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"Everything must change for everything to remain the same" - this is how Tomasi di Lampedusa describes life in Sicily in his novel The Leopard. 

In the 10th century, Kievan Rus was first a military-trade company. Later, it turned into a Slavic state. Prince Oleg settled in Kiev and named it the mother of the cities of Rus. 

Realism, liberalism, Marxism, Neo-Marxism, and Constructivism are the major approaches to international relations.

If Christianity is about Christ, why is the Old Testament included in the Bible?

Thomas Hobbes founded a theory of modern state, as he looked for a way to stop religious wars that afflicted Europe and England, in particular, in the 16th and 17th centuries. He based his theory on the fear of death that is common for most people. 

He slept on the chest and was wearing poor clothes – Nikolai Fedorov was an unassuming librarian and a mentor of Tsiolkovsky, a father of astronautics, as well as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, big writers.   

Blaise Pascal (1623– 1662) believed that we are great when we are aware of our insignificance.

In the 19th century, two names stand out when we think of philosophy in Russia – Alexander Herzen and Konstantin Leontiev. While Herzen was the father of Russian socialism, Leontiev was a conservative whose writings can explain how the idea of the decaying West came into being in Russia.

Where did the catastrophe of the 14 century come from? Was the Renaissance delayed?

In  his treatise of 9 books, Herodotus described many peoples, countries, and events of the 5th century BC. He titled his work "History", which gave the name to a scholarly discipline.  

After the first world war, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Middle East emerged anew. What was the role of secular Arab nationalism in it?  

Born as a reaction to the Enlightenment, German Romanticism embraced many of its ideas.

Catherine the Great was German and she came up with the Greek project for Russia.

It happened when Russia won the war against Sweden, one of the most powerful European state, and became part of European geopolitical balance. 

Jesuits cast their missionary net far and wide. They aimed for China. 

Francisco Goya was Spain's road to modernity.

The most important religious orders of the Catholic church. In the 13th century, the Franciscans "went to people," while the Dominicans filled the positions in the Inquisition. 

Once a powerful and self-centered empire, China is now a Communist state.  In this episode, we talk about how Marxism, a Western ideology, became adopted to the Chinese conditions.

Saint Augustine (354-430) was one of the most influential church fathers of Western Christianity. His concepts of eternity, time, and the human being laid the foundation of the Catholic Church.

First published in 1731, this story written by Abbé Prévost is about moral degradation, fraud, loyalty, passion, and love.  

Michel Foucault, 1926-1984.  Is he a historian, sociologist, philosopher? He is all this and much more, 

Smart in his speeches, clownish in his actions, Don Quixote is a modern character.  To access transcripts for this and other episodes, visit  https://store.lrcpodcast.ca Find out how to rapidly make progress in spoken Russian  How to listen Give it a try with our free  Sample transcripts Learn Russian Conversation on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7pE0ufROXRDlQSlVWiLqQ Ready to leave...