{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Russian and Eurasian Studies","slug":"new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261","podcast_index_feed_id":313261,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/HQyUzOY_","website_url":"https://new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies.simplecast.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/42fb3a55-d4d5-4eaa-8ea0-bce212a58de2/d82e765b-1852-4d2c-b563-78ae131041b9/3000x3000/a801439f626e716355b8fec9d4e33336.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies","last_synced_at":"2026-10-02T08:22:53.141272+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261"},"episode":{"title":"Yana Skorobogatov, \"Fate in My Hands: The Death Penalty in the Soviet Union\" (U Chicago Press, 2026)","slug":"yana-skorobogatov-fate-in-my-hands-the-death-penalty-in-the-soviet-union-u-chicago-press-2026","published_at":"2026-08-08T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261/yana-skorobogatov-fate-in-my-hands-the-death-penalty-in-the-soviet-union-u-chicago-press-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261","url":"https://new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies.simplecast.com/episodes/yana-skorobogatov-fate-in-my-hands-the-death-penalty-in-the-soviet-union-u-chicago-press-2026-Cy1aPl9o","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/42fb3a55-d4d5-4eaa-8ea0-bce212a58de2/episodes/c9bca496-7d7c-4bbb-8ea1-20bab610d440/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=42fb3a55-d4d5-4eaa-8ea0-bce212a58de2&awEpisodeId=c9bca496-7d7c-4bbb-8ea1-20bab610d440&feed=HQyUzOY_","summary":"In this episode, Alisa interviews Dr. Yana Skorobogatov about her book, Fate in My Hands: The Death Penalty in the Soviet Union (University of Chicago Press, 2026). From 1954 to 1991 in the Soviet Union, nearly 40,000 citizens were executed after the death penalty was reinstated as a punishment for homicide. Fate in My Hands introduces readers to the many citizens in this period—women and men of all ages and backgrounds—who found themselves on death row and tried to escape it in the only way available to them: asking for forgiveness. Examining the letters and objects the dead left behind, Skorobogatov recovers their voices and allows them to speak anew. The book is a striking portrait of life in the Soviet Union and the citizens who dreamed of new possibilities even as they faced their tragic end. Using a corpus of never-before-accessed criminal court records, Fate in My Hands brings readers not just into the police interrogation rooms, courthouses, and cells where the condemned awaited their fates, but into the homes, workplaces, and psychiatric hospitals where families and friends alike came together to pursue an elusive, bitter justice in the wake of violent tragedy. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies","meta_description":"In this episode, Alisa interviews Dr. Yana Skorobogatov about her book, Fate in My Hands: The Death Penalty in the Soviet Union (University of Chicago Pre…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3666,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261/episodes/yana-skorobogatov-fate-in-my-hands-the-death-penalty-in-the-soviet-union-u-chicago-press-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-russian-and-eurasian-studies-313261/yana-skorobogatov-fate-in-my-hands-the-death-penalty-in-the-soviet-union-u-chicago-press-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}