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Lex Fridman PodcastSerhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415
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Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- March 4, 2024
- Duration
- 3h 19m
- Channel
- Lex Fridman Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Serhii Plokhy is a Ukrainian historian at Harvard University, director of the Ukrainian Research Institute, and an author of many books on history of Eastern Europe, including his latest book The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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TRANSCRIPT: https://lexfridman.com/serhii-plokhy-transcript EPISODE LINKS: Serhii's X: https://x.com/splokhy Serhii's Website: https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/serhii-plokhii Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute: https://huri.harvard.edu/ Serhii's Books: https://amzn.to/3OS2EqK 2006 - The Origins of the Slavic Nations 2010 - Yalta: The Price of Peace 2012 - The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires 2014 - The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union 2015 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine 2016 - The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story 2017 - Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation 2018 - Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy 2021 - Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis 2021 - The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine's Past and Present 2022 - Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disaster 2023 - The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 1:18 - Collapse of the Soviet Union 17:27 - Origins of Russia and Ukraine 30:30 - Ukrainian nationalism 38:13 - Stepan Bandera 1:07:13 - KGB 1:22:11 - War in Ukraine 1:58:27 - NATO and Russia 2:09:30 - Peace talks 2:23:17 - Ukrainian Army head Valerii Zaluzhnyi 2:29:54 - Power and War 2:40:45 - Holodomor 2:47:17 - Chernobyl 2:57:51 - Nuclear power 3:07:28 - Future of the world SOCIAL:
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SPEAKERS
Serhii Plokhy
guestLex Fridman
host
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Serhii Plokhy and Lex Fridman, Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415 explores Historian Serhii Plokhy Dissects Empire, Ukraine, Putin, and War Myths Lex Fridman speaks with historian Serhii Plokhy about the long arc of Russian and Ukrainian history, from Kievan Rus and the rise of Moscow to the Soviet Union’s collapse and today’s war. Plokhy frames the USSR’s end as the final phase of a centuries‑long imperial breakup, with Ukraine’s 1991 independence as a decisive turning point. They unpack nationalist myths, Nazi and neo‑Nazi narratives, the role of Bandera, KGB operations, and how propaganda around “denazification” functions inside Russia. The conversation ends by linking Chernobyl, nuclear risk, and the new Cold War dynamic between the U.S. and China, asking what history can teach about avoiding global catastrophe.
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