This episode was crafted from the book Through Dark Days and White Nights: Four Decades Observing a Changing Russia, written by Dr. Naomi F. Collins. In this insightful and intimate eyewitness-account, we get a glimpse on what life was like in the Soviet Union through the lenses of an American woman. This account is singular, among other reasons, because it portrays the USSR and Russia over the timespan of four decades, with the author “starting as a graduate student in Moscow State University and ending as the wife of the American Ambassador to Russia.” In this journey, one becomes aware of the “hardening of the Cold War atmosphere” in the 1960’s; the period of Détente with Presidents Nixon and Brezhnev, and the "Era of Stagnation" in the 1970’s and 1980’s; Gorbachev’s reforms (Perestroika/Glasnost) and the 1991 coup attempt; the end of the USSR and the traumatic transition to a market economy, led by president Boris Yeltsin in the 1990’s. This account allows us to thrillingly stride through all these historically significant events, but perhaps its most remarkable quality is the emphasis on people's lives, and how “forces of history seemed remote while witnessing actual people, people driven by ideas and fears".

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:07 Chapter I - the 1960’s

00:24:17 Chapter II - the 1970’s

00:47:38 Chapter III - the 1990’s

Credits:

Script: Rudy Durao & Dr. Naomi F. Collins

Narration: Rudy Durão Sound production: Rudy Durão Animations: Kristi Luht Soundtrack: Jingle: Rafael Durão & Theo de Blasis, check them out! https://open.spotify.com/album/0gNEILcD4Mkd4SRQLlEyF5?si=Te5bvq-SRM656f0lgk-qKg

00:04:10 / 00:05:51 - Song of the Volga Boatmen, by Matthew Arthur https://matthewarthur.bandcamp.com/track/song-of-the-volga-boatmen

00:07:22 / 00:10:45 - Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Baba Yaga - adaptation by Rafael Durão #papaelomusic

00:18:50 / 00:20:42 and 01:08:53 / 01:10:01 - ☭ SOVIET liminal spaces with creepy USSR anthem ☭ #deadoctobertv

00:40:37 / 00:44:37 - 'Росинка'' - вокальний ансамбль.Пісня:Прилетів лелека на моє весілля.1988 рiк.

Paypal: https://paypal.me/rudydurao