1869, Ep. 80 with Brandon Schechter, author of The Stuff of Soldiers

Trascript here: https://otter.ai/u/3woF9NXmQKFjm3Jh3UI66OcDHgk

This episode we speak with Brandon Schechter, author of the new book The Stuff of Soldiers: A History of the Red Army in World War II through Objects: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501739798/the-stuff-of-soldiers/

Brandon Schechter is a historian of the Soviet Union whose research focuses on the creation of meaning in times of crisis. In addition to his new book, he has published essays on the integration of national minorities and women into the Red Army, the moral economy of rationing, property relations under Stalinism and how objects can narrate lived experience. He served as Elihu Rose Scholar in Modern Military History at NYU, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Davis Center, visiting assistant professor at Brown, and Fulbright IIE fellow. Schechter is currently an adjunct at Columbia University. This spring he will co-teach a graduate level course on Russia at War with Anne Lounsbery at NYU.

We spoke to Brandon about why he chose to study stuff, how he chose the specific objects featured in the book, and how World War II created a new cultural hierarchy within the Soviet Union.

As a loyal listener to the podcast we’d like to offer you a special 30% discount on his new book. To receive your discount please go to cornellpress.cornell.edu and use the promo code 09POD. If you live in the UK use the discount code CSANNOUNCE and visit the website combinedacademic.co.uk.