Studio Central and Eastern Europe

Our 20-minutes podcasts are interviews, recorded at the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe of KU Leuven, Belgium. The episodes feature academic researchers, who discuss their recent work on the region.

Studio Central and Eastern Europe is a education podcast hosted by fcee, with 48 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

fcee hosts Studio Central and Eastern Europe, a education show with 48 episodes published.

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  Episode #39

  John Beachamp on how do you preserve a sound and why does it matter

  Sep 8, 202618 minS2

  In this episode, Kris Van Heuckelom, Professor of Polish and Cultural Studies, sits down with John Beauchamp, cultural heritage researcher, broadcaster, and a recognisable voice in Poland's public soundscape. Together, they explore the growing importance of preserving both tangible and intangible heritage, from historic buildings to the sounds that shape collective memory. Why are contemporary societies increasingly drawn to their past? And why has cultural heritage become such a powerful source of identity and inspiration in Poland, a country that not long ago seemed eager to leave much of its history behind? The conversation traces Poland's journey towards a more confident relationship with its heritage, examining how history, memory and culture have become meaningful resources in everyday life. They also discuss Europa Nostra, Europe's leading network of heritage organisations. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, broadcaster and PhD researcher at the Jagiellonian University, John Beauchamp offers insights into the value of preserving sound and the stories embedded in the acoustic landscape.

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  Episode #38

  Olivera Simić on How to Understand the Intellectual Turned War Criminal Biljana Plavšić

  Jul 21, 202626 minS1

  In this episode, Peter Vermeersch, Professor of Political Studies at KU Leuven, speaks with Olivera Simić, Professor at Griffith University, about Biljana Plavšić—a respected biologist and university professor who became a senior Bosnian Serb political leader during the Bosnian War and was later convicted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. At the heart of the conversation is Simić's effort to gain access to Plavšić and build a relationship that led to many hours of conversations - and to the publication of her latest book, Madam War Criminal . Reflecting on this unusual encounter, Simić discusses what it means to listen to, write about, and seek to understand a perpetrator of mass violence without diminishing responsibility for their actions. The conversation explores human complexity, asking how an accomplished intellectual became involved in a political project that led to the persecution, expulsion, and suffering of thousands.

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  Episode #37

  Katarzyna Wojnicka on How to Dismantle Patriarchy

  Jul 6, 202620 minS2

  What would it take to build a more equal society—and what role do men have in making it possible? In this episode of Studio CEE, Maryna Shevtsova of KU Leuven speaks with Katarzyna Wojnicka, sociologist and Associate Professor at the University of Gothenburg, whose research explores masculinities, gender equality, and social change. Drawing on years of work in the field, Wojnicka argues that dismantling patriarchy requires more than engaging men as allies. It demands that we place men themselves within the conversation about unequal power relations and examine how masculinity is shaped by—and helps reproduce—social hierarchies. The discussion also turns to a distinction often overlooked in public debates: the difference between care and protection. While both may appear benevolent, Wojnicka explains how they relate to power in markedly different ways, with important implications for gender equality and social justice.

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  Episode #36

  Exploring World Enemy No. 1 with Jochen Hellbeck

  Jun 30, 202647 minS2

  This is an unedited recording of a lecture delivered earlier this year by Jochen Hellbeck for the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe. Hellbeck—a distinguished historian of modern Russia and author of the award‑winning Revolution on My Mind: Writing a Diary Under Stalin and Stalingrad: The City That Defeated the Third Reich—discusses his latest book, World Enemy No. 1: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Fate of the Jews, in conversation with KU Leuven historian Georgi Verbeeck.

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  Episode #35

  Konrad Klejsa on Film Censorship in Socialist Poland

  Jun 19, 202623 minS2

  In this conversation, Kris Van Heuckelom, Professor of Polish Studies and Cultural Studies at KU Leuven, speaks with Konrad Klejsa (University of Łódź), a leading scholar of socialist-era Polish cinema. Their exchange turns to the often paradoxical workings of film censorship under communism: not merely as a blunt instrument of suppression, but as a filtering mechanism that withheld some films while—selectively—allowing others to circulate. Klejsa reflects on the uneven privileges granted to specific circles of viewers, as well as on the fissures that opened within the system, where alternative modes of access and interpretation could emerge in the cracks of official control. You can explore the Foreign Feature Films in People’s Poland database—an open-access academic resource, created by Konrad Klejsa and documenting the circulation of international cinema in the PRL—here: http://watchedinprl.uni.lodz.pl

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