The Soviet Jew. Off life support?
I hate to admit it but it’s true: my The Soviet Jew book project, which I started way back in the summer of 2021, has been on life support for months and months now. Every time I’ve tried to get it going again, I haven’t been able to sustain the effort. I’ve gotten distracted by something or other — like the fucked up war in Ukraine or the water oligarch doc we’ve been working on and have almost finished. I’ve lost momentum and the whole thing ground to a halt. Talking to Evgenia’s uncle Sergey for our last episode about Soviet Jews and Soviet antisemitism reminded me how much my own book project about this same topic has been stuck lately.
But don’t despair…yet. I’m writing this to say that I’m going to be rebooting this thing one more time. Who knows, maybe this attempt will be the one that breaks through.
Thinking back on it, I will say in my defense that it was probably not the best idea to start a new book project a few months after my daughter was born — at the very beginning of what was quite predictably going to be a phase of brutal terroristic sleep deprivation. That phase, I’m happy to announce, has started to started to ebb…after almost two years.
Anyway, I’ll be sending an update soon. Viva la Soviet Jew!
—Yasha
PS: While I get things set up again, be sure to listen to the recent episode we recorded with Evgenia’s uncle. It’s slow but great, offering a perspective on the Soviet Jewish experience you rarely hear about — a non-nationalist, non-Zionist perspective. Also, looking at our podcast episode master list, I realized we’ve recorded quite a few episodes over the last few years on the topic of Jews and immigration and Soviet stagnation and collapse. They complement the talk with had with Sergey and my own book project. Check them out:
Don't stress about getting the book out. You and Evgenia have been consistently producing amazing content in warzone (baby-raising) conditions! And as you point out, the shows you've been doing have been great research for the book. We are all here for it whenever it's ready!
The only error you made was ridiculing ivermectin--a natural broad-spectrum antiviral, antibiotic, antiparasitic, anticancer drug that is safer than aspirin-- after which I unsubscribed. Everything else has been superb. My favorite story was the story about your grandfather, after which I subscribed again.