A Discussion of State-Sanctioned Misogyny and Sofi Oksanen's Book “Same River, Twice” Artwork

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❗️🇪🇪 below❗️(ENG) Hello and welcome to EstoCast, a podcast presented by Estonian Museum Canada/VEMU, Estonian Music Week and Eesti Elu/Estonian Life newspaper. In each episode of Estocast, join us as we delve into another dimension of Estonian culture in Canada, Estonia, and elsewhere. Through discussions of books, music, art, history, science, and more, we discover what it is to be Estonian and what Estonian people have to offer the broader world. // (EST) Tere tulemast kuulama taskuhäälingut EstoCast, mida teevad ühisel jõul Väliseesti Muuseum/VEMU, Estonian Music Week ja ajaleht Eesti Elu/Estonian Life Torontos. Pakume eesti- ja ingliskeelset kuulamist kõigile, kel on tahtmist süveneda eesti kultuuri rikkusesse ja selle erinevatesse tahkudesse siin Kanadas, Eestis või mujal maailmas. Arutelud kirjanduse, muusika, kunsti, ajaloo, teaduse jm teemadel aitavad meil mõista, mida tähendab olla eestlane ja mida on eestlastel maailmale pakkuda.

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EstoCast

A Discussion of State-Sanctioned Misogyny and Sofi Oksanen's Book “Same River, Twice”

March 25, 2026 • VEMU, EMW & Estonian Life • Season 4 • Episode 87

0:00 | 1:03:55

In the newest episode of EstoCast, we’re steering away from the usual format to share a literary discussion. The text in question is Sofi Oksanen’s book Same River, Twice: Putin’s War on Women – A Feminist Investigation of Sexual Violence, Genocide, and Threats to Democracy

Helping us understand this topic better are two guests: Professor Kate Holland and Dr. Kadri Tüür, both of whom teach at the University of Toronto.

During the course of the episode, we hear about:

🖊️how gender equality is a necessary component of democracy

🖊️the decriminalization of domestic violence in Russia and the Istanbul Convention

🖊️the historic “amnesia points” that enabled the war in Ukraine to happen

🖊️and much more

Things mentioned in this episode include:

-Sofi Oksanen: https://sofioksanen.com/

-Sofi Oksanen’s book “Same River, Twice”: https://www.amazon.ca/Same-River-Twice-Putins-Women/dp/0063435446

-about the Bucha massacre: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/marking-third-anniversary-liberation-bucha-ukraine_en

-the decriminalization of domestic violence in Russia: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/07/putin-approves-change-to-law-decriminalising-domestic-violence

-“Purge” by Sofi Oksanen: https://www.amazon.ca/Purge-Sofi-Oksanen/dp/0802170773

-Interlitteraria’s latest issue, which is dedicated to trauma and healing. Sofi Oksanen is mentioned in the editor's preface: https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/IL/

-“Trauma and Life-Writing” by Leena Kurvet-Käosaar: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351025225-28/trauma-life-writing-leena-kurvet-käosaar

- “‘Other things happened to women': World war two, violence, and national identity…”, an article by Leena Kurvet-Käosaar: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01629770300000111

-Ukrainian author Oksana Zabuzhko: http://zabuzhko.com/en/biography/index.html

-the Istanbul Convention: https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/about-the-convention

-about the debate regarding the Istanbul Convention in the Estonian Parliament: https://www.riigikogu.ee/en/sitting-reviews/the-riigikogu-did-not-support-the-vote-of-no-confidence-in-minister-of-regional-affairs-hendrik-johannes-terras/

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