NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS

Eduard Limonov: Soviet Forrest Gump 11.06.2026 1t 36min

The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS are back — our first video podcast from our undisclosed bunker location. We discuss Eduard Limonov as the Soviet Forrest Gump who was somehow able to in the right place in the right time to experience the entire spectrum of international boomer existence. Unlike Gump, he wrote about his experiences and was able to synthesize them into political insight and wisdom.We also discuss the failed Limonov biopic — Limonov: The Ballad — which came out a few years ago.==Don’t forget to buy tickets to our SOVIET COLLAPSE CINEMA SERIES in Brooklyn. First screening is on Sunday, June 28th.==BYPASS THE SANCTIONS IN YOUR HEAD. SUBSCRIBE TO NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS.Want to know more?* Listen to our other eps about Limonov. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Individualism keeps males submissive and exploited 05.06.2026 1t 13min

We use the occasion of Andrew Tate getting an invite to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to discuss the big psyop that’s been waged on gender relations in America. Liberal lean-in feminism is pushed on women; alpha predator men’s rights is pushed on men — all while keeping everyone trapped in an individualistic society where you have no one to depend on except yourself. To quote from our NEFARIOUS RUSSIAN MINDSET MANUAL FOR SURVIVAL, in which we use ancient Soviet wisdom to help Americans survive and thrive during decline (on sale this Sunday at the KGB Bar): “Under individualism, males are exploited…Men in America will not be liberated with Men’s Rights individualism. True male liberation will only come with collectivism.”Take a listen. And… Come to our event: KGB Bar: Red Room. June 7th at 7PM.We’ll have a special edition how-to manual available for sale: Use ancient Soviet wisdom to help yourself thrive during decline.Want to know more? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Putin conquers Hollywood 23.05.2026

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comThe NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss Wizard of the Kremlin, a new film about Putin’s rise to power, where Jude Law plays Putin. Yeah, Jude Law. While formally it’s a pretty bad film that feels like an illustrated wikipedia article, we were still surprised by it. Because, for a mainstream film, it offered a fairly honest and factual portrayal of the preconditions to Putin’s rise to power and why his reestablishment of the power vertical in Russia was popular. We didn’t expect much and it exceeded our (low) expectations on that front. This is maybe the first western film about the Soviets/ Russians that shows them not as caricatures but with a bit of humanity and respect. This feels like a seismic shift — Did Putin conquer Hollywood or does reality increasingly have a pro-Putin bias?

PROGRESS PROPAGANDA 15.05.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comI talk to Samuel Miller McDonald about his new book on the history of the idea of progress and how this idea has been used to justify parasitic super-stratified societies that have been denuding and killing our world, going back into antiquity. Pretty much everyone believes in the notion of progress these days. It’s safe to say that progress is a sort of religious belief that unifies all ideologies, even capitalism and communism. And that’s the problem.Check out the book Samuel wrote: Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It. It’s a really wonderful book. I’d go straight to the first chapter.—YashaI’m doing these weekly Vampire Valley streams about technology as part of my research for the Vampire Valley doc series I’m working on. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to the Vampire Valley doc project, you will automatically get an annual sub.

Assassins & Precogs 14.05.2026 56min

The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS return to discuss their favorite topics: fame, movies, morality of media, power, cults, collapse, similarities between the Soviet Union and the United States… We also discuss Evgenia’s ongoing precog abilities: she sensed that there would be a White House correspondents’ dinner shooting the morning before it happened and talked about it.Due to technical issues (aka sabotage), the episode cuts off mid-sentence. We apologize and promise to hold those responsible (Yasha) accountable.—NFWe’ll be doing a NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS LIVE event at the KGB Bar in June. Look out for an announcement soon. And, as always, support Vampire Valley if you can! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Silicon Valley's war on children 09.05.2026 4min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this Vamp Valley stream, I speak to Josh Golin about how commercialization and consumerist brainwashing of children, already dominant in American society before the internet, has been very consciously turbocharged by the tech overlords that mediate our reality. We discuss problems facing children in the age of the internet: alienation, bullying, sexual harassment, addiction, self-hate, suicide, destruction of critical thinking — all them being knowingly inflicted on kids just to keep them on these platforms as long as possible, wasting their lives and destroying their minds in the name of better ad metrics and rank consumerism. We also talk about attempts to regulate social media, the power of the tech lobby, and the baffling attempt of “left-prog” influencer Taylor Lorenz to protect vampiric mind control monopolies from even the tiniest bit of democratic control.I’m doing these streams to talk to people about the tech that’s destroying our minds and destroying our world — as part of my research for a doc series I’m working on, Vampire Valley. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to Vampire Valley, you will automatically get an annual sub.Josh Golin is an Executive Director at Fairplay. They’re great. Check them out here.

REVOLT AGAINST AI/Joe Costello 02.05.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comToday I chat with Joe Costello about the backlash to data centers and why he thinks this national grassroots movement just might be the very first time Americans are engaging in politics in many, many decades. Joe recently published a great book — The Politics of Ape and Machine. Also check out his newsletter: Life in the 21st Century.I’m making a doc series about the internet called Vampire Valley. The first ep will look at data centers. It should be out closer to May. If you want to help fund this film, give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com.Joe’s been on the show a few times before. Check him here:

Chatting about movies, liberalism, and American collapse 07.04.2026 1min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comMarried with podcast, we catch up on some topics dear to our hearts. Among things discussed: Evgenia’s films, the ghettoization of feminist (and minority) filmmaking in a liberal society, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kathryn Bigelow, Sophia Coppola…Then we move on to discussing the saga of the Feiyue sneaker and how it illustrates the rise of China and American/European collapse and hubris. It all ties together. Trust us. Have a great week. Pray with us that Trump does not nuke the world. Praying is all we got left. 🙏

GETTING DRONED 06.04.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this vamp valley stream, I had Peter Korotaev on to talk about drones and war. Drones, which I see as very much related to the internet, have made big leaps in battlefield adoption in the last few years: first in the Russian-Ukraine war and now in the Israeli-American war on Iran.The United States pioneered drone technology. In fact, as I mentioned on the stream, the same ARPA program that funded the internet was at the same time funding research into drone technology for use in the Vietnam War…a small helicopter operated by a remote control so big it barely fit on an Army jeep. But even though the U.S. security state has been pumping money into drone technology for more than half a century, it hadn’t explored the use of drone technology to its fullest potential yet. It’s been up to peripheral states like Ukraine and Iran (and also Israel) to take drone warfare to the next level. And what’s happening on the periphery of the empire is going to be coming home soon…there is no doubt about it. Drone tech is just too easy to use, too effective…like smartphones. It makes me think of Philip K. Dick’s wonderful novella, Second Variety, which is about autonomous robotic weapons that were designed to kill people…until they ran out of people and started fighting each other. I’m pretty sure Second Variety inspired Terminator, even though it was never credited.Anyway, Peter writes the great Events in Ukraine newsletter. I highly recommend reading his stuff. He’s a funny writer and covers the subject with the respect and black humor that it requires.See you next week! I’m doing these streams every week, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too. Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

The Politics of Ape and Machine w/Joe Costello 21.03.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m publishing a talk that Evgenia and I did with Joe Costello about his wonderful new book, The Politics of Ape and Machine.We’re in the middle of another industrial power grab. We talked to Joe to make sense of the situation. We talked about AI, the parasitic internet, industrialization’s destruction of democracy, the politics of technology, what it means to be monkeys who think they’re in control of the known universe… Joe thinks that the AI boom we’re in potentially offers a historic opportunity to transcend our entrenched, stagnant politics: the much-promised automation and the reality of computerized crapification of broad sectors of society and further centralized control will make mass reorganization of politics not just a possibility but a necessity — an opportunity that hasn’t been seen in many generations. Will people rise to the challenge? How would you bet?This talk took place on November 23, 2025 in Manhattan at the KGB Bar. This is the first time it is being published on this pacification tech we call the internet.For those who don’t know, Joe Costello has been on our podcast many times and I’ve republished his work before. He’s worked in politics all of his life and he’s one of the most clear thinkers and writers today on politics and on the meaning of democracy in our age of terminal industrialization. Buy his book! And check out his newsletter: Life In the 21st Century.—Yasha***I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too.Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.

INFORMATION IS PACIFICATION W/DANIEL BESSNER 14.03.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m joined by Daniel Bessner to talk about how our politics are in the grips of a powerful decadent rationalist illusion: it’s the idea that information is power. But as Daniel points out, despite having all the information regular people have no effect on politics. We know everything, but can’t change anything. It is a longterm problem in nominally democratic US (and Europe) that has been massively exacerbated by internet technology. We’re wrapped up in the Spectacle, confusing the consumption of nonstop political content with politics. You could say that we’re whistleblowing on our own profession, trying to make people understand that information is not a magic spell — just knowing things about the world won’t miraculously lead to change.—YashaSome essays that inform our conversation:* End of Mass Politics and Empire’s Critic and Democracy in Exile by Daniel Bessner* Gaza and the Death of “Information Is Power,” Information is not power, Influencerism is the highest form of capitalist realism by me.

WE'RE ALL TRAPPED IN THE VAMPIRE CASTLE 06.03.2026 3min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this week’s vamp valley stream, I talked to C. Derick Varn about the backstory of Mark Fisher’s controversial (at the time) and influential “Exiting the Vampire Castle” essay and why it still matters today.I wrote about Fisher’s essay last summer as part of my attempt to understand the way hyper-connected communication technology is affecting our world — and how structural forces built into internet technology have worked to pacify people and have foreclosed on the possibility of any sort of politics by turning everything into entertainment...a virtual cage match of endless culture wars where everyone is constantly pitted against each other in an endless fight that involves constantly evolving identity politics, fringe causes, peripheral issues, and perceived slights.Derick was one of the editors who worked with Mark Fisher to publish the essay in the now-defunct The North Star online magazine. He’s also a sharp critic of the influencer economy and the effect of technology on culture and politics. Check out Derick’s show on YouTube or the podcast version of the show.Thanks…and see you next week!Yasha***I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against the Vampire Castle from within the Vampire Castle. All live streams will be available to the public but some recorded streams will only available to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too! Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com

Pistachio Wars and Doom and Gloom 03.03.2026

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comRowan and I were at UC Santa Barbara last month presenting Pistachio Wars. We had a wonderful Q&A after the screening, which you can see below. Subscribers can listen to it on our usual podcast feed and read a cleaned up transcript below. Thank you to Rich Farell and everyone at Carsey-Wolf Center for having us out and being such gracious hosts. Sorry for being such a doomer. But desperate times and all that… Of course watch Pistachio Wars if you haven’t already. —Yasha Rowan and I were at UC Santa Barbara last month presenting Pistachio Wars. We had a wonderful Q&A after the screening, which you can see below. Subscribers can listen to it on our usual podcast feed and read a cleaned up transcript below.Thank you to Rich Farell and everyone at Carsey-Wolf Center for having us out and being such gracious hosts. Sorry for being such a doomer. But desperate times and all that… Of course watch Pistachio Wars if you haven’t already.—YashaRICH FARRELL: Okay. My name is Rich Farrell. I’m a graduate student in the Film and Media Studies Department, and I’m pleased to be joined by the filmmakers of Pistachio Wars, Yasha Levine and Rowan WERNHAM. So a round of applause for you.YASHA LEVINE: Thank you.RICH FARRELL: So I just wanted to start the Q&A with some background and beginnings. First to you, Yasha. At the beginning of the film, you say that the story started with a piece that you wrote, “A Journey Through Oligarch Valley,” in 2013, which was published in Not Safe for Work magazine online. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how you came to work on that story, and then how you decided to adapt this into a documentary?YASHA LEVINE: Well, I’ll try to keep it brief. Thank you. Thank you everyone for coming.I had been out of the country and started my journalism career reporting out in Russia, and I kind of missed the whole real estate bubble, the speculative boom that happened here, and the collapse that happened in 2007, 2008. I had been abroad watching it from afar. And when I came back to America, I was really curious about what it was all about. So I moved to LA and I was casting about for the best example of a speculative city that embodied the speculative boom.I kind of toured California and chose Victorville -- a little suburb in the Mojave Desert, halfway between L.A. and Las Vegas -- because I really wanted to understand the kind of society, the kind of civilization that this boom created. Like what remained when Wall Street crashed and had to be bailed out…

PLATFORMS WANT TO INGEST AND DESTROY 28.02.2026 1t 45min

For this anti-vamp stream from my newly established NY basement studio, I’m joined by Mike Pepi, author of Against Platforms. We talk about the failed utopian promises of the internet and how the tech platforms that now dominate our world are concentrators of power and destroyers of all other forms of organization that came before them. This monopolization/destruction isn’t an aberration or a corruption but is built into the very nature of this technology.Mike opens his book by talking about an Apple ad that came out a few years ago that illustrates this Borg-like monopolize/destroy drive. I’m embedding it below because Apple had scrubbed this ad from the internet, following a backlash.Compare this Apple ad……to the Borg. Who is more honest? Help me make my Vampire Valley doc series. Give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com.Buy Mike’s book today! Help me make my Vampire Valley doc series. Give here. Or if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, write us at vampires@yashalevine.com. If you give $100 or more, you will automatically get an annual sub! A two-for-one deal! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Requiem for Nikolai Komyagin 27.02.2026 2min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comEvgenia pays tribute to Nikolai Komyagin, the frontman of the Russian cult band Shortparis. He died recently — tragically and unexpectedly ay 39.As Evgenia explains, he was a true poet — and a total artist. With his music and videos, he did something that no one else had done yet. He captured on a pure emotional level the feeling of Russia with its failed utopian past and its violent present and all the ideals and the people that got ground up and spit in the two revolutions — the Bolshevik one and the Market Bolshevik one it had in less than a century. Ironically, the last big thing Shortparis made was the soundtrack to Limonov’s biopic, Limonov: The Ballad.—IBWR PS: Evgenia recently wrote about Limonov’s prophetic view of Russian politics.PPS: The song in the intro/outro is Apple Orchard (Яблонный сад).

WE ARE ALL LUDDITES NOW 19.02.2026 5min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comFor this anti-vamp stream from my newly established basement studio, I’m joined by internet by Brian Merchant, author of the wonderful book Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. It’s a book about the rise and fall of the Luddites, a decentralized 19th movement of English textile workers against factories and the centralization of power. We talk about the history and politics of the Luddite movement and how the conditions they faced are not that different from what we all face today. Eventually, the Luddite insurgency was crushed by a military force larger than the one England sent to fight Napoleon, which was happening at the same time. The history of this rebellion was erased, the state and its factory owners won, and the term “luddite” became synonymous with ignorance and laziness — any opposition to tech was branded as crazy and stupid. At the same time the Luddites were a huge cultural power, inspiring the Romantic movement and launching the sci-fi genre with works like Frankenstein. Of course, in the end, the Luddites were right. We’re all Luddites now, whether we realize it or not. Watch and/or listen…and buy Brian’s book! Yasha * * *I’ll be talking to people about the internet and the tech that’s destroying our minds and destroying our world — as part of my research for Vampire Valley. Live streams are available to the public but recorded streams are only available to subscribers. Reminder: If you give $100 or more to Vampire Valley, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you want to give a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com

Exiting the Slop Shop 17.02.2026 1t 15min

We record this on President’s Day to talk about the slop machine we all now inhabit and how all internet culture is an abusive psyop meant to keep us tethered and addicted and pacified. Everyone knows this. But few of us can escape.Sam Kriss, slop merchant to the overly educated, makes an appearance in our talk. We also discuss how America’s ruling class hasn’t just psyoped the masses with this feedback loop tech — they’ve pysoped themselves, too. They’re just as confused and powerless as the rest of us. Everyone is looking for a strong leader type that hasn’t fallen victim to this feedback loop psyop — which is maybe why Xi has so many fans out there.***Help Yasha’s crusade against the internet vampires that feed on us. Make a contribution (including a tax deductible one) to Vampire Valley today!*** This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Jeffrey Epstein, American Exceptionalism, and a lesson from Russia 12.02.2026 3min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comWe talk about how the Jeffrey Epstein scandal/spectacle fits into the larger context of American decline and collapse. And Evgenia explains how normalized all the Epstein revelations are to someone like her who grew up in 1990s Russia — a collapsed society that ran (and still does) on “Epstein ethics” and where living an Epstein-lite life became democratized and within reach of many men.Among topics addressed: how Epstein is not some demonic force but a function of a massively unequal society with extremely bored and overfed elites, how social context creates sociopathy and breeds objectification, Alexei Yurchak and Hypernormalization, Mark Ames’s “The Life and Murder of Anna Loginova”, Fellini’s Satyricon, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut…and more.Subscribe to listen! Want to know more? Without realizing it, we did two Christmas Special episodes on Jeffrey Epstein — one in 2021 and in 2025. Christmas Special: Ghost of Epstein and Epstein Christmas Special ft. Vampire Valley… See how our views changed over the years.

New Year's Eve Banya Session 04.01.2026 1t 22min

We recorded most of this from inside a banya on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco as a rainstorm raged outside. We had to pause several times because the heat was making us woozy, but we persevered and held it together. As promised we are now releasing the ep…Among the topics discussed: influencerism, Olivia Nuzzi and Yasha’s stories about briefly working with her at the start of her career, the cultural emptiness of artificial intelligence, Luddites, the growing importance of controlling distribution channels as filmmaking technology gets cheaper and cheaper, August Lamm and the limitations of the anti-tech flip phone movement…and a lot more. You also get to enjoy authentic sounds of the banya: moans and grunts, water hissing at it hits hot rocks, complaints and bickering. Have a great 2026! С лёгким паром!If you are in the Bay Area, come out to our event tomorrow in SF: INTERNET JUNKIE ANONYMOUS! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nefariousrussians.com/subscribe

Epstein Christmas Special ft. Vampire Valley 25.12.2025 4min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.comWe dial in on Christmas Day from sleeping gas San Francisco to talk about the two-day power outage (caused by Yasha psi powers), CIA mind control, the Luddites, Trump’s holiday Epstein file dump, Eyes Wide Shut and Kubrick, Russia, Marquis de Sade…Happy Holidays! DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY AND LOVED ONES INSTEAD.PS: We’ll be holding a live event in SF on Jan 4 to talk about Vampire Valley, the internet as a pacification project, and the spectacle that’s grinding us all down. More info coming soon! And, as always, contribute to Yasha’s film. He can’t make it without your help!