The turmoil and changes of the past five years — from the coronavirus pandemic to the second Trump administration — make clear one basic fact: the post-Cold War era is over. It could be that it already happened in 2008, in the global financial crisis, or it could be in 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine and took the Crimean peninsula from it. It could be any consequential date that marked a change, a clear change, from before and after. But whichever date or event is chosen, a change of eras has clearly happened — and the cascade of events we are living through is an historic time.
To explore the meaning of this term, as well as the reality of living through it, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Professor Marci Shore of Yale University — who is definitely someone equipped to examine and explain these core issues. A cultural historian of Eastern Europe who also finds herself drawn to the current conflict in Ukraine and works to aid the Ukrainians. An American using her understanding of Europe to analyse events in the US. A writer and deep thinker who helps us all understand this period of time in another dimension.
A strong sharp conversation about the past, the present, history and reality.
This episode was recorded on 30 April 2025
Chapters
- What defines an historic time?
- The difference between historical events
- What does a real revolution feel like?
- Is Ukraine living in historic time?
- Reading the current US situation as an historian
Mentions
- Marci Shore’s articles and essays
- Her essay “With Shestov in Ukraine”, Liberties Journal of Culture and Politics
- Her book “The Ukrainian Night”
- Jan Karski
- Documentary Shoah
- “In Kyiv, we discuss philosophy, poetry and air raid siren protocol,” co-authored with Amelia M. Glaser, CNN (29 March 2024);Nataliya Gumenyuk, Angelina Kariakina, Janice Stein
- Poem “A song on the End of the World”, Czeslaw Milosz
Follow
- Marci Shore Bluesky, X/Twitter
- Her course “European Intellectual History since Nietzsche” (Yale website & Youtube)
- Her curated selection of material in various languages about the war in Ukraine
- Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
- Ilana Bet-El
Credits
- Production: Florence Ferrando
- Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Florence Ferrando
