<p>In this episode, we talk about one of the most fundamental things in all our lives: food. How can food help us understand culture, identity, and history? How does food bring people together in dark times? How has Ukraine’s status as a major global exporter of food been affected by the war? We discuss all these questions and more with two brilliant food writers - Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector. </p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://oliahercules.com/">Olia Hercules</a> is a British-Ukrainian chef, author and cultural ambassador, she is the author of <em>Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine &amp; Beyond; Kaukasis: The Cookbook – A Journey Through the Wild East; Summer Kitchens Inside Ukraine's Hidden Places of Cooking and Sanctuary; Home Food</em> and most recently <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/strong-roots-9781526662965/"><em>Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope </em>(Bloomsbury, 2025</a>).</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://fspector.substack.com/about">Felicity Spector</a> is a journalist, author and baker. Her work in TV journalism has taken her all over the world, covering everything from the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia to the inauguration of Barack Obama in the US; most recently, she has been a tireless volunteer in some of Ukraine’s most war-torn regions. Her book about these experiences,<em> </em><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.duckworthbooks.co.uk/book/bread-and-war/"><em>Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope</em></a>, was published in 2025 by Duckworth.</p><p></p><p>Book recommendations:</p><p>Olia Hercules:</p><p>Lesya Ukrainka, <em>The Noblewoman</em>, translation. Percival Cundy, in <em>Spirit of Flame: A Collection of the Works of Lesya Ukrainka</em> (Bookman Associates, 1950). <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://tarnawsky.artsci.utoronto.ca/elul/English/Ukrainka/Ukrainka-Noblewoman.pdf">Translation available online here.</a></p><p>Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/459762/food-for-the-dead-by-knight-charlotte-shevchenko/9781787334892"><em>Food for the Dead</em></a><em> </em>(Penguin, 2024)</p><p>Lina Kostenko’s poetry (See <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2016-04/chernobyl-poems-lina-kostenko-uilleam-blacker/">here</a> for some translations by Uilleam Blacker at Words Without Borders)</p><p></p><p>Felicity Spector:</p><p>Oleksandr Mykhed,<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/461801/the-language-of-war-by-mykhed-oleksandr/9780241690840"> <em>The Language of War</em> </a>translation. Maryna Gibson, Hanna Leliv and Abby Devar (Penguin, 2024)</p><p>Artur Dron, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.jantarpublishing.com/product-page/we-were-here"><em>We Were Here</em></a><em>, </em>transl. Yuliya Musakovska (Jantar, 2024)</p><p>Victoria Belim, <em>The Rooster House </em>(Virago, 2023)</p><p> </p><p>Also mentioned:</p><p>Lesya Ukrainka, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674291775"><em>Cassandra</em></a><em> </em>trans. Nina Murray (Harvard, 2024)</p><p>Oleksandr Mykhed, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810148543/i-will-mix-your-blood-with-coal/"><em>I Will Mix Your Blood with Coal</em></a> transl. Tanya Savchynska and David Mossop (Northwestern University Press, 2025)</p>