Podcast on Russia-Ukraine war reveals perspectives of Russian activists

Central Michigan University student, Calvin Older has received the 2025 President’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishments. Older was nominated by two of his professors, Christi Brooks Ph.D. and Prakash Adhikari Ph.D. 

Older was inspired to take on a research project with Brooks after studying Russian in the country of Georgia. During his stay, he heard about the experiences of multiple Russians who decided to relocate. These stories piqued his curiosity to find a political activist/journalist to interview, providing even more sources to contact. 

Older interviewed Russian political activists who fled their home country due to the Russia-Ukraine war and turned his conversations into a 48-minute podcast episode called Troika.  

“The main challenge of creating the podcast was compiling and arranging the interviews in a compressible format," Older said. He also had to provide context to his interviewees’ statements through narration.  

Older's motivation was to clear up misconceptions. “I started working on the podcast in 2023, there was a lot of misinformation on what Russians thought of the war,” Older said. The goal of the project was to have natives explain what citizens think and feel to an American audience. Older hopes that his audience will find his work educational. 

Brooks and Older are planning to submit his work to NPR next year, but first they have to boil the original 48-minute recording into a 15-minute episode.