Russia Unfiltered
Russia Unfiltered is an English-language podcast recorded inside Russia and hosted by three Brits who call the country home. Each episode dives into life on the ground, from everyday culture and history to politics and global headlines, with first-hand insight you can only get from being inside the country.
Episodes
How the 1990s Created Putin’s Russia (with Dr. Jeff Hawn)
This week on Russia Unfiltered, Jonny Tickle, Jeremy Morris, and James Pearce are joined by their first ever guest: Dr. Jeff Hawn, research fellow in international history at the London School of Economics. Together, they dive deep into the political chaos of the 1990s and ask one of the biggest questions in modern Russian history: was Putin’s Russia inevitable?The conversation explores Boris Yelt
Western Academia on Russia in 2026: War, Access and Activism
This week on Russia Unfiltered, Jonny Tickle, Jeremy Morris and James Pearce take a closer look at the state of Russia-focused academia in the West.With Jeremy heading to the annual British Association for Slavic and Eastern European Studies (BASEES) conference, we use the moment to ask a bigger question: what has happened to the field since 2022? Four years into the war, access to Russia is limit
Mr. Nobody Against Putin: What the Oscar-Winning Film Gets Right (and Wrong)
This week on Russia Unfiltered, Jonny Tickle, Jeremy Morris and James C Pearce take a deep dive into Mr. Nobody Against Putin — the Oscar-winning documentary that’s now been banned in Russia.The film follows a school employee who secretly filmed the gradual militarisation of a provincial Russian school. It’s been widely praised abroad, but it’s also sparked a wave of criticism from Russians, Ukrai
Is Moscow’s Internet Being Switched Off?
James C Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle examine the sudden mobile internet outages across central Moscow and what they reveal about how a hyper-digital city functions when connectivity breaks down. They discuss the practical consequences, from payments and taxis to everyday routines that now depend entirely on mobile data, and why even short disruptions expose deeper vulnerabilities in a sy
How Has Moscow Changed in 2026?
Jonny Tickle is joined in person by Jeremy Morris for a rare walk-and-talk episode recorded in Moscow at the end of his research trip. They discuss first impressions from Moscow, Penza and St Petersburg, focusing on the small, everyday details that are easy to miss but reveal deeper economic and social shifts.The conversation explores churn in the hospitality sector, labour shortages, changing mig
Is Russia Entering the Death Zone? War Economics and the Telegram Crackdown
Jonny Tickle, Jeremy Morris and James C Pearce discuss two major developments shaping Russia in 2026: the sustainability of the wartime economy and the potential shutdown of Telegram.The first half of the episode examines a recent Economist article arguing that Russia’s economy has entered a “death zone,” where military spending sustains headline growth while gradually eroding long-term productive
Russian Émigrés in 2026: Who Leaves, Who Stays, Who Returns
James C Pearce, Jeremy Morris and Jonny Tickle discuss Russian emigration past and present, asking how today’s departures compare with earlier waves that followed the Revolution, the Second World War and the late Soviet period. They explore who leaves, who returns and why, highlighting the role of class, mobility and professional capital in shaping the ability to build a life abroad.The conversati
Russian Winter Explained: Snow, Heating, and Life Below Zero
James C. Pearce, Jeremy Morris, and Jonny Tickle talk about the return of extreme winter conditions across Russia, from record snowfalls in Kamchatka to deep freezes in Moscow and the Urals. They discuss how Russian cities cope with heavy snow, freeze thaw cycles, and infrastructure strain, including snow removal, chemical reagents, icicles, and transport disruption.The conversation moves beyond s
How We Actually Learned Russian
In this episode, we talk about Russian as a living language, not a textbook. We swap stories about how we started, what actually moved the needle, and why “just living in Russia” often isn’t enough. We get into the classic pain points for English speakers: cases, verb aspect, word order, and the weird moment when you understand plenty but still can’t produce clean sentences.We also argue about mot
Russia in 2026: Predictions for the Year Ahead
First episode of 2026, and we’re doing what any sensible people would avoid: bad confidence and strong opinions.We start with a quick “year that was” round, pulling out the under-the-radar Russia stories from 2025 that mattered more than the headlines: why the most interesting political signals came from the regions, not Moscow; how sanctions reshaped Russian wine and the craft beer scene; and the
Indoctrination and Militarisation of Russian Youth
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 experien
Russian Men and Modern Masculinity in Crisis
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 L
Russia’s Wartime Cost of Living Crisis
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 import
Is Russia Really a Multicultural Miracle?
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. T
What Is "Real Russia"?
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,
How Russia’s State Controls Everyday Life
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,
Why Russia Experts Get Russia Wrong
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
Is Moscow Still the World’s Most Liveable City?
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 bet
Who’s Moving to Russia in 2025?
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
Is It Okay to Like Russia?
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 actua
