About this episode

Mary talks to Charlotte Higgins about her experiences and insights on Ukrainian culture and identity during the ongoing war with Russia.

Mary talks to Charlotte about her book Ukrainian Lessons: Art in a Time of War. For the last four years, Charlotte has returned repeatedly to Ukraine to report on the cultural life of the nation as it defends itself against Russia. Part of Putin’s attempts to legitimise the war lies in an age-old argument that Ukraine is simply an extension, or part of, Russia itself. Art and culture have always played a critical role in Ukraine’s identity and self-determinism –and never more so than now.  Charlotte talks about what first took her to Ukraine in 2022, some of what she has learned over the last four years, and how reading the classics, especially Homer and Greek tragedy, have helped her make sense of the current situation. And Mary and Charlotte discuss Ukraine’s classical past: histories of Ukraine often start with Herodotus and his account of the Scythians of the steppe; and the Black Sea coast, and Crimea, are dotted with some of the earliest Greek “colonies” or trading emporia. Further reading  Charlotte’s book Ukrainian Lessons: Art in a Time of War (Cape) is published on 20 August. Charlotte and Mary also mentioned Oleksandr Mykhed’s book The Language of War…

People in this episode

Host: Mary

Guest: Charlotte Higgins

Topics covered

• Ukrainian culture
• art in war
• classical literature
• identity
• cultural reporting

Keywords

• Ukraine
• art
• war
• classics
• cultural identity
• Homer
• Greek tragedy

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Ukrainian Lessons: Art in a Time of War, The Language of War, Cassandra, Iphigeneia in Tauris

Places: Ukraine, Russia, Black Sea, Crimea, Scythians

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