What You Need to Know About Ukrainian Society - with Maryna Starodubska

What values define Ukrainian society? How should we understand power distance in Ukraine? Is corruption really as great a threat as it is often portrayed, or is its impact sometimes overstated? And how have these dynamics changed during the war?

• Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
• Guest: Maryna Starodubska, Kyiv-Mohyla Business School Adjunct Professor, cross-cultural interaction consultant, and author of the book "Understanding Ukrainians: Cross-Cultural Perspective" published in Ukrainian.

Maryna is now preparing her new book, in English, called Ukraine Layer by Layer: Freedom and Friction in a Frontier Society. The book will be published by Ibidem Verlag in the series Ukrainian Voices in October 2026.

Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

You can support UkraineWorld on https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians. Donations are welcome via PayPal at: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This podcast was made with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It's content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.