Wandering the Edge

Olia Hercules - Ukrainian chef, writer and food stylist has been actively working to promote and safeguard Ukrainian cuisine for years. Her cookbooks are amazing and I think should be a stalwart aid of every Ukrainian kitchen. We talked about the history of cuisine, of women's running the household, of our favorite places in Ukraine, of the curious case of "church borshch" and her local favorite foods and restaurants in Ukraine. We also cried over the lost memories, foods and places all because of the Russian invasion. This was an absolute delight and I'm fortunate to get Olia on this podcast!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Did Catherine the Great found Odesa? No, it's been around for centuries and is far more European than it is Russian! So what other myths surround this Black Sea city? Find out more in this latest bonus episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What does Lufthansa, Picasso and the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Building have in common? They all have links to Mykhailo Boychuk - Ukraine's most prominent modernist painter and the founder and leader of the Boychukists. His work incorporated a Ukrainian essence into a modern spin that tried to break away from the stagnant Russian art world. What happened to him and what became of his influence? Find out in this latest episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineIrena Makaryk, "Periphery or Center? Ukrainian Modernism in Kyiv" in Peripheral Modernisms (Fall 2020-Spring 2021)Anastasiia Herasymchuk, "Key Things to Know about Ukrainian Avant-Garde Art of the Early 20th Century" in Ukraine World (2024)Ada Wordsworth, "Meet the Boychukists: Ukrainian Modernism at the V&A" in Victoria & Albert Museum (2025)

While officially founded in 1256, Lviv has been around since the 5th century. It's importance to Ukrainian history has been due to its trade route location, it's multi-culturalism and its administrative importance in almost every Empire or country it belonged to. Find out more on this episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ukraine was a founding member of the United Nations. It really didn't do much when the Soviet Union was around, but since 1991 it has been one of the most respected and active participant in UN peacekeeping missions, the first of which was in Bosnia and Herzegovina. How it all started, how they did and why Ukraine became such an important aspect in UN peacekeeping operations is answered in this episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineMargarita Yakymovych, "Ukraine's Peacekeeping, Military and Humanitarian Operations in other Countries" in Ukrainer (2024)"International Day of UN Peacekeepers: What is Ukraine's Role in Peacekeeping Missions" in Visit Ukraine (2023)Samba Cyuzuzo, "Ukraine Troops Leave DR Congo Peacekeeping Mission Monusco" in BBC (2022)Yevgeny Matyushenko, "Over 40,000 Ukrainian Military Took Part in UN Peacekeeping Operations over 30 years" in UNIAN (2021)

Kharkiv is Ukraine's second city - second largest, second populous but certainly not the so-called "young city" that Soviet myths like to fantasize. It's old. Older than the 17th century the Russian Empire liked to think too. Find out more on this latest episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Soviet-Afghan War begin in 1979 and lasted almost ten years. Ukrainians made up of 25% of the Soviet Armed Forces while it fought in Afghanistan. The war brought the Soviet Union to collapse but also ended up scarring thousands of young Ukrainian men who wanted nothing to do with war afterward. What happened to them and what was their influence on Ukraine after independence? Find out in this episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineMarysia Tyshkevych, "Afhanska Viyna y Ukraina" in Ukrainsky Interes (2025)Serhiy Ziatiev "To Bula Chuzha Dlia Nas, Ukrainstiv, Viyna" in Den (2020)Halyna Tereschuk, "Uchast Ukraintsiv u viyni v Afhanistani. Povoienna Pamiat - Dovha" in Radio Svoboda (2016)Taras Kuzio, "Afhanistan: Sutychky, scho Pererosly u Viynu" in Vpered (2019)Olha Skotnikova, "Urok Afhaniskoi Viyny my ne Vyvchyly, ale Yoho Treba Zapamiataty - Istoryk Ivan Patryliak" in Vechirniy Kyiv (2024)

When did the capital of Ukraine become established? How many myths are associated with it's founding? Who actually founded it because there seems to be a lot of people who claim that right! Listen to this episode and find the answers to those questions along with others like how many times can a city rebuilt itself and still function as a capital? Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dmytro Vyshnevetsky "Baida" was the first Hetman of Ukraine in the 16th century. Kirillo Razumovsky was the last Hetman of Ukraine in the 18th century. But who were these two very different types of men? And how were they the products of their time and environment? How were the Cossacks treated under their leadership and what type of political leaders were they? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this latest episode of Wandering the Edge!Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineDmytro Shurkhalo, "Kniaz-Kozak: 500 Ricchia Dmytra Vyshnevytskoho-Baida" in Radio Svoboda (2017)Vitaliy Ponomarov, "Zaporozkoi Sichi, Pershoho Zaporozkoho Otamana, Kniaza Dmytra Baidy-Vyshnyvetskoho" in Radio Svoboda (2006)Dmytro Voronskyi, "Prince Dmytro Korybut-Vyshnevetsky (Baida)" in Pavlusenko Art V. Smoliy, et. al. Dyplomatia na 'Mezhi Svitu': Mizhnarodni Vidnosyny ta Zovnishnia Polityka Ukrainkoi Derzavy (2016)Nelia Herasymenko, Obrannia Kylyla Rozumovskoho Hetmanom Livoberezhnoi Ukrainy (2012)Ivan Fatsynets, "Pochatok (ne) Bratskoi Kolonizatsi" in Istorychna Pravda (2021)Pravlinna Hetmanskoho Uriadu ta Ostanniy Hetman Ukrainy Kyrylo Rozumovsky

In the 100th episode of Wandering the Edge, Christina Paschyn, director and producer of Etched in Memory discusses the complicated history of the Crimean Tatars within overall Ukrainian history, but also the difficulty of expressing the plight of the indigenous people of Ukraine among a global audience. Her documentary film follows Crimean Tatar activists as they try to survive during the Russian occupation and all the painstaking work they do to support those who refuse to leave their ancestral homeland, which is once again being occupied by Russia. For more information on the film: https://etchedinmemoryfilm.com/Facebook & Instagram: WanderedgeukraineFor more episodes, sources and extras, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wanderingtheedge.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠