Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415

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. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Eight Sleep: to get special savings - Shopify: to get $1 per month trial - NetSuite: to get free product tour - AG1: to get 1 month supply of fish oil TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE LINKS: Serhii’s X: Serhii’s Website: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute: Serhii’s Books: 2006 - The Origins of the Slavic Nations 2010 - Yalta: The Price of Peace 2012 - The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires 2014 - The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union 2015 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine 2016 - The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story 2017 - Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation 2018 - Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy 2021 - Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis 2021 - The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine’s Past and Present 2022 - Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disaster 2023 - The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: RSS: Full episodes playlist: Clips playlist: OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 1:18 - Collapse of the Soviet Union 17:27 - Origins of Russia and Ukraine 30:30 - Ukrainian nationalism 38:13 - Stepan Bandera 1:07:13 - KGB 1:22:11 - War in Ukraine 1:58:27 - NATO and Russia 2:09:30 - Peace talks 2:23:17 - Ukrainian Army head Valerii Zaluzhnyi 2:29:54 - Power and War 2:40:45 - Holodomor 2:47:17 - Chernobyl 2:57:51 - Nuclear power 3:07:28 - Future of the world SOCIAL: - Twitter: - LinkedIn: - Facebook: - Instagram: - Medium: @lexfridman - Reddit: - Support on Patreon: