Full podcast episode: kzread.info/dash/bejne/o5Vh2c5xj9rWiqQ.html Lex Fridman podcast channel: kzread.info Guest bio: 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.

@manichaean1888

4 ай бұрын

I agree with this propagandist of Ukrainian Nationalism. The Ukrainians are different from the Russians. They live in six Western provinces of Ukraine and speak very distinct language. Let it be. That's where they belong. The rest of so called "Ukraine" is populated by people who speak either Russian at home, or it's Malorussian dialect. It was a grave mistake of Stalin to join the former Austro-Hungarian lands to Soviet Union.

National identity is more than linguistic identity. This is made obvious by the existence of speakers of the same language forming different nations stemming from different historical and political traditions and self-understanding (Austrians and Germans are just an example). Obsessing over language obscures the fact that a nation can be formed through a civic covenant that goes beyond spoken languages: for example, in Switzerland, the Swiss identity is more important than the fact of speaking French, German or Italian.

@stephenhill545

4 ай бұрын

It can be based on many things; traditions, ethnicity, language, whatever makes groups see themselves as having enough in common to imagine themselves as a nation. Russia never had this. It was crested by a ruler. Hence the difficulty Russians have separating the nation and the ruler.

In Russia, loyalty to the ruler, effectively a Tsar, is linked inextricably to loyalty to the nation. To oppose the leader(ship) is unpatriotic and even a betrayal of your own country. This mentality is deeply embedded in Russian culture and mentality, no matter how much their leadership make them suffer. In Ukraine this is not the case.

@aleksandrs1422

4 ай бұрын

In the large part, because (at least according to the popular pro-Russian view) Ukraine had no nation before Lenin gave them one. There was however such a thing among them as loyalty to an often ruithless military-ish leader such as hetman or ataman. And of course, in Cossack folk, there's fierce loyalty to the Orthodox church and often to the Russian emperor of the time. See: "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks".

@RicFlairWooo

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like Trump’s America too

@stephenhill545

4 ай бұрын

​@aleksandrs1422 ukraine is product of 19. Century nationalism, as is germany, Italy, Greece etc. The difference is that statehood was delayed by the Poles and Russians crushing the new state in 1921.

How close are ireland and britain? 99% speak english, 800 years part of british empire, cultural very closer. Much closer than ukranians and russians. But ireland is not Britain. Nationality is identity.

@user-no2kf9yr2z

4 ай бұрын

👍💛🩵

I hope and pray that this war war ends and that the two nations and peoples will find healing and move forward. This is one of the sadest wars. I hope there is peace soon🙏.

To be fair, spanics in the americas see themselves as something like "the same people", more or less, but within different states. Thats why Latin-America concept is so popular. And we havent been so intermingled in history as Russians and Ucranians...

He’s lying when he says Putin wrote that where it “doesn’t allow the little Russian empire (Ukraine)” to exist. Everyone should go read the last line and last paragraph in the article theyre talking about , he says I paraphrase: “ I anticipate people will twist my words, so let me make clear: whatever Ukraine will be, will be up to its citizens” -Putin

@AsG_4_

4 ай бұрын

Then he invaded

@sparrow0680

4 ай бұрын

Former kgb agent doesn't tell the truth. Its a game, and narratives come from Putin's playbook. It's about controlling others and about russki mir. If there's one Russian living abroad in country x, it means to Putin and his gang that country x should be part of Russia in that case. It is about Empire. Russia is a melting pot already with a lot of ethnicities, but Russia wants to enslave more 'tribes' and countries under it.

@andrewprindiville119

4 ай бұрын

do you believe everything dictators say?

@stephenhill545

4 ай бұрын

They already voted to be independent in 91. Shame he doesn't respect their sovereign decision.

@PreemL

4 ай бұрын

@@AsG_4_this is the decision of the citizens of ukraine, ultimately.

Amazing Grace❤

I believe someday humanity will overcome the animal desire to kill for dominance and use our intelligence to progress.❤

@andrewprindiville119

4 ай бұрын

thats a bit naive. theres many reasons to kill besides dominance. i doubt most nazi soldiers thought they were being dominant, they were tricked into thinking they were protecting there land. the same can be said for russians today. when my cousins killer killed him he did it for my cousins money.

Putin on the same camp of Hitler and Stalin? Ok..

Bolotna in Moscow: protests - police violence - the end of it. Washington January 6: protests - police violence - the end of it. Does this make Americans and Russians one and the same people?

@mb-bp1eb

4 ай бұрын

in Russia people just went to prison for laying down flowers and got multi year prison sentence for using the word war. No, it is not the same and you know it.

@MrSvinkoyaschMrSvinkoyasch

4 ай бұрын

@@mb-bp1eb in America a woman got shot dead just for entering the Capitol even though she was unarmed and meant no harm. And you know it...

@mb-bp1eb

4 ай бұрын

@@MrSvinkoyaschMrSvinkoyasch we are talking about russia dummy.. why you russkies need to apologies russian dictatorship by lies about other countries?

@radoslavliptak3842

4 ай бұрын

@@MrSvinkoyaschMrSvinkoyaschyes she did not recognised outcome of the democratic election and became a part of a mob who were using force to decide the outcome and replace the rule of law. There is no rule of law in Russia, law is decided by the ruler. There is similarity between the Russia and USA though, there is a Lot of People in the USA who believe in the same thing, that anger, emotion and power makes them right.

Russian copium hasn't flooded the comment section yet?

@aadilansari5997

4 ай бұрын

We spport grate leder Putin of Russia.

@verbalspaghettigaming7570

4 ай бұрын

@@aadilansari5997 Putin is grate

@thecount1001

4 ай бұрын

3,2,1..... incoming.....

In Putins very first sentence, he says that the Russians and Ukrainians are "one people - a unity". What Putin means, is that the Ukrainians are not a sovereign people. Putin goes on to make a cherry-picked history between the two peoples, in which he neglects to mention the various uprisings of the Ukrainians against the Russians, the edits against the Ukrainians (e.g. Peter 1 1708), and Putin does not mention the greatest crime of all the Holomodor. Putin calls Ukraine an "artificial" country and asserts that Russia owns Ukraine. Putin is a racist sociopath irredentist -- someone who believes that if a territory belongs to Russia in the past (Ukraine, Estonia, et cetera) then it always belongs to Russia.

@momala3919

4 ай бұрын

Putin does not say this, because there was no uprising of Ukrainians in 1701 against Peter, since there were no Ukrainians, those people did not define themselves that way. The local population generally hated Mazepa and supported Moscow more. The Holodomor is not a crime against any nation at all. since it was not directed against ethnic groups. Ukraine is actually an artificial country created by the decrees of the Bolsheviks. The Ukrainian national consciousness is formed in the process of mass communist education, in Ukrainian.

@marvinwilliams7938

4 ай бұрын

This speaker is lying when he says Putin wrote that article to indicate Putin “doesn’t allow the little Russian empire (Ukraine)” to exist. Everyone should go read the last line and last paragraph in the article theyre talking about , Putin says, I paraphrase: “ I anticipate people will twist my words, so let me make clear: whatever Ukraine will be, will be up to its citizens” -Putin

8:00 Plokhy says Russian and Ukrainian are essentially the same language. So then why do the Russians so object to the Ukrainian dialect? To the point of war !? No, they are different languages, and thus different people. Unless the entire facade is nothing more than a war about grammar, spelling and punctuation?

@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462

4 ай бұрын

It is. Spell kyiev however you want it's like either even use the latin alphabet

@zealmediaproductions844

4 ай бұрын

Just like texas and newyork are entirely different people The american of English descent is an entirely different person from the american of italian descent

@stephenhill545

4 ай бұрын

Ukranian is russian, like English is French. Ukranian is actually closer to Polish.

Oh I see, before this I didn't realize that "unifying" means "murdering". What a joke

@Koz4concern

4 ай бұрын

I guess you’re not familiar with US and Western European history

@zoeh1964

4 ай бұрын

@@Koz4concern very familiar and that's exactly the difference. For them it's HISTORY but for neanderthals like Russia it's the present. Think about that, Einstein

@marvinwilliams7938

4 ай бұрын

He’s lying when he says Putin wrote that article to indicate Putin “doesn’t allow the little Russian empire (Ukraine)” to exist. Everyone should go read the last line and last paragraph in the article theyre talking about , Putin says, I paraphrase: “ I anticipate people will twist my words, so let me make clear: whatever Ukraine will be, will be up to its citizens” -Putin

@zealmediaproductions844

4 ай бұрын

​@@zoeh1964i hope you would maintain this same energy when the americans of non English descent/ancestry form a seperate country Or when black Americans secede with part of America 😂😂😂

@zoeh1964

4 ай бұрын

​@@zealmediaproductions844and I hope you'll maintain the same energy when Russia annexes Alaska, China annexes Sibiria, Japan annexes Sakhaline and Kuril islands, and so on. Actually let's go back to the Genghis Khan era borders and return half of the world to Mongolia. Or Restore Roman Empire? You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, aren't you

Putin is for the Donetsk peoples Republic right to self determination but not Ukraine ...this is hypocrisy 101

@user-sv5sl9tm7g

4 ай бұрын

The hypocrisy is not recognising the fact -- the fact -- that Donetsk Oblast was 62% ethnic Ukrainian. You are cheering for Russia supporting a minority against the majority.

@verbalspaghettigaming7570

4 ай бұрын

Putin says what he thinks he needs to in order to justify his Imperialistic dream.

@SamGarmider

4 ай бұрын

Why did he send Russian proxies like the Nazis Rusich and imperialist Igor Strelkov destroy to destabilize their land?

Where...is...Gerasimov?

@harambe7430

4 ай бұрын

He was on the frontline visiting the troops who stormed Avdiivka with medals and awards

@verbalspaghettigaming7570

4 ай бұрын

@@harambe7430 You mean the old video they reused when he was standing in room handing out medals? That got debunked. Where's Gerasimov?

@harambe7430

4 ай бұрын

@@verbalspaghettigaming7570 sure it did pal lol. Where is zaluzhny that is more important question??

@verbalspaghettigaming7570

4 ай бұрын

@@harambe7430 Alive. Where is the Sergey Kotov?

Purely linguistic point of view, Russians and Ukrainians share the same Slavic tongue... That's why Putin has to invade, it often a glimpse it what a russia could be like without him.

@WangMingGe

4 ай бұрын

Ukrainians and Russians do not speak the same language. Poles, Czechs, Belarusians, Slovaks, Croatians etc. all speak Slavic tongues. So, Russia gets to invade everybody????

White Russians ...what about the asian Russians ... Left them out yet again I see

@deancorso445

4 ай бұрын

you don't know the subjest so keep silence

@AsG_4_

4 ай бұрын

Not virtue signals..I'm pro Donetsk and pro Ukraine because I believe they have the right to self determination after the fall of the government regardless of how it happened ..now where do you clowns stand on said topic or are you here to hirndurr Russia

@AsG_4_

4 ай бұрын

@@voncrowne6603 and what's your stance on the conflict ...

The one who set Russians and Ucranoians against each other speaks about unity of Russians and Ucranians. What a hypocrite!

Hi, I'm from São Paulo! CRUEL!

Only way for the world to go back to normal is if europe was 1 country

@fafoy17

4 ай бұрын

Too many useless free loading socialist states who do nothing but create a population who find it hard to raise a family italy is the saddest version

I was born in Kiev and don't care what this professor from Harvard has to say. Can't wait until my motherland is liberated. And after the liberation I don't care what the professor and others that agree with what he has to say or feel about it. Let them be Ukrainian patriots from far away like Canada, America and from all other European countries. Just as long they are not in Ukraine.

Ели мужик из Техаса женится на девушке из Калифорнии и переедет в Монтану вы как их идентичность будете определять. Половина семей завязана на территории бывшей Российской империи кровно. От Польши до Казахстана. Если один брат живет в Белоруссии, а другой на Камчатке, что камчатский будет проявлять империалистический претензии к белорусскому кровному брату. Это глупость. Моя семья растянута от Польши, через Белоруссию и Украину до Урала. У меня, по вашему, империалистические и захватнические отношения к ним? Придумали какой то винегрет из идентичностей и экспериментируют. В Техасе экспериментируйте и вычленяйте этносы и идентичности.

@grigoryborodavkin1730

4 ай бұрын

Техас, Калифорния и Монтана являются частью одних Соединенных Штатов Америки. У них есть общая Американская идентичность. Это как Сибиряк в России. Они имеют ввиду скорее, что несмотря на то что в Англии и в США говорят на одном языке и были когда-то одной империей, сейчас было бы абсурдно на полном серьезе втирать американцу что он на самом деле англичанин и должен перед королем кланяться. В Украине при этом говорят И на украинском И на русском.

The more I hear from the ukrainian side the more I tend to agree with The Russian President. This type of separatist thinking from ukrainians talking about how they are something else and refering to DNA but not actually meaning DNA but an ideologic opinion about DNA is the type of eugenics quasiscience bs I don’t tolerate.

@user-no2kf9yr2z

4 ай бұрын

Да, Путин хочет уничтожить Украину! Но украинцы сопротивляются!

@Brazbrah

4 ай бұрын

Is that really all you took away from this conversation? You have very poor comprehension skills if you think it is only a DNA argument.

@user-no2kf9yr2z

4 ай бұрын

Ты, видимо, не знаешь, что нация это понятие политическое.Это не про ДНК. А ещё есть такое понятие, как право наций на самоопределение! Не слышал?😊

God bless Vladimir Putin.

@verbalspaghettigaming7570

4 ай бұрын

Uhhh...I don't think God is going to bless a guy turning entire cities to ash. Don't know what books you've read, but I don't recall Jesus encouraging those actions. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

So biased this SP