Jacob Mikanowski is a historian, author, and journalist whose book Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land is out now.
In this episode, we first touch on reasons why people believe that Eastern Europe is backward and why it’s ignored. We touch on the paradox of this by showcasing some important philosophical and literary contributions of this part of the world. We then discuss the legacy of this history in the post-socialist world and the reasons why the pro-democratic sentiment was lost in the 1990s. To contrast this democratic backsliding, we look at how Central and Eastern European countries led the way for Ukrainian support after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Lastly, we address what “the end of history” could actually look like in this part of the world.
You can purchase Jacob Mikanowski’s book here: https://shorturl.at/nBCEN
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