Highlights
Upcoming lectures, media appearances, and recent activities
Volhynia, the AK and the UPA. Why is the historical dispute with Ukraine so difficult?
In a conversation on Marcin Strzyżewski's channel, I explain why the Polish-Ukrainian dispute over the past, although it essentially concerns only the years 1939-1947, stirs such enormous emotions. I clarify the structural difference between the Home Army and the UPA, why I call the UPA's anti-Polish campaign a genocide, and how contemporary "presentism" makes us experience the past as part of the present.
Stocked Shelves, Silent People. Why Won't Russians Overthrow Putin?
I talk with Bogdan Rymanowski about why Putinism is stronger than the USSR and what really keeps Russians on the side of the regime. I show the mechanism of "history that kills": how the Russian state legitimizes war crimes by embedding them in the continuity of the fight against Nazism.
Russia and its history. Four episode about the myth that kills.
In two episodes of the Podróż bez Paszportu podcast, I talk with Mateusz Grzeszczuk about how Russia builds historical myths and turns them into fuel for imperial aggression. These are conversations about where Russia's obsession with Crimea comes from and why 9 May is not a holiday but a weapon.
Poland and Russia can't stop fighting over history. What next for the Soviet monuments?
In a conversation with The Moscow Times, I comment on the dispute over Soviet monuments in Poland from a security perspective rather than a purely historical one.
What do Russians think about Poland? Is Russia afraid of Poland?
In the Kultura Liberalna podcast, I talk with Jakub Bodziany about how Russia perceives Poland and why "Polish imperialism" is a convenient tool for the Kremlin rather than a real fear. I explain why Russian proposals to partition Ukraine are a cynical trap, how the new social contract based on prosperity makes Putinism more durable than the USSR, and what we can realistically count as success in relations with Russia.
Putin's dangerous game with history. How does Russia lie?
I talk with Karol Paciorek about something that still sounds too radical for many analysts: Russia is in a state of permanent war with the West, and historical policy is its integral front.
When Vladimir Putin speaks about Poland, it should set off alarm bells for politicians.
In an interview for Rzeczpospolita, I explain why, when Putin begins speaking about Poland, including in a historical context, we must stay alert, because it may signal concrete actions planned against us.
History as a political weapon. What are the consequences?
I joined the Otwarta Konserwa podcast to talk about something the West dismissed for years: that Putin genuinely believes in the historical narratives he constructs.
"In Russia they looked at me as a curiosity: a young Pole who speaks Russian."
I gave an extensive interview for Gazeta Wyborcza, where I described how Russian elites shaped in the late Brezhnev era view history today, and why their memory of World War II is irreconcilable with the European one.
Do Russians really believe Poland will attack them? On history as a technology of war.
I participated in a debate at Klub Jagielloński with Hieronim Grala on why Russian historical policy is no longer a scholarly discipline but a technology for managing social emotions and an operational tool of war.
Russia Divided: How history and money drive the war machine.
In a programme on Polsat News, I discuss why Russian historical policy is not an academic debate about the past but a direct justification for military aggression.
Putin and his history. The roadmap of Russian aggression.
On the Szkice Wschodnie podcast, where I spoke with Tomasz Piechal, I draw attention to why Putin's obsession with history is not cynical PR, but a strategic reservoir in which the dictator looks at himself in a mirror, revealing his true intentions.
History that kills. How Putin's vision of the past unleashed a war?
On the "Program Pierwszy Polskiego YouTube'a" channel, I discuss why Putin's 2021 essay, in which he spent 20 pages arguing that Ukraine has no right to its own history, was not an academic eccentricity but a blueprint for invasion.
The Kremlin rewrites history. Why do Russians support the war?
I talked with Piotr Pogorzelski about how the Russian state uses the myth of the Great Patriotic War to strip soldiers of moral responsibility for the crimes they commit in Ukraine.
Why Does Putin Fear the Truth About Russian History? How the Kremlin Uses History to Legitimize War?
In a podcast with Mateusz Grzeszczuk for Rzeczpospolita, I explain why Putin's historical obsessions are not cynical PR but an authentic identity shaped by Brezhnev-era propaganda.
Russian historical policy or something more? On "History That Kills".
I was a guest on Radio TOK FM, where I discussed my book "History That Kills. The Politics of Memory of Putin's Russia".
Preparing Russians for a conflict with Poland is underway.
In an interview with Jolanta Kamińska-Samolej for Interia, I explain why I believe Russians are being mentally prepared today for a possible conflict with Poland.
What’s in the Label? Measuring Imperial and Nationalist Logics in Today’s Russia
What is Russia – an empire, a nation-state, or something else entirely? In this lecture at Maastricht University, I trace five centuries of Russian identity from Ivan the Terrible to Putin's war in Ukraine.
«Віткоффгейт». Ефект рієлтора у «мирному плані» fot. TVP Бартломєй Ґайос
The recordings of conversations between Steven Witkoff – a Trump adviser – and Yuri Ushakov, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest associates, published by Bloomberg, have significant potential to compromise “Steve” on the international stage – my comment for the Ukrainian-language outlet slawa.tv.
Talk at Elliott School - Can Russia Change? A Case for Historical Mindfulness
I take the view that Russia is not doomed to eternal oppression, violence and aggression. But I also know that any transformation requires time, experience and a catalyst. This is why it is worth returning to history to see where and how such catalysts have appeared before – because it is precisely there that we find both clues and warnings for the future, something I refer to as historical mindfulness.
Continuity or Rupture? What Data Science Reveals about Russia’s Politics of Memory - Lecture at Harvard
Using data science methods, I demonstrated the evolution of the Kremlin’s historical narrative – from retrospective commemoration to real-time myth-making.