There’s something really interesting happening in Ukraine. The few and far between Russian victories seem to be making them weaker. Yes, you read that right. Russian victories are draining the life out of their soldiers, making it harder to win the battles that come next. On the other hand, Ukrainian victories have been swift, dramatic, and devastating - with each win seemingly making them stronger. The big question is, why is it that Ukrainians gain momentum with every win, but Russia can’t see...
Oct 18, 2022•37 min
Mitchell Orenstein is a professor of Central and East European Politics in the Slavic department at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian studies at Harvard. His research focuses on the political economy and international affairs of Central and Eastern Europe. This episode is the latest installment to the four-part series on Reconsidering Russia, where we try to dig into Russia's historical and geopolitical context to help you better underst...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Time in Kyiv: 9am, Tues, Sep 13th. Kharkiv Oblast is free. Zelenksy announced about 6 weeks ago that a major counter-offensive in the South would take place. After a month of attacking bridges, rail depots, ammunition depots, C&C, bases, etc etc etc, the offensive started in earnest. 2 weeks in, they haven’t gotten a ton of territory back. But, as all of us paying attention know, the Southern offensive may have been the greatest diversion in warfare since WWII itself. Over the last week, Ukr...
Sep 19, 2022•36 min
Mark Schauss is the host of Russian Rulers History and Battle Ground History. Known for being heavily well-versed with the history of Russia, Mark Schauss joins us in today’s episode to talk about the Russian history in its most authentic form. Mark shares everything from Russia’s first invasion to how all these historic events reflect on how Russia moves socio-politically in today’s world. Join the ReConsider Patreon Topics Covered What made mark start his podcast and how it’s currently going. ...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Hot Updates Severodonetsk fell slowly as expected, but then Lysychansk fell quickly because Russian troops surrounded it, and Ukrainian troops had to retreat rather than be destroyed. It’s possible the Ukrainians were out-gamed by Russian mid-level commanders. So far, Russians have not been able to break out of Donetsk city -- that part of the original Feb 24 defense line is holding Russia appears to have deployed nearly 100% of its conventional combat capabilities to Ukraine, and is still getti...
Aug 10, 2022•32 min
Lots of ways we can split this. Much has been discussed about decoupling of wages from productivity. Also note we are absolutely not going to get into 2022. But it’s clear the price increases since the pandemic (due to supply shortages, super aggressive monetary policy, gasoline ,and other drivers of inflation) are really eating into real wages. See the full show notes at ReconsiderMedia.com Join the ReConsider Patreon Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Ac...
Jul 15, 2022•35 min
OR, a tale of ups and downs Lots of things seem to be getting worse, at least if you read the internet ever This is not an episode to say, “nothing is getting worse,” but that what you hear about is probably not very correlated with what’s going on. I’m leaving abortion out of this because honestly I can’t even deal with this shit right now. Major problem with talking about trends: how long are we talking here? A lot of stuff goes up and down. If you just look at this year and extrapolate, then ...
Jun 30, 2022•32 min
Updates Situation in Severodonetsk HUGE numbers of troops from both sides Artillery war “Road of life” from Bakhmut to Severodonetsk has 1km clearance from Popansa salient and has been a huge fight -- if it goes down, UKR at risk of losing >10k troops in that pocket Ammo situation Ukraine out of Soviet ammo; now fully on NATO 100% dependent on Western shipments Would have literally run out of ammo without that support -- possible insight into why Russia thought it could win Donbass UKR Nation...
Jun 13, 2022•37 min
First, war update: Mariupol fell after 2.5 months of truly insane holding out. Gosh dang. 1900 surrendered and there is a POW complication that I”m not going to get into Ukraine has mostly booted Russia out of Kharkiv, though there is still some fighting and the Russians have not given it up entirely the way they did Kyiv/Sumy/etc, so there’s no obvious way to free up those troops for Ukraine Russians trying really hard to cross the Siversky Donets river by pontoon, in order to encircle Ukraine’...
May 27, 2022•34 min
What happens when you start really believing your own bullshit? What happens when you’ve created a yes-man bubble where everyone only tells you what you want to hear? First a war update: Russia’s focus on the east and Donbass, which started a month ago, has made a bit of progress in a few places, but is now pretty stalled They do seem to be regrouping from Mariupol, but they’ve also been going into a meat-grinder Ukraine has made marginal advances towards Kherson and away from Kharkiv SOMEHOW, M...
May 06, 2022•40 min
The Russians are hoping to encircle Ukraine's defensive lines in the Donbass. If they do, they might be able to declare victory. The Ukrainians are racing east, not only to defend their territory, but might just also be able to counter-attack. Let's break it down. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 07, 2022•36 min
So much has changed over the past month -- Ukraine is on the offensive. Kyiv is safe. The war moves east. Air superiority actually matters more than ever. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 06, 2022•42 min
On this episode, Erik interviews Lindsay Graham of American History Tellers and History Daily. They talk about the similarities and differences between today's political and economic climate and that of the Civil War and the Gilded Age. Support ReConsider on Patreon Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 21, 2022•47 min
The war should have been short and decisive. And as it drags out, Russia looks ever-more inept. What's wrong with its military? What's wrong with its chain of command? Will its economy collapse? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 06, 2022•1 hr 3 min
While this war is far from over... well, it's far from over! And nobody expected that. In this episode we talk about why Ukraine is winning, what it could mean for Russia and the world if they do win, and how warfare is changing as we watch it unfold. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 27, 2022•57 min
Erik explains why Russia is invading Ukraine, what their war aims are, what the West is doing, how geopolitics plays into all of this, and a little bit of what might happen next. Get a little sanity of clarity amidst the livestream chaos. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 25, 2022•58 min
"Another cause which kept the plebeians in as state of poverty was the unjust distribution of the public land (ager publicus) which had been acquired in war..." William C. Morey, Outline of Roman History The Optimates: Represented the Elites in the run-up to, and the middle of, the Roman Civil Wars Believe the mob wasn’t really fit to rule, wanted to rule for them Also represented special interests who benefited personally from a lot of laws that led to unsustainable economic conditions -- such ...
Feb 19, 2022•48 min
Antiwork had a really bad day Source Article “Laziness is a virtue in this society” - r/antiwork moderator https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220126-the-rise-of-the-anti-work-movement “Supporters of the anti-work movement believe people should self-organise and labour only as much as needed, rather than working longer hours to create excess capital or goods.” USA is a tough crowd for this kind of pitch. See: bad branding. What does Antiwork stand for? Many people tried to give Erik the answe...
Jan 29, 2022•30 min
Help Keep ReConsider Independent by joining our Patreon Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 27, 2022•8 min
Today we talk about something I've reconsidered lately: Antiwork Leave Erik a Tip to Support the Show Join the ReConsider Patreon Erik’s initial take -labor organization and rights are a great thing -Not putting up with crappy work conditions, and forcing companies to compete, is a great thing (and this is my opinion as an employer) -saying “I want stuff - someone has to make it- and I don't want to work in exchange” seems crazy -”Ending work,” part of the motto, is very explicitly about not wor...
Jan 25, 2022•36 min
Two kinds of revolutions: Throwing off an external oppressor Often violent, sometimes not Forcing regime change in your own country through extra-political or violent means Largely violent Largely nonviolent The outcomes tend to be very different. (Focusing on outcomes where they win -- turns out most revolutions fail militarily) Those throwing off an outsider tend to work out pretty well! US revolution Spanish-American independence Haitian slave revolt (note unlike many slave revolts, the Haiti...
Jan 02, 2022•36 min
Become a Patreon and Support ReConsider! This is probably going to get me a lot of flak but I realized that I’d be shying away from a commitment to challenge how we think about stuff if I didn’t talk about this out of fear. Disclaimer: I actually have a very underdeveloped political position on transgenderism and generally just stay out of it, the way I do about abortiton (but for different reasons--with abortion I am just morally conflicted), and I tend to default to, “you do you” and thus away...
Dec 20, 2021•38 min
I think a lot of the societal breakdown we are seeing is a matter of human psychology -- designed for pre-historical humans by evolution -- running up against technology that it can’t handle and goes kindof crazy trying to confront. -This is probably why social media is so harmful for teenagers -- social dynamics on steroids that you can’t ever really win -Also talked about this a lot with bubbling behavior and learning things from people who look like me rather than people who seem smart -I thi...
Dec 03, 2021•29 min
In the 1930s, Fascism was surprisingly popular in the US. Then a World War made the word anathema, but wanting a strongman to make everything better for us is getting more popular. Believe in our liberal institutions is in decline. Are we getting more tolerant of totalitarianism? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 15, 2021•31 min
Social market dynamics are driving the ever-greater fracturing of public discourse. Can it be pulled back together? In this episode Erik finishes his series with the MIT Enterprise Forum on media technology and political polarization. Check out the show notes for the original slide deck at http://www.reconsidermedia.com Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr
In this episode, Erik expands substantially on work from Wedged, talking about how media technology, now and in the past, contributes to (or doesn't contribute to) political polarization. Check out the show notes at http://www.reconsidermedia.com for the slide deck! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 11, 2021•1 hr 5 min
In the words of the legendary Terry Pratchett, in the Discworld novel The Truth: “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has had a chance to get its boots on.” Or from one of my favorite bands, The Protomen in their song, “The Hounds”: “When I say he was a monster When I set fire to his name It does not matter where you hear it from Whether truth or lies, it gets said all the same Become a ReConsider Patron … Whatever’s on the table plays!” Volume bias I’ve been on a kick recent...
Sep 27, 2021•41 min
What are you willing to forgive in the heroes of your story? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 09, 2021•29 min
Agenda: Weren’t nukes good for global stability? The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction Game Theory and the First Strike problem of most nuclear weapons The Dr. Strangelove scenario Were there close calls? Yes, here are all of them Also, the broken arrow problem Can you actually get rid of nukes? Probably not…. ...but can you get rid of the first strike problem? Probably! The magic of stealth boomer submarines Fmr. SecDef William J Perry’s modest proposal How would you get this done? Who do yo...
Aug 24, 2021•43 min
I finally managed to get a bunch of patrons to send me questions. Many who are eligible have still sent none, so I’m going to be doing another soon! Some GREAT questions came in this time! Enjoy! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 03, 2021•57 min
