Gladio Free Europe
a sort of movie, sort of history podcast

Dec 29, 2021

Sympathy Seeker

Run along children, you don’t want to be awake when Ded Moroz comes to leave you presents under the New Year Tree


This week, we popped open a bottle of Soviet Champagne to talk about Russian New Year and the 1997 film Sympathy Seeker. Why is New Year’s Eve such a big deal in the former Soviet Union? Why are there so many paintings of Lenin around a Christmas tree? Is the Soviet version of Santa really an evil spirit from Slavic myth?

All this and more as we dive into the history of holidays in the former USSR and the long history of wars against Christmas.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.


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