The Slavic Literature Pod

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The Slavic Literature Pod

Your shelf-help guide to the Slavic canon.

07/03/2025

Out today: I chatted with Baqytgul Sarmekova about her translation of Baqytgul Sarmekova's collection of short stories To Hell with Poets.

Our conversation covers Sarmekova's portrayal of Kazakh society, how she tangles with violence and disappointment, and its tentative hopefulness.

Listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts!

Apple podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/slaviclitpod-kali

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/slaviclitpod-kali-spotify

21/02/2025

Out Today: You've probably heard of Andrei Tarkovsky, but have you ever read his father's poetry? About a month ago, Cameron hadn't either. So, he's diving into Arseny Tarkovsky's work in I Burned at the Feast.

He's joined by Philip J. Metres and Dimitri Psurtsev, who collected and translated the poems within. Tune in to hear about his deployment of religious symbolism, reflections on WWII, and his relationship with Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva.

Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/slaviclitpod

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/slaviclitpod-spotify

Or get it anywhere else you get your podcasts!

20/12/2024

Comrade Reader,

As the Slavic Literature Pod nears the completion of its Gosplan-approved five year plan, we have a fairly large change to announce: Our podcast, as it was, is going on hiatus. It’s not exactly gone either, though, so let us explain.

A few months ago, Matt took on a new — and fairly intensive — job while continuing work on his dissertation at night. Our original plan was to continue full steam ahead as usual, but the workload has proven heavier than expected. It’s come to a point where he’s had to choose between progress on his PhD and prepping for a podcast episode.

This isn’t a tenable position in the long term, so we’ve decided that it’s better to end the work on our own terms before it starts affecting our podcast quality. It’s a decision we’ve taken together and in complete agreement.

So, in short, the Slavic Lit Pod as you knew it will be no more.

All that said, this is not the end of the podcast. Going forward, Cameron will be adapting our existing schedule into a format focusing on interviewing the translators of the work we planned to cover. This is not the product that you signed up to support, and we understand if you don’t want to provide financial backing going forward.

At the same time, we plan to keep up our existing catalogue, keep the website up as-is, and continue producing new episodes exploring today’s Slavic literature landscape. That doesn’t cost a lot of money, but it’s not free either. If you want to help us keep the lights on, we’d appreciate it a great deal.

If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected] or message us on Discord.

Thank you for your support. It’s meant the world to us,
Matt & Cameron

04/10/2024

Today we sit down with Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi, the translators of Andriy Sodomora's The Tears & Smiles of Things.

We talk about classical literature, tears of/for/in things, and time. We also get into the age-old debate: who translates the translators?

13/09/2024

THE STREET OF CROCODILES by Bruno Schulz

Our episode is now live! Join us on a journey of narrative irony, fragmentary seduction, and a regret that we were only able to discuss three stories from this wonderful collection.

06/09/2024

Break is over and The Slavic Literature Pod is back in session!

Tune in today to hear us discuss "Devil's Yard" ("Damned Yard") by Ivo Andrić. We talk a bit too much about narrative structure and (allegedly) valid reasons for fratricide.

19/07/2024

They said it couldn’t be done; they said it was too much work; they say it was simply too much Grossman. (The ‘they’ here is Matt and Cameron, to be clear).

This week, more than 7 months after starting their Life and Fate series, Matt and Cameron proved them (us) wrong by covering Chapters 49 through 61 of Part 3.

It’s time to say goodbye to characters we’ve followed across nearly 900 pages (or around 1700 pages if you also read Stalingrad), with many of them going out on notes both painful and poignant. But the novel’s end does not imply the end of Grossman’s characters — you’ll get what we mean soon enough.

14/06/2024

Join us today for a discussion of Yakov Protazanov's 1924 sci-fi blockbuster Aelita!

Maybe, just maybe, we'll reveal the meaning of the mysterious ANTA ODELI UTA.

Major themes: Is popular media art?, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Sugar

01/04/2024

We are thrilled to announce our exclusive partnership with the city of Magnitogorsk starting today.

Going forward, all future podcast episodes will be dedicated to literature and culture surrounding the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. When we started our show, we had always dreamed of the cultural exchange that would be possible if we were fortunate enough to work with a city modeled after the stunning Gary, Indiana.

This partnership will help us blend two of our true loves: Socialist Realism and Indiana. As we say in the 'Gorsk - come on in, the water is probably fine!

You can be the ENVY of all your friends by buying this design of our beautiful city on a postcard, poster, magnet, or tote on http://VisitMagnitogorsk.com

23/03/2024

Are you a 🐕 dog, a 🐈‍⬛ cat, a 🐎 horse or 🥲 barely a person anymore? If you have one, share with us your favorite literary pets in the comments below!

16/03/2024

We are delighted to introduce our charming Mr. Fil—oops, pardon—Mr. Ivan Bunin!
#иванбунин

09/03/2024

Give us your favourite quote so far, we know you have one👇🏼
We’ll go first:

01/02/2024

Today we have a big milestone to celebrate: 100,000 downloads!

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here. We truly never envisioned having such a supportive community when we first started our show.

Here's to many more years and many more downloads of The Slavic Literature Pod!

17/01/2024

Vasily Grossman remains eternally relevant, a testament to why he is a timeless classic. Embraced by diverse readers—drawing in Ukrainian émigrés with his accounts of the famine, Jewish people touched by his poignant portrayal of the Shoah, history enthusiasts exploring WWII, and journalists inspired by his role as an exemplary war correspondent. Or us, Slavic literature enthusiasts, who now spend every day with him in .

12/01/2024

We had the pleasure of discussing Philip J. Metres' new translation of Sergei Gandlevsky poems OCHRE & RUST.

Pick up your copy on Green Linden Press' site now ASAP! (https://www.facebook.com/greenlindenpress)

https://slaviclitpod.com/ochre-rust-philip-metres/

07/01/2024

Can you believe we're done with week one of our Life and Fate read along?

There's still time to join! Check out our website: https://slaviclitpod.com/lifeandfate24

If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram or join our Discord to participate in the discussion.

06/01/2024

Our episode on Nadezhda Durova's (Alexandrov's) "The Sulphur Spring" is now out!

We were delayed a day due to a file corruption error. Thanks for your patience!

31/12/2023

Only 1 day left until we begin our chapter a day read along of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate!

Interested in joining? Read more on our website: https://slaviclitpod.com/lifeandfate24

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🎧 Join us this Friday for our Office Hours episode where we’ll be talking about... well, a bit of this, a bit of that... and of course, we’ll definitely mention the unforgettable, um, that thing. Don’t miss it! . . . #tslp #theslavicliteraturepodcast #theslaviclitpod #theslavicliteraturepod #officehours #literaturepodcast #bookstagram #bookpodcast #slavicliterature

Staroe posmotrim na ekrane kino 🗣️ . . . #theslavicliterarurepodcast #theslaviclitpod #slavicliterature #peremotka #tslp #reels

*sobbing quietly* 💔💸 . . . #reading #bookstagram #books #heartbreak #work #litpodcast #tslp #slavicliterature #weekendblues

Summer is coming 🏋️ . . . #reading #book #bookstagram #summerbody #classics #slavicliterature #lifeandfate24 #russianliterature #litpodcast #TSLP #warandpeace #grossman #tolstoy #sopranos #pauliegualtieri #doyouevenliftbro

🎢 emotional rollercoaster #lifeandfate24 #russianliterature #vasilygrossman #chapteraday #secondworldwar #василийгроссман #slavicliterature #literaturepodcast

Well… Well. #lifeandfate24 #vasilygrossman #chapteraday #theslaviclitpod #newyearsresolutions

What if you holiday shopping was shopping for a new favorite podcast to support?🥺 https://slaviclitpod.com/SOS

Do you want this show to keep going? Then consider helping us out by becoming a paid supporter. We need help offloading tasks like editing and social media so we can produce the best episodes possible for as long as possible. This can only happen with your support. So what are you waiting for? Check it out here: https://slaviclitpod.com/sos

HELP US KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. Or rather, the website on. We're looking to add ten new paid supporters to our site this month. Check out our website for more information. https://slaviclitpod.com/sos

We can't SAVE OUR SHOW without you! Please take a look at https://slaviclitpod.com/sos and consider supporting us if you want to help keep us ad-free.

If the Bluths can do it, why can't we? Please consider helping us reach our goal this December of ten new paid supporters. Your support will help sustain our show far into the future! https://slaviclitpod.com/SOS

War and Peace is EASY if you know these two things... Watch our full video here: https://youtu.be/CKYD-7mFTwA #russianliterature #Tolstoy #WarandPeace

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