Silicon Curtain

INTRO: The history of Russia after 1917 is traditionally written as the rise of the Communist Party, and its entrenchment in power throughout the 20th century. But is this missing a key piece of th…

Edition No25 | 23-11-2023 As winter comes hard upon Ukraine, Russia is again weaponising energy as an instrument of war. Targeting civilian electricity and heating infrastructure is still a war cri…

GUEST: John Sweeney - investigative journalist and writer. Orange hat advocate. ---------- SPEAKER: John Sweeney is a British investigative journalist and writer. He worked for The Observer newsp…

Shaun Pinner is a former British soldier and Ukrainian Marine. He has written an extraordinary first-hand account of the war in Ukraine, his capture, imprisonment, and torture by the Russian invade…

Bohdana Neborak is Editor in Chief at The Ukrainians. She is host of an award-winning video project about decolonization («Наразі без назви»). Bohdana is ex-Head of the Translation Department at th…

Edition No24 | 18-11-2023 In order to avoid criticism of its handling of the war, the Kremlin tries to prevent conscripts from ever returning to Russia. Only martyrs required - No Russians get out …

INTRO: There are many scenarios of what a post-Putin Russia would look like, especially following a substantial defeat in Ukraine. The obvious one, is to assume that a humiliated Russia would blame…

GUEST: Henry J. Hendrix - Retired US Navy captain, defence analyst, historian and curator. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/silico…

Dr Benjamin Tallis is a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. He runs the project “Action Group Zeitenwende” on the transformation of Germany’s security and foreign policy, an…

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has reached a transition point – not a point of failure, as it has been labelled by some commentators and media sources. We are 20 months into a war that Gen. Mark Milley…

“As the world watches two Russian thugs fight it out, it’s important to remember that both of them have been, and still are, implicated in Russia’s ongoing genocide in Ukraine.” This is taken from …

Edition No23 | 11-11-2023 Russia returns to terror threats, as it flaunts its Nuclear capabilities to intimidate the Allies supporting Ukraine militarily. ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buy…

Gustav Gressel is a senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Berlin office. His topics of focus include Russia, Eastern Europe, and defence…

GUEST: Robin Horsfall, soldier, writer, campaigner and keynote speaker. ---------- The existence of the USSR over many decades unfortunately shows that tyranny can be tenacious, and the extreme bar…

This week Russia attacked Odesa with missiles and drones, seriously damaging the Odesa National Art Museum building, a designated UNESCO monument (which was 124 years old yesterday). Missiles also …

In this episode, we explore how the “black box” of Chinese politics operates. How Xi Jinping seized power, and how he maintains control. We examine China's soft authoritarian power and the apparatu…

Elina Beketova is a Democracy Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). She has experience of working as a journalist, editor, and TV-anchor for news stations in Kharkiv and Kyiv. E…

Dr Taras Kuzio is a British academic and Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and an expert on politics, crime and security in Russia, Ukraine, and Eura…

Ben Hodges is a retired United States Army officer, who became commander of United States Army Europe in November 2014, and held that position for three years until retiring from the United States …