Tetiana Burianova, a Ukrainian producer, and Tim McDonnell, an American journalist, are friends and colleagues who work hard and party harder together in Kyiv. Join them, and a rotating cast of characters from the heart of Kyiv’s cultural scene, for a series of moving, funny, and insightful conversations about what life in the city during wartime is really like.
Ukraine’s information battlefield: How a government spokesperson chooses which secrets to keep
Today’s episode is a New Years special. Tanya and Tim revisit a debaucherous night out on the town and their favorite achievements of 2025. Then we get the inside scoop from the US-Ukraine peace negotiations with Heorhiy Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Gosha, as his friends know him, is fighting on Ukraine’s information front: Pitching the government’s views to the world while battling a deluge of disinformation and propaganda from Russia. Gosha spills on how he got to run Ukraine’s official Twitter feed, what information to keep secret, and whether Zelensky is getting better at navigating his relationship with Trump. This is our last issue of Season One — thank you so much to all of our listeners who joined us so far! We’ll be back next month with more!
Now we have an Instagram page, subscribe and get a chance to win our sexy brand hat: https://www.instagram.com/dontpushthehorses_pod/
Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
31 Dec 2025
Howard Buffett has a bone to pick with the White House and fellow philanthropists
The billionaire son of legendary investor Warren Buffett is many things: A farmer, philanthropist, business executive, and former sheriff. He’s also among the top foreign donors to Ukraine and has visited the country two dozen times since 2022, often spending time on the front line (including a few close calls with FPVs). In today’s episode, Buffett joins us on his birthday to share his strategy for acting as the “risk capital of the philanthropy world,” what he wishes fellow donors would do differently, and why he thinks the Trump administration’s approach to peace talks so far has been “really pretty disgusting.” We promise to get him a bigger birthday cake.
Now we have Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/dontpushthehorses_pod/
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
17 Dec 2025
How to keep the lights on in Ukraine's schools and hospitals
Blackouts reaching ten or more hours a day are a fact of life across Ukraine these days, as Russia continues to use attacks on the electric grid as a key weapon in its hybrid war. One of the people fighting back is today's guest, Yuliana Onishchuk, who made a risky career change to focus on solar power at a time many people thought it wasn't needed - only to prove, 33 schools and hospitals later, that renewable energy is essential for Ukraine's security.
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
27 Nov 2025
War is about People: Stories from the Washington Post Kyiv bureau
We’re in love, literally, with today’s guest: Siobhán O’Grady, the Washington Post’s Ukraine bureau chief, who also happens to be Tim’s wife. Siobhán shares her experiences navigating cancelled nail salon appointments and incoming shelling. We also hear from our doggie Babette.
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
13 Nov 2025
How the Invasion Influenced “Star Wars”: Hollywood Fiction Meets War
In today’s episode, top Hollywood screenwriter Beau Willimon — whose credits include House of Cards, Severance, and Andor — and award-winning filmmaker Noaz Deshe tell the story of how they rushed to Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion with no clear plan of what they would find — and, in Willimon’s case, without permission from his employer — but managed to produce a captivating new film that “penetrates the veneer of private life” during wartime.
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
29 Oct 2025
From Flowers to FPVs: Kseniia’s War Workshop
In this episode, Tim fights his way through a forgotten corner of Soviet-style bureaucracy — and Kseniia Kalmus talks about her transformation from Kyiv florist to drone engineer, and how she created a community of foreign and Ukrainian volunteers working together to build some of the military’s most important weapons.
She shares how fundraising became a daily part of life for every Ukrainian, what it costs to produce an FPV drone, and why this new wave of citizen innovation may be Ukraine’s strongest weapon yet.
Klyn Drones: https://klyn.io/
Pub Quiz information: https://www.instagram.com/klyn.drones/
Support our podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
15 Oct 2025
Bookmaking Under Fire: Kyiv’s Book Revival in Wartime
In today’s episode, Tania gets a puppy — and Nastya Leonova shares the story of IST Publishing, which has become one of Ukraine’s top producers of beautiful hardcover photo and culture books, despite rockets, blackouts, and paper shortages. We also talk about how, even as missiles fall, new bookshops are opening in Kyiv, the growing demand for Ukrainian-language books, and how people are clearing out their shelves of Russian ones.
Ist Publishing: https://istpublishing.org/
Keep the horses running: https://www.patreon.com/c/DontPushTheHorses
2 Oct 2025
A Filmmaker Who Flows Like Water: Anton Shtuka on Documenting Ukraine’s War
Before the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian filmmaker Anton Shtuka made his name directing music videos for some of the country’s biggest stars, including Aliona-Aliona and Kalush. But when Russia launched its all-out war, Shtuka wasn’t sure how to contribute - until he picked up his camera and began documenting the reality in front of him. Since then, he has completed three feature films that capture both the chaos and resilience of Ukraine at war.
In this episode, Anton reflects on how the war has transformed his work and identity as a filmmaker, why he “flows like water”. We also talk about where audiences can watch contemporary Ukrainian films, and share recommendations for must-see titles that reveal Ukraine’s culture, struggle, and endurance.
Anton's film: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/feb/23/the-year-that-never-ended-how-a-ukrainian-comedian-rebuilt-a-strangers-house-documentary
Discover Ukrainian Movies: https://takflix.com/en
24 Sept 2025
How Embroidered Shirts Became Cool Again: Maria Kvitka on Ukrainian Folklore, Museums, and Identity
Tanya celebrates a birthday, and Tim gets schooled on Ukrainian birthday traditions. Then, badass folklorist and musician Maria Kvitka explains what’s wrong with Ukrainian museums, what it took to make traditional embroidered shirts cool, and why some young Ukrainians are still afraid to stop speaking Russian.
Support our podcast and ask your question: https://www.patreon.com/cw/DontPushTheHorses
Listen Maria Kvitka on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1MLjlPth93Nev2qM1vYcq6?si=A3gr5wCDSFOSbXL2yoUCmg (https://open.spotify.com/artist/1MLjlPth93Nev2qM1vYcq6?si=A3gr5wCDSFOSbXL2yoUCmg)
17 Sept 2025
Maslov Comes Home: How the Full-Scale Invasion Changed Kyiv, Photography and Us
In our inaugural episode, Ukrainian-American photographer Sasha Maslov recounts his chaotic return to Kyiv in the first days of the full-scale invasion, and how the war transformed his approach to photography.
We also reflect on how the invasion began for each of us: the shock of that first day, the changes that swept through Ukraine - and Kyiv in particular - as the war unfolded, and the strange logistics of traveling into a country with no planes in the sky. Along the way, we explore what it means to live and even party under curfew, in a city learning how to exist in wartime.
Support our podcast and ask your question: https://www.patreon.com/cw/DontPushTheHorses
More about Sasha Maslov: https://sashamaslov.com/
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