Thinking about...

Mar 04 2025 44 ep. 14 mins 199

Thinking about... Podcast artwork

The words we need for the politics of today.

snyder.substack.com

History Society & Culture

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Is it a peace process? (short video)

Mar 04 2025 2 mins

I was asked to make a shorter video summarizing the logic of negotiation. Here it is: five basic tests to establish whether what is proposed by Americans can be regarded as a Ukrainian-Russian peace process. I hope you find it useful, for example in evaluating claims made by the American president in his speech this evening. At the moment, American policy seems to meet none of thes

The Logic of Negotiation (video)

Mar 03 2025 11 mins

Wars are hard to end. Peace is easy to say but difficult to achieve. In this video, about ten minutes long, I spell out five logics that a successful mediator seeking peace would take into account: the state of law; the beginning of the war; calculations of the future; paper vs. reality; and ceasefire vs. peace. I have in mind the present Russo-Ukrainian war. But sometimes it helps

Five Failures in the Oval Office (video)

Feb 28 2025 5 mins

In this, my first substack video, I react to the shameful encounter between American leaders and media and the Ukrainian president. No doubt there were more, but I saw five failures on our side: of hospitality, decency, democracy, strategy, and independence. Please watch and share. If you are thinking today about how to help Ukrainians, here are some possibilities: Come Back Alive

Affirmative Action for Dictators (audio and text)

Feb 25 2025 13 mins

This is the podcast version of an essay I published on 16 February at the end of the Munich Security Conference. Since then, its thesis has been confirmed by the Russian-American talks in Saudi Arabia, American slanders of Ukrainians, and the Russian-American concord at the United Nations. The original text begins below.As a television show, American foreign policy is about strengt

The Weak Strongman (audio and text)

Feb 20 2025 16 mins

This is the podcast version of an essay I wrote a week ago, before the Munich Security Conference brought some of the explanation points. Since then, the thesis has only been confirmed by the disastrous Russian-American talks and American slanders of and threats to Ukrainians. Please share this with those who might want or need to hear this. If you are thinking about how to help Uk

Crossing a line (audio and text)

Feb 19 2025 10 mins

This is the podcast version of an essay I wrote on the night train from Kyiv to Zaporizhzhia a week ago. Please feel free to share this with those who might want or need to hear this. If you are thinking as I am about how to help Ukrainians just now, consider Come Back Alive (Ukrainian NGO that supports soldiers on the battlefield and veterans), United 24 (the Ukrainian state platf

Of course it’s a coup (audio)

Feb 09 2025 4 mins

This is the podcast version of my written post “Of course it’s a coup” of 5 February. Please listen or share with those who prefer to listen. Coming posts will be about the weak strong man, lessons from Germany, and the lines we cross from one form of regime to another. Excellent journalist work on the coup is meantime being done by Mother Jones, Wired, and Notes on the Crisi

The Logic of Destruction (audio)

Feb 04 2025 13 mins

This is the podcast version of my post on the logic of destruction behind the ongoing digital coup inside the US government. Please listen and share. Forthcoming posts will be about German lessons (just left Berlin) about fascism, and about Trump as a weak strong man. Thinking about... is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a

Changing the Climate (video)

Nov 04 2024 3 mins

I brought a coat for the trip through Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas, but never wore it once. The drought in Ohio was painfully visible in the cornfields. A relative was able to come a talk in Ohio because she had fled a hurricane in North Carolina. In Ohio the days started out in the high 30s but then cleared 70. I ran a 5k in Ohio with people who were struggling in

The Loser Triad (video and text)

Nov 03 2024 4 mins

(Trying to fulfill my promise of translating all of my text posts into audio or video. This seemed like an important one to do before the election. Please think about it and share it. And vote!)We have seen this show before. We know what Trump losing looks like.Three Trumpian actions are predictable. We know them from the last election. Last time around, when Trump lost, when Trump