On the Barricades

For most of us, Russia is a blackbox and we have little understanding of the internal dynamics, hearing only what the western media says. At dozens or hundreds of conferences and talk shows, there is discussion of Russia without Russians. On this week’s release of “On the Barricades”, Russian analyst and academic Maria Ananyeva is back on the show to discuss, with host Maria Cernat, the workings o...

This weekend Stanislav Byshok, a Russian political scientist living in Moscow, is back on the Barricades for a two-part release with hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski. He earned a PhD after graduating from Moscow State University, and he is frequently described as a scholar deconstructing nationalism and populism in international researcher databases. He's written a number of books and rep...

This weekend Stanislav Byshok, a Russian political scientist living in Moscow, is back on the Barricades for a two-part release with hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski. He earned a PhD after graduating from Moscow State University, and he is frequently described as a scholar deconstructing nationalism and populism in international researcher databases. He's written a number of books and rep...

On this week’s release of “On the Barricades,” hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski invite back the French-American writer, cultural critic, and activist, Gabriel Rockhill. Gabriel’s work in academia led him to a very close understanding of the bourgeois cultural and intellectual apparatus for its fundamental, historical role of bringing leftist thinking in line with the interests of the corp...

Lately the western media has been trying to press upon the public opinion that victory for Ukraine is around the corner, that Bakhmut is about to fall. Meanwhile Zelensky reinforces his failure. What is really around the corner and where is the war headed– there and globally? To assess the latest on what is actually going on in the war in Ukraine– on the ground, in the information wars, and with r...

Lately the western media has been trying to press upon the public opinion that victory for Ukraine is around the corner, that Bakhmut is about to fall. Meanwhile Zelensky reinforces his failure. What is really around the corner and where is the war headed– there and globally? To assess the latest on what is actually going on in the war in Ukraine– on the ground, in the information wars, and with r...

This is part two of our two-part monthly release where hosts Boyan and Maria invite Youri Smouter of 1+1 onto the show. The debate on Ukraine continues, now discussing military objectives of either side of the conflict, and what is concretely achievable as opposed to suicidal.  Zelensky’s new appointed Ukrainian minister of Defence and the Polish PM have been gung-ho about escalations and outlandi...

This is part one of our two-part monthly release where hosts Boyan and Maria invite Youri Smouter of 1+1 onto the show. The hosts discuss some news in Eastern Europe and in particular Romania, where there was a recent scandal around the academic Sorin Bocancea, previously known for intellectual forgery and involvement in a Romanian version of a Pizzagate, who went on a crusade against Russian prop...

As the great critic of American imperialism, Michael Parenti put it, “trying to make sense of things is what makes us truly human”. What’s senseless about the war in Ukraine is how it looked like it could have come to a stop, or been prevented through negotiations, at so many points. Medea Benjamin, the American peace and social justice activist and author of over a dozen books, took on the task o...

On the question of sex work, why is there so much division in the feminist camp? On this second episode of a two-part release of “On the Barricades,” host Dr. Maria Cernat and Harriet Fraad discuss the opposing class perspectives that exist on this question of prostitution-- beginning with the malignant role of corporate feminism, which sees gender as the only issue involved and ends up on the sid...

Dr. Harriet Fraad comes back “On the Barricades” for a two-part discussion of the economic dimensions of human trafficking. The Andrew Tate scandal made Romania famous for its infamous sexual exploitation of women and children. The horrific details of Tate’s violent behavior toward the women he was exploiting for video chat services were in stark contrast with the glamorous portrayal of sexual exp...

Last week, former British marine Richard Kemp wrote an article in the Telegraph stating that Poland is becoming a military superpower, and humiliated Germany by pressuring Germany to hand over its Leopard tanks to Ukraine. This is nonsense on its face, and reminiscent of 1939 when the British press once again declared Poland’s greatness and source of inspiration to Europe, before things went the o...

This weekend we have the military analyst Scott Ritter on the show– the man now widely credited and famed for his ability to make sense of the concrete reality and geopolitics of the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine, cutting across the Western media narrative. Moreover, Scott’s background and expertise can bring us closer to grips with the meaning of war in terms of its socio-moral dimensions, whi...

On this special release of “On the Barricades,” hosts Boyan and Maria hear from Milan Seculovic, a Montenegrin journalist and the elected President of Save Sinjajevina. Save Sinjajevina is an international solidarity campaign to protect Sinjajevina, a pastoral community and site of ecological and cultural importance in Montenegro, from NATO military occupation and environmental destruction. Monten...

In part two of this week’s release of “On the Barricades,” Youri Smouter of 1+1 and host Maria Cernat, who is a media analyst, have a theoretically-informed and historically based discussion beginning on the question– how propagandized are we, especially during the bombardment of media on the war in Ukraine? Why can’t those on the left discuss rationally about Ukraine, without biting each others’...

This weekend we have a two-part release of “On the Barricades” with Youri Smouter of 1+1. In this first part, host Maria Cernat discusses with Youri about the nature of the Romanian secret services, its history, and how people feel about its gargantuan undemocratic role in Romanian politics and society– in comparison to, say, the BLM movement in the US that lashed back at the police brutality and...

In this episode, Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski discuss the governments of Poland and Bulgaria strange decision to refuse to follow the payment methodology proposed by the Russians in exchange for natural gas delivery. The hosts discuss the political implications of those moves for both countries, as well as the strange reactions of the authorities, who speak of utter incompetence and a lack...

Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski discuss the most recent international events in and around East Europe in this episode. Of course, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is at the forefront of their minds. The hosts explored the issue of creating fear, as well as many fake hazards that contribute to swaying public opinion and producing hysteria in society. Surprisingly, it is the so-called security a...

This is a special episode co-produced by On the Barricades and The Analysis , in which the hosts of both shows sat down to discuss the global situation: the war in Ukraine, its impact on NATO and the West in general, the prospects for an independent European military bloc, and how the US, despite its growing weakness, remains the most important facilitator of global capitalism. This is a public ep...

This is a special episode co-produced by On the Barricades and The Analysis, in which the hosts of both shows sat down to discuss the global situation: the war in Ukraine, its impact on NATO and the West in general, the prospects for an independent European military bloc, and how the US, despite its growing weakness, remains the most important facilitator of global capitalism. This is a public epi...

This is the second part of a conversation between Maria Cernat, host of On the Barricades , and Marxist activist and historian Pat Byrne. The topic is the weaponization of concepts such as democracy and human rights by American foreign policy, as well as how the US government has created a global network of NGOs, other agencies, and centers of projecting power that are wreaking the public opinion...

On the Barricades tackles the issue of human rights in its current episode with labor activist Pat Byrne being the guest of the host Maria Cernat. Pat Byrne distinguishes between human rights which provide for basic material, economic and social security and what usually is understood as human rights - the type of rights, which are often used as a weapon in international relations by the dominant...

Maria Cernat discusses feminism and war, and how the latter appears to have had an unexpected impact on the former. Many feminist activists appear to have opportunistically joined the warmongering machine rather than protesting it. How is this possible, and why is it occurring? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit the...

Romania is one of the countries that spends a lot of money on its security apparatus, and the costs of the military's lethal toys are rising every year. There is a lot of talk about how the state must be strong, and its military and police must be well-equipped, so that citizens can feel safe in case you-know-who invades, which is unavoidable (according to the mainstream narratives, of course; not...

Boyan Stanislavski and Maria Cernat discuss the recent scandal in Romania in today's episode of On the Barricades . Emilia Șercan, a well-known Romanian journalist, received numerous threats after revealing that the country's prime minister plagiarized his PhD thesis. After complaining to the appropriate institutions about the incidents, she was threatened again, this time by Romanian police. Here...