6 HN users recommended this lecture5 months2022–2025score 6.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Strongly recommended as an accessible, well-taught history of Ukraine and a counter to propaganda narratives.
The first class of Timothy Snyder's Yale course on the making of modern Ukraine. It introduces the course and asks what it means for a nation to exist in light of the Russian invasion.
“gives you invaluable understanding about much more than just Ukraine.” (HN, 2023)
I can imagine Russia conducting as 'nuclear test' in or near Ukraine, but I think the consequences for Russia would be dire, and I hope the Russian leadership realise that. Ive been following the author's currently ongoing Yale course on the history of the Ukrainian state on youtube, it's excellent. The latest lecture dropped yesterday and I just finished it a few minutes ago, so it seems weird to see his name again here so soon. Here's a link to the first of them. [this video]
Yale course on the history of the Ukrainian state.
Timothy Snyder: The Making of Modern Ukraine. [0] gives you invaluable understanding about much more than just Ukraine. MIT 16.885J Aircraft Systems Engineering, Fall 2005 [1] - the aircraft they focus on is the Space Shuttle. Amazingly demystifying. Some of the actual early designers talk there. [0] - [this video] [1] - [link]
Timothy Snyder is just fantastic: [link] His class on Ukraine on Youtube is fantastic: [this video] If I had a history class taught like this in college I might have looked at it. I think in one of his classes about Ukraine he mentioned that he was a programmer at some point. His explanations of history are often very input/output oriented or explained almost like an algorithm. His books are also worth reading and every one of his lectures on youtube I have enjoyed. He's great at giving historical perspective to current affairs, and probably more than anyone else, I feel like he makes the current political climate make sense.
Fantastic class with algorithm-like explanations of history
As a Ukrainian I find your comments in this thread insulting. You should educate yourself a little about history of Ukraine before you start spewing such nonsense. I would suggest you to start with this: [this video] Now, I will assume you are just a misguided westerner who watches too much Fox news and indulge you: > Ukraine is right on the russia's border. So? How about US invading Mexico, occupying and annexing its lands, killing bunch of civilians while simultaneously demanding Mexico to "respect" US "sphere of influence", speak English, stop "threatening" it by committing to neutrality, etc. > Their economies and cultures are intertwined. Let them rape and indiscriminately kill bunch of civilians in some Bucha or other towns because of similar languages and economical ties? How does that make any sense to you? Also, claiming that Ukraine doesn't have its own historical roots and cultural identity is one of the Russian propaganda talking points. > And their have been hostilities between the two "Hostilities"? Excuse me? Russia occupied and annexed parts of Ukraine repeatedly but you dubbing it "hostilities" make it sound like some kind of a border skirmish where both parties are culpable which couldn't be further from the truth. > since 2014 when the US formented a revolution there Another Russian propaganda talking point. People were fed up with Yanukovich and decided to remove him from power. Support from US was inconsequential. > I am not shilling for Russia Yes you are! Op
Ukrainian history course to counter Russian propaganda talking points
[link] [link] [link] [link] Also, Timothy Snyder's Yale classes on Ukrainian and Russian history offer an excellent background to the war, which helps when trying to separate reality from propaganda: [this video]
Excellent background on the war, helps separate reality from propaganda
Aaaaand now we've taken a hard-right into propaganda territory, so I'll get off here. I would suggest consulting Timothy Snyder, Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University, specializing in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe [link] His lectures are available on youtube: [this video]
Lectures by Yale historian of Eastern Europe as antidote to propaganda
One clarification to make - While I haven't read On Freedom, Tim Snyder is a scholar of Ukrainian (and slavic) history who is a major opponent of the far right's agenda. One of his big ideas is the different approach to time promoted by authoritarian vs liberal regimes, to try to inoculate people against the talking points of the authoritarian view. I might disagree with the positive/negative freedom argument on a more fundamental level than he does, but he's not engaging with it because he's trying to promote it. His lecture series on the Making of Modern Ukraine: [this video]
Lecture series by scholar of Ukrainian and Slavic history
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.
Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed
7 Hacker News comments
From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.
Read more
Read more