NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS: NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS POD

NEFARIOUS RUSSIAN MINDSET: MASTERCLASS ON SURVIVING COLLAPSE

Yasha Levine — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:07:47 GMT

This is our live event at the KBG Bar in New York — recorded on June 7th. If you weren’t there in person, here’s your chance to take a passive part in our 13 Step Program: Learn how you can survive and even thrive during American decline.

🚨 Don’t forget to buy tickets to our SOVIET COLLAPSE CINEMA SERIES in Brooklyn. First screening is on Sunday, June 28th. Space is limited. Tickets are running out. 🚨

As we explain in the intro to our self-help booklet, which you can now purchase:

As people who were brought up in a more collectivist culture, we see that the biggest weakness of America is the cult of individualism.
Individualism is one of the most powerful myths here. It’s basically enshrined as one of the divine laws of the land — “Be Selfish” might as well be the 11th Commandment, handed down by Moses and ratified by Jesus Christ. This myth has made individualism synonymous with strength and vitality. The image of the perfect American is the cowboy and the industrialist. The strength of the individual vs. the weakness of the collective — this is the idea pushed by another Russian immigrant, Ayn Rand.
When society is stable, institutions function, and things more or less work as promised, individualism does seem real. You can go out and make money and then buy everything you need to survive. You don’t need to lean on friends or family or your community; you can just tap the market for goods and services: nannies, movers, shrinks… They’re all there for you to purchase, if you have the means. These transactional relationships take up all the space and are seen as normal, while friendships remain decorative and aloof. You’re not supposed to impose on people or ask them to help — you don’t want to be a drag and you don’t want your friends to be a drag either.
Americans have been psyopped into thinking that individualism is strength. We see it differently. Individualism is fragility. Individualism depends on impersonal institutions — you become dependent on a job and consumer relationships for everything. If you lose your job, your whole life will come crumbling down. Real strength lies in collectivism — in cooperation with other people.
The thing to remember is that America’s cult of individualism is a historic aberration. It came out of a very particular period of American history. It’s a product of a post-WWII economic boom and a need for a countervailing ideology in America’s fight against communism. Individualism was created by a deliberate propaganda campaign, foisted on Americans through films, books, even art. The idea that sustain individualism are ubiquitous, and yet individualistic society is very fragile. Its survival depends on post-WWII institutions — institutions that, paradoxically, are rooted in socialistic principles and were in fact created in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union…

So watch our MASTERCLASS. Don’t just survive. THRIVE!

Buy the book

Eduard Limonov: Soviet Forrest Gump

Yasha Levine — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:06:35 GMT

The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS are back — our first video podcast from our undisclosed bunker location. We discuss the life of Eduard Limonov as the Soviet Forrest Gump — a man who was somehow able to be in the right place at the right time to experience the entire spectrum of international boomer experience in the Soviet Union, then New York in the 1970s, France all through the 1980s, and a post-collapse Russia. Unlike Gump, he was a great poet and writer and had an iron will and used his Gumpian good luck to the max. We talk about the hardship of exile and immigration for artists and writers…and Yasha reminisces about the few times he was able to meet Limonov when he served as his lowly scribe.

We also discuss the failed Limonov biopic — Limonov: The Ballad — which came out a few years ago. (In which Limonov was played by Pingo — for fans of Nathan Barley.)

Don’t forget to buy tickets to our SOVIET COLLAPSE CINEMA SERIES in Brooklyn. First screening is on Sunday, June 28th. Space is limited.

Want to know more?

Listen to our other eps about Limonov.

Individualism keeps males submissive and exploited

Yasha Levine — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 22:53:53 GMT

We use the occasion of Andrew Tate getting an invite to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to discuss the big psyop that’s been waged on gender relations in America. Liberal lean-in feminism is pushed on women; alpha predator men’s rights is pushed on men — all while keeping everyone trapped in an individualistic society where you have no one to depend on except yourself.

To quote from our NEFARIOUS RUSSIAN MINDSET MANUAL FOR SURVIVAL, in which we use ancient Soviet wisdom to help Americans survive and thrive during decline (on sale this Sunday at the KGB Bar):

“Under individualism, males are exploited…Men in America will not be liberated with Men’s Rights individualism. True male liberation will only come with collectivism.”

Take a listen. And…

Come to our event: KGB Bar: Red Room. June 7th at 7PM.

We’ll have a special edition how-to manual available for sale: Use ancient Soviet wisdom to help yourself thrive during decline.

Want to know more?

Putin conquers Hollywood

Yasha Levine — Sat, 23 May 2026 16:30:15 GMT

The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss Wizard of the Kremlin, a new film about Putin’s rise to power, where Jude Law plays Putin. Yeah, Jude Law. While formally it’s a pretty bad film that feels like an illustrated wikipedia article, we were still surprised by it. Because, for a mainstream film, it offered a fairly honest and factual portrayal of the preconditions to Putin’s rise to power and why his reestablishment of the power vertical in Russia was popular. We didn’t expect much and it exceeded our (low) expectations on that front. This is maybe the first western film about the Soviets/ Russians that shows them not as caricatures but with a bit of humanity and respect. This feels like a seismic shift — Did Putin conquer Hollywood or does reality increasingly have a pro-Putin bias?

Some notes…

PROGRESS PROPAGANDA

Yasha Levine — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:22:29 GMT

I talk to Samuel Miller McDonald about his new book about the history of the idea of progress and how it has been used to justify parasitic super-stratified societies that’ve been denuding and killing our world, going back into antiquity. Pretty much everyone believes in the notion of progress these days. It’s safe to say that progress is a religious belief uniting all competing ideologies, even capitalism and communism. And that’s the problem…

Check out the book Samuel wrote: Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It. It’s a really wonderful book. I’d go straight to the first chapter.

—Yasha

I’m doing these weekly Vampire Valley streams about technology as part of my research for the Vampire Valley doc series I’m working on. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to the Vampire Valley doc project, you will automatically get an annual sub.

Assassins & Precogs

Yasha Levine — Thu, 14 May 2026 14:24:35 GMT

The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss their favorite topics: fame, movies, morality of media, power, cults, collapse, similarities between the Soviet Union and the United States… We also discuss Evgenia’s ongoing precog abilities: she sensed that there would be a White House correspondents’ dinner shooting the morning before it happened and talked about it.

Due to technical issues (aka sabotage), the episode cuts off mid-sentence. We apologize and promise to hold those responsible (Yasha) accountable.

—NF

We’ll be doing a NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS LIVE event at the KGB Bar in June. Look out for an announcement soon. And, as always, support Vampire Valley if you can!

Silicon Valley's war on children

Yasha Levine — Sat, 09 May 2026 17:38:04 GMT

For this Vamp Valley stream, I speak to Josh Golin about how commercialization and consumerist brainwashing of children, already dominant in American society before the internet, has been very consciously turbocharged by the tech overlords that mediate our reality. We discuss problems facing children in the age of the internet: alienation, bullying, sexual harassment, addiction, self-hate, suicide, destruction of critical thinking — all them being knowingly inflicted on kids just to keep them on these platforms as long as possible, wasting their lives and destroying their minds in the name of better ad metrics and rank consumerism. We also talk about attempts to regulate social media, the power of the tech lobby, and the baffling attempt of “left-prog” influencer Taylor Lorenz to protect vampiric mind control monopolies from even the tiniest bit of democratic control.

I’m doing these streams to talk to people about the tech that’s destroying our minds and destroying our world — as part of my research for a doc series I’m working on, Vampire Valley. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to Vampire Valley, you will automatically get an annual sub.

Josh Golin is an Executive Director at Fairplay. They’re great. Check them out here.

REVOLT AGAINST AI/Joe Costello

Yasha Levine — Sat, 02 May 2026 15:27:45 GMT

Today I chat with Joe Costello about the backlash to data centers and why he thinks this national grassroots movement just might be the very first time Americans are engaging in politics in many, many decades. Joe recently published a great book — The Politics of Ape and Machine. Also check out his newsletter: Life in the 21st Century.

I’m making a doc series about the internet called Vampire Valley. The first ep will look at data centers. It should be out closer to May. If you want to help fund this film, give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

Joe’s been on the show a few times before. Check him here:

Horror of nuclear war through art

Yasha Levine — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:55:50 GMT

My scheduled guest had to cancel last minute, so I decided to go on the stream myself — to talk about a collection of drawings by survivors of America’s nuclear bombing of Japan. It’s called Unforgettable Fire and it collects drawings exhibited for the 30th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These drawings are heartbreaking and unexpectedly powerful, revealing the horrors of the war through the eyes of ordinary people. As you’ll see, children and mothers — dead, alive, burned, and maimed — are a recurring subject. In our age of hyper-realism, these hand drawn images carry a lot of power…at least for me.

I found this book while doing research for my novel Radiance, which is set in a post-nuclear war world. But the topic of nuclear technology intersects in a big way with my work on the internet and vampire valley, too. The two technologies — nukes and information systems — were part of the same co-evolving meta-technology. America’s use of nukes in Japan, and the nuclear arms race that this attack helped launch, massively sped up and shaped the development of modern communication systems and surveillance technology, giving it the form that it has today. You could say that our hyper-real information society was built on the back of the nuclear bomb. And it feels that way, doesn’t it? Paranoid, constantly on edge…

If you liked Pistachio Wars, come out to Brooklyn this Sunday to watch our surreal post-ecocide short film about California’s zombie lake.

Help me make Vampire Valley. Give on GoFundMe or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write to us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

Chatting about movies, liberalism, and American collapse

Yasha Levine — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:55:44 GMT

Married with podcast, we catch up on some topics dear to our hearts. Among things discussed: Evgenia’s films, the ghettoization of feminist (and minority) filmmaking in a liberal society, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kathryn Bigelow, Sophia Coppola…Then we move on to discussing the saga of the Feiyue sneaker and how it illustrates the rise of China and American/European collapse and hubris. It all ties together. Trust us.

Have a great week. Pray with us that Trump does not nuke the world. Praying is all we got left. 🙏

GETTING DRONED

Yasha Levine — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:10:50 GMT

For this vamp valley stream, I had Peter Korotaev on to talk about drones and war. Drones, which I see as very much related to the internet, have made big leaps in battlefield adoption in the last few years: first in the Russian-Ukraine war and now in the Israeli-American war on Iran.

The United States pioneered drone technology. In fact, as I mentioned on the stream, the same ARPA program that funded the internet was at the same time funding research into drone technology for use in the Vietnam War…a small helicopter operated by a remote control so big it barely fit on an Army jeep. But even though the U.S. security state has been pumping money into drone technology for more than half a century, it hadn’t explored the use of drone technology to its fullest potential yet. It’s been up to peripheral states like Ukraine and Iran (and also Israel) to take drone warfare to the next level. And what’s happening on the periphery of the empire is going to be coming home soon…there is no doubt about it. Drone tech is just too easy to use, too effective…like smartphones. It makes me think of Philip K. Dick’s wonderful novella, Second Variety, which is about autonomous robotic weapons that were designed to kill people…until they ran out of people and started fighting each other. I’m pretty sure Second Variety inspired Terminator, even though it was never credited.

Anyway, Peter writes the great Events in Ukraine newsletter. I highly recommend reading his stuff. He’s a funny writer and covers the subject with the respect and black humor that it requires.

See you next week!

I’m doing these streams every week, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too. Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

The Politics of Ape and Machine w/Joe Costello

Yasha Levine — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 14:04:47 GMT

For this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m publishing a talk that Evgenia and I did with Joe Costello about his wonderful new book, The Politics of Ape and Machine.

With AI trying to swallow everything, it’s clearer now more than ever that we are in the middle of another industrial power grab — the attempt to centralize political and economic power in the hands of an even tinier elite. We talked to Joe to make sense of the situation. We talked about AI, the parasitic internet, industrialization’s destruction of democracy, the politics of technology, what it means to be monkeys who think they’re in control of the known universe… Joe thinks there is a tiny glimmer of hope: the AI boom we’re in potentially offers a historic opportunity to transcend our entrenched, stagnant politics: the much-promised automation and the grim reality of a computerized crapification of broad sectors of our society might make the reorganization of politics not just a possibility but a necessity — an opportunity that hasn’t been seen in many generations.

This talk took place on November 23, 2025, in Manhattan at the KGB Bar. This is the first time it is being published on this pacification platform we call the internet.

For those who don’t know, Joe Costello has been on our podcast many times, and I’ve republished his work before. He’s worked in politics all of his life, and he’s one of the most clear thinkers and writers today on politics and on the meaning of democracy in our age of terminal industrialization. Buy his book! And subscribe to his newsletter, Life in the 21st Century. It’s really funny and insightful into the politics of energy — which is really the politics of the modern world, as people are about to discover more than ever with Trump’s attack on Iran.

—Yasha

I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too.

Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

INFORMATION IS PACIFICATION W/DANIEL BESSNER

Yasha Levine — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 14:05:53 GMT

For this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m joined by Daniel Bessner to talk about how our politics are in the grips of a powerful decadent rationalist illusion: the idea that information is power.

As Daniel points out, despite having all the information in the world whenever we want it, regular people have had no measurable effect on policy. In short: We know everything, but can’t change anything. It is a longstanding problem in nominally democratic US (and Europe) that has been massively exacerbated by internet technology. We’re wrapped up in the spectacle, confusing the consumption of nonstop political content with politics.

You could say that we’re whistleblowing on our own profession here, trying to make people understand that information is not a magic spell…it is not an incantation — just knowing things about the world won’t miraculously lead to change.

—Yasha

Some essays that inform our conversation:

WE'RE ALL TRAPPED IN THE VAMPIRE CASTLE

Yasha Levine — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:45:28 GMT

I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against the Vampire Castle from within the Vampire Castle. All live streams will be available to the public but some recorded streams will only available to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too! Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com

For this week’s vamp valley stream, I talked to C. Derick Varn about the backstory of Mark Fisher’s controversial (at the time) and influential “Exiting the Vampire Castle” essay on cancel culture and social media…and why it still matters today.

I wrote about Fisher’s essay last summer as part of my attempt to understand the way hyper-connected communication technology is affecting our world — and how structural forces built into internet technology have worked to pacify people and have foreclosed on the possibility of any sort of politics by turning everything into a entertainment…a virtual cage match of endless culture wars where everyone is constantly pitted against each other in an endless fight that involves constantly evolving identity politics, fringe causes, peripheral issues, and perceived slights.

Derick was one of the editors who worked with Mark Fisher to publish the essay in the now-defunct The North Star online magazine. He’s also a sharp critic of the influencer economy and the effect of technology on culture and politics. Check out Derick’s show on YouTube or the podcast version of the show.

Thanks…and see you next week!

Yasha

Want to know more? Read:

Pistachio Wars and Doom and Gloom

Yasha Levine — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:31:13 GMT

Rowan and I were at UC Santa Barbara last month presenting Pistachio Wars. We had a wonderful Q&A after the screening, which you can see below. Subscribers can listen to it on our usual podcast feed and read a cleaned up transcript below.

Thank you to Rich Farell and everyone at Carsey-Wolf Center for having us out and being such gracious hosts. Sorry for being such a doomer. But desperate times and all that… Of course watch Pistachio Wars if you haven’t already.

—Yasha

RICH FARRELL: Okay. My name is Rich Farrell. I’m a graduate student in the Film and Media Studies Department, and I’m pleased to be joined by the filmmakers of Pistachio Wars, Yasha Levine and Rowan WERNHAM. So a round of applause for you.

YASHA LEVINE: Thank you.

RICH FARRELL: So I just wanted to start the Q&A with some background and beginnings. First to you, Yasha. At the beginning of the film, you say that the story started with a piece that you wrote, “A Journey Through Oligarch Valley,” in 2013, which was published in Not Safe for Work magazine online. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how you came to work on that story, and then how you decided to adapt this into a documentary?

YASHA LEVINE: Well, I’ll try to keep it brief. Thank you. Thank you everyone for coming.

I had been out of the country and started my journalism career reporting out in Russia, and I kind of missed the whole real estate bubble, the speculative boom that happened here, and the collapse that happened in 2007, 2008. I had been abroad watching it from afar. And when I came back to America, I was really curious about what it was all about. So I moved to LA and I was casting about for the best example of a speculative city that embodied the speculative boom.

I kind of toured California and chose Victorville -- a little suburb in the Mojave Desert, halfway between L.A. and Las Vegas -- because I really wanted to understand the kind of society, the kind of civilization that this boom created. Like what remained when Wall Street crashed and had to be bailed out…

PLATFORMS WANT TO INGEST AND DESTROY

Yasha Levine — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 13:41:50 GMT

For this anti-vamp stream from my newly established NY basement studio, I’m joined by Mike Pepi, author of Against Platforms. We talk about the failed utopian promises of the internet and how the tech platforms that now dominate our world are concentrators of power and destroyers of all other forms of organization that came before them. This monopolization/destruction isn’t an aberration or a corruption but is built into the very nature of this technology.

Mike opens his book by talking about an Apple ad that came out a few years ago that illustrates this Borg-like monopolize/destroy drive. I’m embedding it below because Apple had scrubbed this ad from the internet, following a backlash.

Compare this Apple ad…

…to the Borg. Who is more honest?

Help me make my Vampire Valley doc series. Give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

Buy Mike’s book today!

Help me make my Vampire Valley doc series. Give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com. If you give $100 or more, you will automatically get an annual sub! A two-for-one deal!

Requiem for Nikolai Komyagin

Yasha Levine — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:03:33 GMT

Evgenia pays tribute to Nikolai Komyagin, the frontman of the Russian cult band Shortparis. He died recently — tragically and unexpectedly at 39.

As Evgenia explains, he was a true poet — and a total artist. With his music and videos, he did something that no one else had done yet. He captured on a pure emotional level the feeling of Russia with its failed utopian past and its violent present and all the ideals and the people that got ground up and spit in the two revolutions — the Bolshevik one and the Market Bolshevik one it had in less than a century. Ironically, the last big thing Shortparis made was the soundtrack to Limonov’s biopic, Limonov: The Ballad.

—IBWR

PS: Evgenia recently wrote about Limonov’s prophetic view of Russian politics.

PPS: The song in the intro/outro is Apple Orchard (Яблонный сад).

WE ARE ALL LUDDITES NOW

Yasha Levine — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:30:23 GMT

I’ll be talking to people about the internet and the tech that’s destroying our minds and destroying our world — as part of my research for Vampire Valley. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to Vampire Valley, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you want to give a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com

For this anti-vamp stream from my newly established basement studio, I’m joined by Brian Merchant, author of the wonderful book Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. It’s about the rise and fall of the Luddites, a decentralized 19th-century movement of English textile workers against factories and the centralization of power. We talk about the history and politics of the movement and how the conditions it faced were not that different from what we’re all facing today. In fact, it’s a lot worse now.

Eventually, the Luddite insurgency was crushed by a military force larger than the one England sent to fight Napoleon, which was happening at the same time. The history of this rebellion was erased, the state and its factory owners won, and the term “luddite” became synonymous with ignorance and laziness — any opposition to tech was branded as crazy and stupid. At the same time, the Luddites were a huge cultural power, inspiring the Romantic movement and launching the sci-fi genre with works like Frankenstein. Of course, in the end, the Luddites were right. We’re all Luddites now, whether we realize it or not. And Brian and I both agree that this actually gives us hope.

Watch and/or listen…and buy Brian’s book!

Yasha

And here are my show outline about the topics I wanted to cover. We got through most of them and more:

Exiting the Slop Shop

Yasha Levine — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:36:01 GMT

We record this on President’s Day to talk about the slop machine we all now inhabit and how all internet culture is an abusive psyop meant to keep us tethered and addicted and pacified. Everyone knows this. But few of us can escape.

Sam Kriss, slop merchant to the overly educated, makes an appearance in our talk. We also discuss how America’s ruling class hasn’t just psyoped the masses with this feedback loop tech — they’ve pysoped themselves, too. They’re just as confused and powerless as the rest of us. Everyone is looking for a strong leader type that hasn’t fallen victim to this feedback loop psyop — which is maybe why Xi has so many fans out there.

Help Yasha’s crusade against the internet vampires that feed on us. Make a contribution (including a tax deductible one) to Vampire Valley today!

Jeffrey Epstein, American Exceptionalism, and a lesson from Russia

Yasha Levine — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:30:45 GMT

We talk about how the Jeffrey Epstein scandal/spectacle fits into the larger context of American decline and collapse. And Evgenia explains how normalized all the Epstein revelations are to someone like her who grew up in 1990s Russia — a collapsed society that ran (and still does) on “Epstein ethics” and where living an Epstein-lite life became democratized and within reach of many men.

Among topics addressed: how Epstein is not some demonic force but a function of a massively unequal society with extremely bored and overfed elites, how social context creates sociopathy and breeds objectification, Alexei Yurchak and Hypernormalization, Mark Ames’s “The Life and Murder of Anna Loginova”, Fellini’s Satyricon, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut…and more.

Subscribe to listen!

Want to know more? Without realizing it, we did two Christmas Special episodes on Jeffrey Epstein — one in 2021 and in 2025. Christmas Special: Ghost of Epstein and Epstein Christmas Special ft. Vampire Valley… See how our views changed over the years.