And now. I have been following them with interest for even longer than one year.
29th April 2023
Yes, that is linked.
The second one there is from Daniil’s 1420.
The top one is from Professor Gerdes and is worth sharing again.
Note that one mentioned there is London-based political philosopher Vlad Vexler, Russian-born and Oxford-educated. He is top row, third from the left. Vlad suffers from a debilitating auto-immune condition but manages between episodes of this to produce some of the best analysis you will find on YouTube.
Here is his most recent: VLAD REACTS: Tim Snyder, Blair, Jordan Peterson, Rory Stewart, Richard Wolff. Brilliant!
As one commenter says: “I’ve probably watched over 50 Vlad Vexler Vids, this is my all-time favorite! Precise, open, interested, flexible… Reminded me of stochastic reinforcement learning: how AI can’t learn how to drive unless it’s watching a human. I don’t feel like Vlad is telling us what to think, he’s helping us to exercise the moral muscle needed to think for ourselves.” And another: “I was fully prepared to be offended, and reactionary when I initially anticipated the critique of Timothy Snyder’s view here. After listening, I believe that Snyder would humbly concede to your assessment. I would love to see a Vexler/Snyder headed think tank, books and even a speaking tour. I also respect how you can objectively listen to what someone as awful as blair has to say and find commonality and reason within, without personal judgement. Aside from being an exceptional geopolitical evaluator/strategist, you are a class act, Vlad.”
To which I can only add my humble advice: take the time to listen very carefully to what Vlad Vexler says and even more importantly to the way he says it! Rare indeed in this social media landscape, and so much needed!
In which soon after sunrise here in West Wollongong I contemplate the Russian and Ukrainian vlogs on 9 May 2023
From 1420:
And Zack the Russian is in that post too.
He was still in Tbilisi then, but in the year since has managed to win a scholarship to study in the USA, where he now is, still vlogging, but less often. He is of course studying, and even enjoying life as a 22-year-old should!
And then there is Roman the Russian
Roman is now in Portugal and recently gave a full account of how he managed this from Tbilisi, where he lived for two years having fled from Russia in 2022.
Neil's Commonplace Book 