Ohayo 🎧 Why Eastern Europe is suddenly cool

Think of an unpopular area of your city, a place from funny memes, a small unremarkable village and put it on the banner of your globally-focused initiative. Is it bold or stupid? Does it attract or put off followers?

I was (and still am to a degree) afraid of holding an unpopular banner that may not sound appealing or even accepted by the broader audience.

Lera doesn’t care. She just believes in her values and trusts her gut.

It is funny, how we both had to live in different countries on all sides and travel the world to fall in love with our roots and culture. I consider my move a pandemic-inspired downshifting. Lera believes she belongs here.

It is a swamp, but it is our swamp, as a wise green orc once pointed out. And we’re proud to be a part of it.

She edited out my geopolitical jokes from the podcast because they’re more sad than funny. But as I am writing these lines and watching the news, I am thinking that the global world I felt like I belonged to, now is falling back into region…