko, journalist at Belsat TV, Belarusian language independent television channel.

Background readings and source of data:

Open le...
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Episode 7: Repressed for decades. Civil society and the NGO sector in Belarus

November 30, 2020 • 27 mins
Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime has deliberately worked on narrowing down the space for any independent civil society by creating a state-controlled public sphere. In this episode we explore the slow development of civil society organizations in Belarus and how despite repressions they have still managed to make an impact on nation building. We also discuss how the tireless and risky work of these activists has played a role in the ...
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Episode 8: The 2020 awakening. Social mobilization and the presidential election

November 30, 2020 • 36 mins
In early spring 2020, mass political mobilization began form in Belarus, caused by economic turmoil and exacerbated by Lukashenka’s inadequate response to the coronavirus epidemic. The coronavirus epidemic began developing in Belarus in early March, exactly when the more active phase pf Lukashenka’s election campaign began to unfold. By June, following the controversies and the regime in downplaying the impact of COVID-19, Belarus ...
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Episode 9: Political prisoners and human rights abuses

November 30, 2020 • 32 mins
Belarus under Alyaksandr Lukashenka has become notorious for the regime’s imprisonment of opposition actors and especially political challengers. Throughout the years of his rule – but especially starting after 2000 – the topic of political prisoners in Belarus became a very important one, especially for Western countries and their negotiations with the regime.

In this episode, we get to hear the voice of Andrei Sannikov – who ran ...
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Episode 10: The future of Belarus: A new hope or a new despair?

November 30, 2020 • 33 mins
In the final episode of the “Story of Belarus” the co-hosts of Talk Eastern Europe (Adam Reichardt, Maciek Makulski) discuss reflections on what was learned through the course of the documentary series and discuss what might be next for the country.

We hear voices and input from several experts, some already featured in previous episodes of the documentary.

Hosts: Maciek Makulski, Adam Reichardt

Voices include:
Benjamin Cope, Europea...
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