Vejas Liulevicius is a historian, an author, and a professor whose "Great Courses" lectures include "Turning Points in Modern History" and "War, Peace, and Power: Diplomatic History of Europe, 1500–2000."

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(00:00) Intro

(01:00) Rome, Greece, and the Enlightenment

(12:57) Contrasting the Enlightenment to other political philosophies of its time

(22:07) The American Revolution and the American Experiment

(30:47) Alexis de Tocqueville and "Democracy in America"

(34:24) The Weimar Republic and the Rise of Nazism

(46:41) How Hitler rose and what culturally preceded dictatorship in Germany

(54:16) The 2024 U.S. Presidential election and our point in history

(58:20) The Great Courses

Mark Galeotti is a historian, an essayist, a podcaster, and the author of many books including "A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin."

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(00:00) Intro

(01:00) Czarist Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

(03:50) The Russian Revolution

(08:00) World War I and The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

(11:52) Lenin and Stalin

(17:00) The Great Terror

(21:02) Russia during World War II

(28:15) How close were the Nazis to taking over the Soviet Union?

(29:50) Russia and The Cold War

(37:05) Why Soviets no longer believed in Marxism

(39:35) The life and rise of Vladimir Putin

(45:35) Putin, Yeltsin, and the turn of the century

(51:56) How do we misunderstand the modern Russian government?

(55:05) Alexei Navalny

(59:20) The war with Ukraine

Konstantin Kisin is an author, an essayist, and the co-host of the YouTube channel and podcast Triggernometry. A rebroadcast from 2022.

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(00:00) Intro

(1:00) Transition from Soviet Union to wealth in post-collapse Russia

(4:00) Impact of the Soviet collapse on ordinary people's lives

(6:31) Personal resilience shaped by tumultuous childhood experiences

(8:30) Lack of education about the Soviet experience in the West

(11:06) The Russian Revolution and its implications for society today

(11:20) Overview of the dictatorship of the proletariat concept.

(12:55) Impact of property expropriation on wealthy families during the revolution.

(14:03) Consequences of collective farming in Soviet society.

(16:12) The Soviet Union's attempt at equality led to widespread poverty.

(19:02) Insights on the Russian psyche from democratic experiments in the 90s.

(23:42) Describing the chaotic aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse.

(25:12) Painful experiences shaped Russian society during the 1990s.

(27:11) Russia's surrender to terrorists: a psychological shock for citizens.

(29:07) Vladimir Putin emerged as a strongman leader in chaos.

(30:46) Boris Yeltsin's legacy and Putin's rise to power explained.

(36:57) Freedom of expression as the foundation of Western society.

(39:09) The importance of free speech and its recent threats discussed.

(40:11) The roots of political correctness and free speech erosion.

(41:34) Exploring the dangers of hierarchical ideologies in society.

(43:15) The natural dynamics between men and women in relationships.

(45:23) Martin Luther King’s vision for character over skin color.

(46:00) Concerns about societal divisions and their historical implications.

(48:14) The universal threat of believing some people are superior to others.

(49:00) Thought-provoking quotes

(54:00) The West and the importance of individual rights

(1:00:41) George Kennan's insights on containment and Western values.

(1:01:13) Concerns about identity politics and its impact on society.

(1:02:41) The danger of losing a unified national identity.

(1:05:41) Internal division as the real threat to powerful nations.

(1:08:30) Contextualizing slavery and colonialism in world history.

(1:12:31) The role of comedy in challenging mainstream narratives.