A CURIOUS MIX OF BRITISH FOLK MUSIC AND AMERICAN POLITICS
May 25, 2021
GASLIT NATION WITH ANDREA CHALUPA AND SARAH KENDZIOR
It’s a fiery week at Gaslit Nation as we have had it with the excuses, lies, and cowardice that is preventing our country from receiving the justice and protection it deserves. We discuss the utter failure of the Democrats, the FBI, and others to investigate the attempted coup – over four months after the Capitol attack! – or to hold seditious Republicans accountable. Remember: if you listen to fools, the mob rules!
May 14, 2021
GASLIT NATION WITH ANDREA CHALUPA AND SARAH KENDZIOR
Journalists Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, co-hosts of the podcast Skullduggery on Yahoo News, join Gaslit Nation to discuss the institutional decline that gave us Trump and where we go from here.
Isikoff is chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News, where he is also editor at large for reporting and investigations. He has written several best-sellers, including Uncovering Clinton and (with David Corn) Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War and Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump, which features the story of Andrea’s sister Alexandra Chalupa, the DNC consultant who tried to warn both Democrats and Republicans about Paul Manafort, then chairman of the Trump campaign, and his long history working for Kremlin interests.
Klaidman is editor-in-chief for Yahoo News. Previously he was the managing editor for Newsweek, the magazine’s Washington bureau chief, the Middle East correspondent, and worked as an investigative reporter. He is the author of Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency. In 2013 Klaidman profiled the enigmatic Avril Haines, currently the head of the intelligence community under Biden. He shares insights on Biden’s foreign policy and the ways it differs so far from Obama’s.
In our bonus episode we answer questions submitted by listeners who support the show at the Democracy Defender level and higher. To submit a question, subscribe at that tier. In this week’s Q&A, available to supporters at the Truth-teller level and higher on Patreon, we discuss the federal investigations into notorious Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky (to learn more check out the article in the shownotes submitted by a listener), whether a committee should replace the president to help protect us from aspiring autocrats, how we keep going despite all the challenges and setbacks, and our thoughts on bicycles and the sexiness of bike helmets! (Seriously, wear a helmet!)
May 7, 2021
As Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visits Ukraine, showing American support as Putin continues to ramp up aggression, including 80,000 troops still on the border, we highlight a story of hope from Ukraine. Civic leader Olya Yarychkivska shares what keeps Ukrainian civil society going, how Putin leverages war to hold onto power in Russia, and the inspiring story of unity among Ukrainian activists as they rally together to save baby Dima, the child of one of the country’s leading reformers.
GASLIT NATION WITH ANDREA CHALUPA AND SARAH KENDZIOR
By Oskar Smith
If you haven’t yet delved into the sound of DakhaBrakha, you should. Comprised of Marko Galanevych, Olena Tsybulska, Iryna Kovalenko and Nina Garenetska, they’re a band of trained singers and ad-hoc instrumentalists who started out in 2004 as the musical accompaniment to a small theatre in Kiev and have, over the last sixteen years, toured both domestically and internationally, released five studio albums (six including their collaboration with Port Mone) and adopted styles and instruments from all over the globe, combining them with the traditional sounds and songs of Ukraine in ever more elaborate and ambiguous ways.
Not long after I joined Mouthing Off, we released an article exploring their roots and sound, with an analysis of a few choice bits from their six-album discography – if you want to get to know them a little better it’s not a terrible place to start (especially if you’re on Spotify).
Shortly after, we were contacted by DakhaBrakha’s management, who complimented us on the scope of the article and pointed out a small inaccuracy (hey in fairness, 3299 of the words were accurate). After a brief conversation, they agreed that we could send them a list of questions to be answered by Marko Halanevych. So after a flurry of excited thinking, writing and emailing, this article came about.
The translation has been edited in places for fluency, but mostly left untouched to avoid any kind of misunderstanding or muddied meaning.
What’ve you been up to since your last album?
Marko: We were engaged in quarantine. Some have already become ill with the Coronavirus, some are holding on. We managed to play a few concerts in Ukraine, but the main activity is the time we’ve spent with our families.
When the group got together in 2004, did you have any idea that they would turn into far more than a theatre accompaniment?
Marko: DakhaBrakha was founded in 2004 at the Dakh Theatre in Kyiv.
The founder can be considered the director of the theatre, Vlad Troitsky. Yes, at first we made music for theatre performances. These were musical-visual actions, where everything that sounded from the stage was our music. Later, realising that we had a lot of musical material, we started making our concerts. And this has its buzz. We liked it.