Studio Central and Eastern Europe

What would it take to build a more equal society—and what role do men have in making it possible? In this episode of Studio CEE, Maryna Shevtsova of KU Leuven speaks with Katarzyna Wojnicka, sociologist and Associate Professor at the University of Gothenburg, whose research explores masculinities, gender equality, and social change. Drawing on years of work in the field, Wojnicka argues that disma...

This is an unedited recording of a lecture delivered earlier this year by Jochen Hellbeck for the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe. Hellbeck—a distinguished historian of modern Russia and author of the award‑winning Revolution on My Mind: Writing a Diary Under Stalin and Stalingrad: The City That Defeated the Third Reich—discusses his latest book, World Enemy No. 1: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia,...

In this conversation, Kris Van Heuckelom, Professor of Polish Studies and Cultural Studies at KU Leuven, speaks with Konrad Klejsa (University of Łódź), a leading scholar of socialist-era Polish cinema. Their exchange turns to the often paradoxical workings of film censorship under communism: not merely as a blunt instrument of suppression, but as a filtering mechanism that withheld some films whi...

What does it mean to live as a minority “at home”? How do non-titular populations navigate political systems designed to secure a comfortable majority? And under what conditions can minorities exercise meaningful democratic agency? In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Peter Vermeersch, Professor of Political Science at KU Leuven, speaks with Professor Zsuzsa Csergő, Professor of N...

What does it mean for a country to become “transit”? Is this a matter of geography, or a political choice? And how do such choices reshape the rights and lived realities of those seeking refuge? In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Denitsa Marchevska speaks with Dr Julija Sardelić, Senior Lecturer in Political Science and International Relations at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria Unive...

On 21 April 2026, the European Court of Justice will deliver its long-awaited judgement in an historical case where the European Commission, for the first time ever, took Hungary to Europe’s highest court for a violation of “European Values” because of its anti-LGBT laws. Why could this judgement be a game-changer for European law? Why were European values not invoked before in courts? What are th...

From a distance, objectivity looks almost effortless—one of the presumed privileges of studying war. But what if the scholar has survived the very conflict they seek to analyse?   In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Kosovo-born and Belgium-based scholar Vjosa Musliu joins PhD researcher at KU Leuven Njomëza Mulhaxha Musliu to discuss her book Girlhood at War. Blending personal na...

Researcher and activist Elisabed Gedevanishvili speaks about the political situation in Georgia. In conversation with political scientist Peter Vermeersch, she reflects on how the continued unravelling of Georgia’s democracy affects the opposition, fuels the energy of the protests, and shapes the ways in which protesters find the courage to stand their ground and demand democracy.

Can a law designed to safeguard local identity end up eroding fundamental rights? In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe at KU Leuven, sociologist Vera Messing (Center for Social Sciences, Budapest) speaks with political scientist Peter Vermeersch about Hungary’s Law on Protecting Local Community Identity, in force since July 2025. The legislation gives municipalities the power to re...

This episode explores the enigmatic world of Sergej Parajanov, the cult film director whose visionary work defied conventions and censorship in the second half of the 20th century. Tatiana Klepikova—UR’s Freigeist Fellow at the University of Regensburg, currently writing a book on Parajanov—joins Maryna Shevtsova, senior FWO researcher at KU Leuven, for a conversation about his contested heritage....

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Maryna Shevtsova engages Emil Edenborg in a thought-provoking conversation on why gender and sexuality become such potent political tools, what drives the international rise in homophobia, and how scholarly work might help counter these trends. Their discussion unpacks global dynamics, power struggles, and the role of knowledge in shaping socia...

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, political scientist Jeroen Van den Bosch, co-author of the newly published Encyclopedia Tyrannica, joins Ria Laenen, lecturer in Russian and International Politics at KU Leuven, for a conversation that spans both the conceptual and the geopolitical. Together, they explore how the idea for this ambitious encyclopaedia—a research guide to totalit...

This is the first episode of our third season. It feels as if we only started yesterday, yet this is already the third academic year that our Studio on Central and Eastern Europe brings you conversations on the latest research about the region.  In this episode, we draw connections that may surprise many listeners: What can Colombia’s experience with conflict teach Ukraine? And what does transitio...

The final episode of this academic year revolves around the story of a group of Belarusian musicians caught in the violent crackdown on dissent. Slavic studies scholar Hanna Stähle speaks with political scientist Peter Vermeersch about his new book Pulse (Polsslag), a compelling chronicle (and musical history) of the 2020 Belarusian pro-democracy protests. Set to the soundtrack of Peremen! — a Sov...

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Oksana Dudko discusses how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has broadened the field of Ukrainian studies in the West. In conversation with Maryna Shevtsova, a senior FWO postdoctoral researcher in political studies at KU Leuven, they explore how the war has deepened scholarly engagement and encouraged East European Studies to move beyond...

Uniting Europe or dividing it? A celebration of LGBTQ+ identity or a stage for homophobia? A voice for peace or a platform for political contestations? In the wake of the latest Eurovision edition, KU Leuven academics Maryna Shevtsova (political science) and Jonas Vanderschueren (cultural studies) reflect on the deepening cracks in Eurovision’s identity. They discuss how the song contest came dang...

Each May, the dazzling and often divisive Eurovision song contest stirs up a whirlwind of fans, deep emotions, and fierce debates. Ahead of this year’s edition, political scientists Maryna Shevtsova and Peter Vermeersch delve into the social and political undercurrents of Eurovision — and its future. A lifelong fan with a sharp analytical lens, Maryna reflects on how Eurovision became important to...

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, we dive into the powerful intersection of literature, myth, and minority narratives in postwar Poland. Our guest is Prof. Emilia Kledzik, a literary scholar from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, whose groundbreaking book The Poet’s Perspective: Jerzy Ficowski’s Romani Studies explores the roots of Romani representation in Polish literature...

In this episode, Ria Laenen discusses her recently published and already widely acclaimed book on the history of global politics since World War II, Een heel klein beetje vrede (A Tiny Bit of Peace). She answers questions from Lien Verpoest, professor of the history of international relations at KU Leuven, about whether we are witnessing a major historical shift and when the post-World War II worl...

This podcast is an edited recording of the conversation, in which we explored the resurgence of Soviet-era citizen denunciations in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a practice once central to Stalinist repression. Russian anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova, who both studied and experienced this phenomenon, shared how she was reported to authorities seven times by a stranger and how it took her two years t...

- In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Oliver Reisner, a professor of Caucasian studies at Ilia University in Tbilisi, discusses the historical process of national identity construction in Georgia and the challenges Georgians face in reckoning with the memory of Stalin and their communist past. In his interview with historian Albena Shkodrova, Reisner offers a unique perspective a...

Join us for a compelling conversation with Dr. Elżbieta Olzacka, Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, as she sheds light on the emotional and challenging experiences of museum workers striving to safeguard Ukraine’s cultural heritage amidst the ravages of war. In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Dr. Olzacka speaks with Dr. Maryna Shevtsova of KU Leuven of...

Were witches in medieval Ukraine prosecuted in the same way as in Western Europe? How did Russian imperial interests shape Kyiv’s international image between the late eighteenth and the early twentieth century, and did Western travelers accept or challenge these portrayals of the city? In this episode of Studio Central Europe, Kateryna Dysa, a historian and associate professor in the History Depar...

In this podcast, Albena Shkodrova, a historian at KU Leuven, speaks with Ketevan Gurchiani, a Georgian anthropologist from Ilia University in Tbilisi, about the concept of the city as an urban assemblage. Gurchiani shares her research insights into how the Soviet-era legacy of "camouflaging" and "doing as if" shapes contemporary religious practices in Georgia, fostering a perception of religious r...

In this episode, host Maryna Shevtsova, senior FWO researcher at KU Leuven, sits down with Alexandra Yatsyk, a researcher at the University of Lille, to explore the complex intersections of history, identity, and politics in Estonia’s public spaces. Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022, Soviet-era monuments in Estonia have come under renewed scrutiny, sparking heated debates and medi...