Are young Russians passive subjects of indoctrination, a hidden liberal vanguard, or something far more ordinary and complex? In this episode of Russia Unfiltered, Jeremy Morris, James C Pearce and Jonny Tickle push back against the clichés that dominate Western coverage of Russian youth, from heroic protest myths to claims of mass radicalisation.Drawing on sociological research, teaching experience, and everyday encounters with students and families, they look at how young people actually navigate school pressure, exams, careers, housing, conscription fears, and online life. The discussion unpacks state youth programmes, patriotic education, and controversial history textbooks, asking not what the state intends, but how these initiatives are received, ignored, reinterpreted, or used pragmatically.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
From gopnik memes and macho stereotypes to doting dads and burnt-out office workers, what is life really like for Russian men in 2025? In this episode of Russia Unfiltered, James C Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle dig into masculinity in Russia: the Soviet legacy of the “model worker,” the 1990s hangover, and how the internet has made twenty–something Russians feel closer to their peers in London than to their own fathers.They talk about army service and the myth that all “real men” are soldiers, why suicide and alcoholism rates among men remain so high, and how expectations to provide clash with housing shortages, low wages and unstable work. The conversation covers dating, family life, male friendships, “infantilised” husbands, ambitious women in high–status jobs, and the quiet ways younger men are renegotiating what it means to be a man in Russia today.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
Since 2022, prices in Russia have risen, familiar brands have vanished and everyday life has quietly become more expensive and more fragile. In this episode of Russia Unfiltered, Jonny Tickle, James C Pearce and Jeremy Morris talk through the real cost of living behind the official statistics: supermarket bills that have doubled, fast food and business lunches that no longer feel cheap, and imported goods, car parts, medicines and electronics that now arrive through parallel routes at higher prices and lower quality. They look at how tax changes, new fees on cars and appliances and quietly rising utility costs are reshaping budgets, how people in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and provincial towns are downsizing their lifestyles or sliding into wage arrears, and why visible wealth in big cities hides deep inequality. Finally, they discuss the emotional side of all this, from patience and “hunkering down” to a generation that has put its dreams, travel plans and even starting families on hold because they no longer believe their money, or the situation, will improve any time soon.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle discuss what “multicultural” actually means in Russia, testing the idea of the country as a multicultural miracle. They look at Slavic Orthodox symbols, Soviet nostalgia and regional folk branding alongside local identities in places like Dagestan, Tatarstan and Yakutia that do not simply see themselves as branches of a single Russian civilisation. The trio distinguish between state-curated diversity and real cultural autonomy, and between the official culture of Victory Day aesthetics, folk dancers and new “peoples of Russia” holidays and the culture people actually live through K-pop, anime, YouTube, rap, Turkish and Korean serials. Along the way they explore pride and inferiority, Europe versus “Asia,” and ask whether the true unifying force in today’s Russia is not tradition at all but the internet.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle discuss where “real Russia” actually begins and ends, from Moscow’s outer districts to small towns and industrial suburbs. They explore how most Russians live in microdistricts and new housing complexes, balancing comfort and sameness amid quiet courtyards, chain stores and long commutes. The conversation touches on post-Soviet planning, car culture, social isolation and the quiet stability many residents prize over change. What emerges is a portrait of everyday Russia that is ordinary, modern and found more in the suburbs than on Red Square.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle trace how the Russian state reaches from hospitals to housing, schools to smartphones. They break down its four layers – bureaucracy, surveillance, economic direction and moral oversight – and ask where public service ends and supervision begins. The discussion moves from Gosuslugi and CCTV to patriotic education, corporate loyalty and cultural bans, exploring how order and convenience coexist with limits on independence in daily life.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle examine why lived experience often contradicts desk-based takes, asking what language skills, fieldwork and everyday conversations add that surveys, Telegram feeds and think-tank incentives miss. They probe the outsourcing of “Russia expertise” to diasporas and distant commentators, the class divide between capitals and small towns, and why certainty sells even when nuance is truer. Along the way they discuss textbook myths, journalism-by-proxy, and the awkward fact that there is rarely a penalty for being wrong.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle test Moscow’s reputation for effortless daily life: world-class metro and buses, expanding lines, e-governance, safety, and abundant parks and culture. They weigh the trade-offs since 2022, including curtailed travel, payment card problems, rising costs, and widening inequality, and dig into housing bubbles, micro-district legacies, and the split between old and new Muscovites. The conversation also looks beyond the capitals to ask what liveability means across Russia in 2025. This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
Since 2022 a new wave of Westerners has headed to Russia, drawn by talk of tradition, order and conservatism. James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle compare this cohort with earlier movers, ask what they are seeking versus what they find, and dig into language barriers, bureaucracy, soft power, the YouTuber economy, and how Russians actually view these arrivals. They also set this against the wider picture of Central Asian migration and everyday life in Moscow and beyond.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.
Is it okay to like Russia in 2025? James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle unpack why Russian art and literature still matter in the West, how academic debates over decolonising Russian studies spill into public life, and where personal taste ends and institutional endorsement begins. They also weigh Ukraine’s cultural pushback, whether boycotts work, and what everyday life in Russia actually looks like, from multicultural reality to Moscow’s day-to-day convenience.This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.