Is Ukraine’s Culture Worth Fighting For? With Charlotte Higgins

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has placed not only lives and cities under attack, but also the country’s language, history and culture. Museums have been looted, cultural sites destroyed and a generation of writers, artists and performers drawn into the war. Yet amid this devastation, art has become a powerful form of documentation, resistance and survival. In this episode, journalist and author Hannah Lucinda Smith speaks with Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins about her book Ukrainian Lessons: A Journey into the Art and Life of a Country at War and the reporting journeys that transformed her understanding of the relationship between culture and conflict. Charlotte reflects on arriving in Kyiv during a major missile attack, learning Ukrainian and meeting the artists determined to record their experiences in their own words. Why do writers turn to poetry in times of war? What makes people risk their lives to protect paintings, manuscripts and museum objects? And how can art restore meaning when violence has torn it apart? Charlotte also remembers the Ukrainian novelist and war crimes investigator Victoria Amelina, who was killed in a Russian missile strike in 2023, and explores what her life and unfinished work reveal about the human cost of the war. Charlotte Higgins is the chief culture writer at The Guardian and the author of Ukrainian Lessons: A Journey into the Art and Life of a Country at War. Hannah Lucinda Smith is a journalist and author whose reporting has taken her across Europe and the Middle East. Her latest book is Hinterlands: A Journey Through the New Europe. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices