Death at the Russian Ballet

by Mark Bauerlein

On this episode, John O'Neill joins the podcast to discuss his new book, The Dancer and the Devil: Stalin, Pavlova, and the Road to the Great Pandemic. Continue Reading »

3 Oct 2022

Murderers’ Row, Soviet-style

by George Weigel

Somehow, communist bloodbaths have never drawn the continuous and deserved condemnation visited upon other tyrannies. Continue Reading »

1 Nov 2017

Putin, Stalin, and the Church

by Hannah Gais

On Orthodox Easter, just weeks before Russia’s 70th Victory Day celebration, Russian Patriarch Kirill addressed scores of the faithful, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He likened the resurrection of Christ—who, in Orthodox parlance, “trampled down death by death”—to the Russian, née Soviet, victory over the Nazis.“When spiritual heroism becomes the substance not only of the individual but of an entire people... the nation acquires enormous spiritual strength, which no disasters or enemies are capable of overcoming,” he told those gathered in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. “The truth of these words is evidently attested by the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, achieved by the self-sacrificing heroism of our people.” Continue Reading »

28 May 2015

Learning from Kotkin’s Stalin

by Carl R. Trueman

A new biography of Joseph Stalin offers an account of the rise of Soviet Russia which has clear relevance for contemporary foreign policy. Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2014