Unfortunately, I’m stuck in a lunch meeting at that time. Hopefully, Snyder will review some of the comments from yesterday and this morning before he starts taking questions. Rose, you will have to represent me!
1. I live in Australia and am a paid subscriber. And my work involves in-depth and ongoing connection with Ukraine and European affairs, just as much, and to just as high a level, as anyone in the northern hemisphere.
I NEED TO HAVE THE TIME ZONE FOR THE LIVE CHAT SPECIFIED!!! What is it? ET? CT? Pacific time? Mountain time? Hawaii? Outer Mars? How can I possibly tune in without this information???
Furthermore, I already have to stay up half the night just to be there, but I don't get any concession on my subscription. So how about just a minimal awareness that East Coast US does not comprise the entirety of the known world! I think somebody famous once advised us to try putting ourselves in the other guy's shoes…
2. I am also 77 years old, and necessarily a latecomer to the digital scene compared to today's young ones. This means:
a) I don't understand how I can follow and contribute to the chat live: everyone seems to pile in in a mad competitive rush to post questions and prove they are fastest on their feet and crème de la crème of the human race. Everything whizzes by me before I have a chance to think, let alone post something. And I can't sort out the sequences of question then answer; everything seems to get muddled up. Slow off the mark? Tough! Go die quietly somewhere else… Is this a sad, sick Yale syndrome? Just the Normal American pace of life? Dr Snyder's personal preferred way of doing things?
b) I made a suggestion months ago that COULD PROVISION PLEASE BE MADE FOR PRE-POSTING OF A QUESTION? TO ENABLE US OLDIES WHO ARE PHYSICALLY SLOWER AND LESS DIGITALLY TRAINED TO GET A CHANCE TO ASK OUR QUESTION???
We do it for voting, to enable the elderly and infirm. So why not here?
Predictably, nobody took any notice.
Would somebody take responsibility for attending to this, now repeated, request? Draw Dr Snyder's attention to the problem? Keith Wheelock, are you there? As probably our oldest living subscriber (not counting the dead who listen in), can you weigh in here?
I appreciate your frustration, and wish to interact with Timothy Snyder in a meaningful way that is more comfortable given your relationship with the technology. It took me a while to get used to this format as well. A few thoughts I hope will be helpful and of interest.
The record of this event is complete and here below for us to read and re-read at our leisure. That certainly will feel a little less crazy than trying to keep up with everything as it is happening.
The process by which questions are addressed by Dr. Snyder is completely subjective. He reads through what we post in the moment, and uses his own discretion to respond to what he wants. There is no official voting or ranking system. To your point about this being a competition to appear fast or smart, it is my sense that people here are earnest, with some having knowledge or opinions to share, but that the showing-off is no more or less than in the outside world:)
It is good to consider that this occasional forum, with all its limitations, is probably (my impression) something Dr. Snyder does not only as one of many ways to communicate with people who are interested, but also to learn what is on people's minds in order to inform his own work. At the same time he is teaching at Yale, advising graduate students, communicating with friends, colleagues, and leaders in many parts of the world, including those you mentioned being of interest to you, speaking on the media about challenges to democracy and to Ukraine, fundraising for Ukraine, traveling around the world to give lectures and participate in conferences like Davos, writing books and I believe he has a family including young children. I imagine it would be difficult for Dr. Snyder to optimize his activities to accommodate all of our individual needs, and still produce the work he does.
As another Snyder fan, I hope you will find a way to engage with his work in a way that is enriching and enjoyable for you.
As things stood, I was unable to participate at all in the live discussion, because the discussion itself took place during the night here, so had passed by the time I woke next morning and checked my inbox. Only then, too late, was I able to discover exactly when it had taken place.
While I do appreciate the demands on Dr Snyder's time (frankly, impossible!), I can't see why his US time zone can't be posted when the live discussion is notified to us all. That surely is simple admin, and not time-consuming to post. That is standard procedure in other US workshops I participate in, e.g. those from American Anthroposophists, where a worldwide audience is involved.
And I cannot see why advance posting of questions would involve Dr Snyder in extra time either, since they would be there, ready for him to glance through.
The underlying difficulty I experience with Thinking About is that there is no official way provided to communicate with Dr Snyder about such things, with constructive suggestions, in an ongoing way.
Once again, I can cite an example of this approach working successfully, this time in the UK, where the massively popular The Rest is Politics podcast provides automatic opportunity to post questions, and a full weekly episode is devoted to addressing them, in addition to the host-generated content in a second weekly episode. Of course, given the number of subscribers, there is something of a scramble for attention involved here too, but the admin does read all questions; selected ones are then forwarded through to the two co-hosts who in turn select from those. This, at least, is a genuine attempt at digital democracy.
I am guessing Dr Snyder's Thinking About is, by comparison, a relatively small, personal affair. I'm guessing, too, that he has no admin assistance. But here's the point: there is no way of knowing, and hence making allowances, since no information is provided. Transparency!
I think you are basically asking me to stick with it, which of course I will, since Dr Snyder's work is invaluable (I found his Yale lectures on The Making of Modern Ukraine, and the opportunity to follow them prerecorded and free via UTube, to be of unparalleled importance compared with other sources on Ukraine history).
Nevertheless, as a retired educator from senior management in the Australian tertiary sector, my approach and emphasis is always to enquire whether there may be room for improvement. My comment was offered in that light.
Perhaps the problem also stems from the way Substack is organised? I'm already frustrated by its dumbing down of basic editing options for subscribers posting comments—no italic, underline, etc. Are we, or are we not, supposed to acquire literacy in the written word? Could Substack incorporate some feedback mechanism? Once again, I do not know, and have no obvious means of knowing. "There's the rub", as somebody famous once said.
I believe I heard you say on "On Point" that Trump would get a "shellacking " in the 2024 election. Did I hear that correctly? If so please explain so I can sleep better at night while continuing during the day to work toward that end.
Is this discussion going to be recorded or a transcript available? Would love to hear your take on the Putin-Carlson situation [although from reading some of what you've written and your Ukraine Open Course at Yale - I have a guess of what you'll say]
How can we push passing support for Ukraine plus let republicans know we have noticed their sabotaging their own negotiated bill. I call my senators and representative 3-4 times a week but they are solid supporters.
Timothy, Can we still not label this as Evil , what Trump and Putin are engaged in along with their followers? I believe that many can understand the concept of Good vs Evil. So I suggest that we recognize it more forcefully.
Please comment: Stephen Kotkin’s formula for “winning the peace” :; Uk-Rus accept cease fire agreement a la SK-NK- US 1953 truce; Bilateral security guarantees a la US-South Korea: Uk-US, maybe then Baltic countries-Uk-US; PREMISES: Ukraine’s current war aims, i.e. victory, justice, reparations, only happens if Uk “takes Moscow”; Crimea is a problem for Uk because it contains 2.5 million post-2014 “ethnic Russians” vulnerable to transformation into subversive insurgents. JOHN WEISS, ret. from Cornell History Dept.
Will there be a transcript if we can't attend live? (A first timer here). TY
Assuming EST?
That's what I'm assuming. 12:30 my time (CST)
Unfortunately, I’m stuck in a lunch meeting at that time. Hopefully, Snyder will review some of the comments from yesterday and this morning before he starts taking questions. Rose, you will have to represent me!
Well I'm going to ask him a q about 19th-century Russian historiography, which was on full display in Tucker Carlson's interview of Putin.
Have fun at your lunch meeting!
Yuck. Anytime I see or hear the "Tuck"!
Thank you for this opportunity.
My work commitment will see me at work at that time. Perhaps it is possible to retain a transcript which can be reviewed later.
pls include time zone!
Make the assumption that it is ET. So that we on the West Coast should tune in at 10:30 AM.
This is UNSATISFACTORY!
1. I live in Australia and am a paid subscriber. And my work involves in-depth and ongoing connection with Ukraine and European affairs, just as much, and to just as high a level, as anyone in the northern hemisphere.
I NEED TO HAVE THE TIME ZONE FOR THE LIVE CHAT SPECIFIED!!! What is it? ET? CT? Pacific time? Mountain time? Hawaii? Outer Mars? How can I possibly tune in without this information???
Furthermore, I already have to stay up half the night just to be there, but I don't get any concession on my subscription. So how about just a minimal awareness that East Coast US does not comprise the entirety of the known world! I think somebody famous once advised us to try putting ourselves in the other guy's shoes…
2. I am also 77 years old, and necessarily a latecomer to the digital scene compared to today's young ones. This means:
a) I don't understand how I can follow and contribute to the chat live: everyone seems to pile in in a mad competitive rush to post questions and prove they are fastest on their feet and crème de la crème of the human race. Everything whizzes by me before I have a chance to think, let alone post something. And I can't sort out the sequences of question then answer; everything seems to get muddled up. Slow off the mark? Tough! Go die quietly somewhere else… Is this a sad, sick Yale syndrome? Just the Normal American pace of life? Dr Snyder's personal preferred way of doing things?
b) I made a suggestion months ago that COULD PROVISION PLEASE BE MADE FOR PRE-POSTING OF A QUESTION? TO ENABLE US OLDIES WHO ARE PHYSICALLY SLOWER AND LESS DIGITALLY TRAINED TO GET A CHANCE TO ASK OUR QUESTION???
We do it for voting, to enable the elderly and infirm. So why not here?
Predictably, nobody took any notice.
Would somebody take responsibility for attending to this, now repeated, request? Draw Dr Snyder's attention to the problem? Keith Wheelock, are you there? As probably our oldest living subscriber (not counting the dead who listen in), can you weigh in here?
Thankyou!
Dr Penelope Lane
Dr. Lane -
I appreciate your frustration, and wish to interact with Timothy Snyder in a meaningful way that is more comfortable given your relationship with the technology. It took me a while to get used to this format as well. A few thoughts I hope will be helpful and of interest.
The record of this event is complete and here below for us to read and re-read at our leisure. That certainly will feel a little less crazy than trying to keep up with everything as it is happening.
The process by which questions are addressed by Dr. Snyder is completely subjective. He reads through what we post in the moment, and uses his own discretion to respond to what he wants. There is no official voting or ranking system. To your point about this being a competition to appear fast or smart, it is my sense that people here are earnest, with some having knowledge or opinions to share, but that the showing-off is no more or less than in the outside world:)
It is good to consider that this occasional forum, with all its limitations, is probably (my impression) something Dr. Snyder does not only as one of many ways to communicate with people who are interested, but also to learn what is on people's minds in order to inform his own work. At the same time he is teaching at Yale, advising graduate students, communicating with friends, colleagues, and leaders in many parts of the world, including those you mentioned being of interest to you, speaking on the media about challenges to democracy and to Ukraine, fundraising for Ukraine, traveling around the world to give lectures and participate in conferences like Davos, writing books and I believe he has a family including young children. I imagine it would be difficult for Dr. Snyder to optimize his activities to accommodate all of our individual needs, and still produce the work he does.
As another Snyder fan, I hope you will find a way to engage with his work in a way that is enriching and enjoyable for you.
Thanks for your reply, Laura. I appreciate it.
As things stood, I was unable to participate at all in the live discussion, because the discussion itself took place during the night here, so had passed by the time I woke next morning and checked my inbox. Only then, too late, was I able to discover exactly when it had taken place.
While I do appreciate the demands on Dr Snyder's time (frankly, impossible!), I can't see why his US time zone can't be posted when the live discussion is notified to us all. That surely is simple admin, and not time-consuming to post. That is standard procedure in other US workshops I participate in, e.g. those from American Anthroposophists, where a worldwide audience is involved.
And I cannot see why advance posting of questions would involve Dr Snyder in extra time either, since they would be there, ready for him to glance through.
The underlying difficulty I experience with Thinking About is that there is no official way provided to communicate with Dr Snyder about such things, with constructive suggestions, in an ongoing way.
Once again, I can cite an example of this approach working successfully, this time in the UK, where the massively popular The Rest is Politics podcast provides automatic opportunity to post questions, and a full weekly episode is devoted to addressing them, in addition to the host-generated content in a second weekly episode. Of course, given the number of subscribers, there is something of a scramble for attention involved here too, but the admin does read all questions; selected ones are then forwarded through to the two co-hosts who in turn select from those. This, at least, is a genuine attempt at digital democracy.
I am guessing Dr Snyder's Thinking About is, by comparison, a relatively small, personal affair. I'm guessing, too, that he has no admin assistance. But here's the point: there is no way of knowing, and hence making allowances, since no information is provided. Transparency!
I think you are basically asking me to stick with it, which of course I will, since Dr Snyder's work is invaluable (I found his Yale lectures on The Making of Modern Ukraine, and the opportunity to follow them prerecorded and free via UTube, to be of unparalleled importance compared with other sources on Ukraine history).
Nevertheless, as a retired educator from senior management in the Australian tertiary sector, my approach and emphasis is always to enquire whether there may be room for improvement. My comment was offered in that light.
Perhaps the problem also stems from the way Substack is organised? I'm already frustrated by its dumbing down of basic editing options for subscribers posting comments—no italic, underline, etc. Are we, or are we not, supposed to acquire literacy in the written word? Could Substack incorporate some feedback mechanism? Once again, I do not know, and have no obvious means of knowing. "There's the rub", as somebody famous once said.
But thanks again for your time and attention.
I believe I heard you say on "On Point" that Trump would get a "shellacking " in the 2024 election. Did I hear that correctly? If so please explain so I can sleep better at night while continuing during the day to work toward that end.
Please discuss the “interview” with VVP and T. Carlson, especially VVP’s assertion that WWII was started by Poland. Thank you. Donna S
Delighted to learn about the discussion. Probably cannot take part today, but during a lull in GOTV postcard writing, would very much like to.
1:35 pm haven't received the notice yet...
Is this discussion going to be recorded or a transcript available? Would love to hear your take on the Putin-Carlson situation [although from reading some of what you've written and your Ukraine Open Course at Yale - I have a guess of what you'll say]
Maybe 10:30 am PST. Will look for it.
How can we push passing support for Ukraine plus let republicans know we have noticed their sabotaging their own negotiated bill. I call my senators and representative 3-4 times a week but they are solid supporters.
Timothy, Can we still not label this as Evil , what Trump and Putin are engaged in along with their followers? I believe that many can understand the concept of Good vs Evil. So I suggest that we recognize it more forcefully.
Please advise your opinion.
I have a few observations/suggestions on this theme but I would appreciate your views first.
Both Putin and Trump are using this messianic vehicle for their success so far giving us a lot of material to work with.
There is an opportunity to use this in the coming Lenten Season to shine an appropriate light on these demonic advocates.
Please comment: Stephen Kotkin’s formula for “winning the peace” :; Uk-Rus accept cease fire agreement a la SK-NK- US 1953 truce; Bilateral security guarantees a la US-South Korea: Uk-US, maybe then Baltic countries-Uk-US; PREMISES: Ukraine’s current war aims, i.e. victory, justice, reparations, only happens if Uk “takes Moscow”; Crimea is a problem for Uk because it contains 2.5 million post-2014 “ethnic Russians” vulnerable to transformation into subversive insurgents. JOHN WEISS, ret. from Cornell History Dept.
Standing by - and hoping I'm in the right spot to see/hear the live thread today!
I’m a paid subscriber. I don’t see a link in either my email or in Substack.