The Post-Soviet Human Condition

The Post-Soviet Human Condition

From The Eurasian Knot by The Eurasian Knot

May 11, 2026 · 1h 9m

About this episode

A conversation with philosopher Mikhail Minakov about the post-Soviet human condition and the crisis of liberalism.

The Eurasian Knot hasn’t featured many philosophers. So, when Ukrainian political philosopher, Mikhail Minakov, came to the University of Pittsburgh to give a talk, I eagerly pulled him into a studio. The result was a wide-ranging conversation on the collapse of communism, the post-Soviet human, Kantian philosophy, our current global political conjecture, and the crisis of liberalism. What is a post-Soviet human and how does s/he differ from their Soviet counterpart? What are the seeds and expressions of our political discontent? And to what extent does liberalism need a revival to meet the political creativity of the global illiberal right? Minakov has some fascinating insights. He gave me so much to chew on. I have no doubt you will too after listening to this conversation. Guest: Mikhail Minakov is a political philosopher residing in Kyiv and Milan. His primary philosophical inquiries focus on human experience, social knowledge, political systems, historical consciousness, and multiple modernities. His most recent book is The Post-Soviet Human: Philosophical Reflections on Social History after the End of Communism published by ibidem Press. Hosted on Acast. See…

People in this episode

Host: The Eurasian Knot

Guest: Mikhail Minakov

Topics covered

  • post-Soviet human condition
  • collapse of communism
  • Kantian philosophy
  • political discontent
  • crisis of liberalism
  • global political conjecture

Keywords

  • post-Soviet
  • human condition
  • political philosophy
  • liberalism
  • communism
  • political systems
  • historical consciousness

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Pittsburgh

Books & works: The Post-Soviet Human: Philosophical Reflections on Social History after the End of Communism

Places: Kyiv, Milan

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