From the icy plains of Siberia to the opulent halls of the Winter Palace, the Russian Empire shaped the destiny of Eurasia for over three centuries. Join Lucas and Luna as they unravel the epic saga of the Romanov dynasty—from Peter the Great’s westernizing reforms and the founding of St. Petersburg to Catherine the Great’s expansionist ambitions and the brutal serfdom that fueled a nation. Explore the Decembrist revolt, the Crimean War’s humbling defeat, the rise of revolutionary thought with figures like Lenin and Trotsky, and the catastrophic collapse under Nicholas II during World War I. This show dives into the complexities of imperial power: the Russification policies that stoked nationalist fires, the Trans-Siberian Railway’s connective ambition, the pogroms and Jewish Pale of Settlement, the cultural flowering of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and the fissures that led to the February and October Revolutions. Why does the Russian Empire still haunt us? Through debates on autocracy, modernization, and memory, Lucas and Luna dissect a legacy that echoes in today’s geopolitics. No simple narratives—just a sprawling, intimate look at an empire that consumed itself.
