Today's episode is about Ukrainian cuisine, its history, and its importance in culture.

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Yevhen Klopotenko, renowned Ukrainian chef and restaurateur, credited with getting the culture of Ukrainian Borshch cooking to be listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, is the special guest on the episode.

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Try Ukrainian cuisine with Yevhen's recipes: https://klopotenko.com/en/

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Find Yevhen here:

Twitter: https://x.com/klopotenko_chef?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klopotenko/?hl=en

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about Lesya Ukrainka. A feminist and political activist, she is one of Ukraine's most famous and beloved writers to this day. Lesay was a leading figure in the modernist movement and the development of Ukrainian literature.

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"No! I am alive, I will live forever. I have that in my heart, which does not die..." - Lesya Ukrainka, The Forest Song

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Full version of Lesya Ukrainka's "The Forest Song" in English: https://tarnawsky.artsci.utoronto.ca/elul/English/Ukrainka/Ukrainka-ForestSong.pdf

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The music in the background and at the very end of the episode is "Farewell. Waltz in C Minor, Op. 39, No. 1" by the phenomenal composer Mykola Lysenko. The song at the end of the episode is "Як дитиною, бувало" ("As a child, I sometimes") by Mike Udlis, with the lyrics being Lesya Ukrainka's poem of the same name.

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about the weapons and strategy used by the Cossacks in battles and wars. In particular, Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachnyy and how he saved Europe in the War of Khotyn.

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Image of troops in the War of Khotyn: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Battle_of_Khotyn_1673.PNG

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The music at the end of today's episode is "Їхав Козак За Дунай" ("The Cossack Rode Beyond the Danube") by Semen Klymovsky - Ukrainian philosopher, poet and Cossack. The background music throughout the episode is "Kyiv" by Oskar Schuster.

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Fun Fact: The song "The Cossack Rode Beyond the Danube" by Semen Klmovsky was made into a song in German and arranged for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven and Christoph August Tielde. Beethoven's version is known as "Schöne Minka, ich muß scheiden."

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about the night of Ivana Kupala - a celebration and holiday in Ukraine that stems from pagan rites and beliefs. Jumping over bonfires, honoring the pagan god of the sun, and singing enchantments are all part of the 3000-year-old holiday.

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The background music in today's episode is "Hutsul Triptych: Hutsuls'ky tryptykh (Hutsul Triptych): I. Dytynstvo (Childhood)" by Myroslav Skoryk, and the music at the end of the episode is "Oy na Ivana ta y na Kupala" by Pisni Dzherela.

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about the emergence of Kyiv - the capital of Ukraine - and its story from its prehistoric beginnings until becoming the birthplace of the Kyivan Rus'.

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The background music in today's episode is "Kyiv Valse" by Pol Solonar, and the music at the end of the episode is "Київ" by Євген Філатов ("Kyiv" by Yevhen Filatov).

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about the beliefs, traditions, and Ukrainianness that all play their part in Ukrainian Easter.

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A painting of a traditional Ukrainian Easter "Easter Matins" by a Ukrainian artist Mykola Pymonenko: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paska_(bread)#/media/File:PimonenkoNK_PashalZautrRYB.jpg

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The music in today's episode is "Prayer for Ukraine" by Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

The Revolution of Dignity, also known as the Euromaidan, was a series of violent and peaceful protests throughout Ukraine, with the center in Kyiv, in the winter of 2013-2014. The Revolution led to the overthrow of the government, as well as Ukraine taking a definite stance on its pro-freedom, pro-European and pro-Ukrainian values. It was a major turning point in Ukraine's history.

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The video of Ukraine's revolution in Independence Square from above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwtsjFbQK4

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Documentary about the Revolution of Dignity "Winter on Fire": https://youtu.be/yzNxLzFfR5w?si=R8FgZztHLjfMXDnf

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The music at the end of the episode is "Hey, plyve kacha" by Pikkardiyska Tertsiya - a Ukrainian folk song, that became the anthem of the Revolution. The music throughout the episode is "We Will Never Be Brothers" - with lyrics by Ukrainian Anastasiia Dmytruk and music by Lithuanian Virgis Pupšys.

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Find me here: https://linktr.ee/sofiia_andrushchak

Today's episode is about the Orange Revolution. It started in November 2004 as a result of mass falsifications of the Ukrainian Presidential elections. It was a revolution that fought for free and fair elections and democracy as a whole.

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The music in this episode is "Symphony #2" by Mykhailo Verbytskyi (a Ukrainian composer).