Eclipsed from the headlines by the war in the Middle East, Russia launches a new offensive [12] in Ukraine with an unprecedented wave of drone and missile strikes [13] across the country—even hitting an historic monastery [14] in Lviv. Meanwhile, two young Russian poets, Artyom Kamardin and Yegor Shtovba, remain imprisoned [15] on "state subversion" charges related to public readings of anti-war poetry. They join other imprisoned poetic [16]anti-war [16] activists [16], such as Daria Kozyreva, and numerous artists and activists [17] imprisoned for opposing the new dictatorship of Vladimir Putin. The recently passed [18] Russian rocker Nikolay Komyagin [19], frontman for the post-punk band Shortparis [20], was also an icon of artistic resistance [21]. Long known for their defiant sound [22], after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine they released the music video "Apple Orchard [23]," on an anti-war theme—resulting in them being blacklisted from major venues in Russia. In Episode 320 [24] of the CounterVortex podcast [25], Bill Weinberg places these courageous voices [26] in the context of a dissident tradition in Russia under the dictatorships of the czars, the Soviets, and now Putin—from Leo Tolstoy [27] to Shortparis.
Listen on SoundCloud [24] or via Patreon [32].
Book discussed:
Tolstoy's Search for the Kingdom of God: Gender and Queer Anarchism [33] by Javier Sethness Castro, Routledge 2025
Production by Chris Rywalt [34]
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