Best Ildar Daminov Podcasts (2024)

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Episode 50 – Why does this podcast have to come to an end? (at least, for now) 4:14

3y ago4:14

4:14

All things have to come to an end, and it applies to this podcast in its current format too. Thank you for staying tuned for more than 50 episodes! In this last episode I talk about why it has to end and what my future plans are. Spoiler: Once I have more time, I will do my best to rebrand, reformat, and continue this podcast in mid-2022. To use a …

1
Episode 49 – What is the role of military in North Korea? 10:44

3y ago10:44

10:44

In this episode, I would like to talk about the Korean People’s Army or KPA – the military of North Korea, which is also the armed wing of the ruling party. Specifically, today we will look at the current structure, role, and significance of the North Korean army.

1
Episode 48 – Why are the North Korean-Japanese relations as bad as it can get? 14:09

3y ago14:09

14:09

Today’s episode talks about the complicated historical framework of the North Korean-Japanese relations – including the two biggest conflict points that both countries have had. In that light, I also discuss their contemporary problems including history interpretation and mutual negative perception.

1
Episode 47 – How to release North Korean music covers? (Interview with Justin Martell) 36:29

3y ago36:29

36:29

Today’s episode is unusually musical. Our guest today is Justin Martell, an American producer, and a co-founder of Ship to Shore PhonoCo record label. Justin Martell in 2017 also founded YPT’s partner, Pioneer Media, offering production services across a wide variety of unique locations from Asia to Eastern Europe. He has worked extensively in the …

1
Episode 46 – What does North Korea export to the outside world? 10:09

3y ago10:09

10:09

This episode will not be very analytical, but the topic that I will cover provides some important context for the previous episodes and your understanding of the North Korean socio-economic system and its place in the global trade streams. Today I will talk a bit more about North Korean exports – what the country focuses on in its production and ex…

1
Episode 45 – What happens if Kim Jong-un dies? 12:33

3y ago12:33

12:33

The notorious leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has disappeared several times from the public eye in the course of 2020 and 2021, with both experts and media watchers wondering whether the North Korean leader is suffering from some sort of systemic health issue that could potentially be fatal. But what actually happens if Kim Jong-un dies? What w…

1
Episode 44 – Why will North Korea remain under quarantine for longer than just 2021? 8:53

3y ago8:53

8:53

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, North Korea had a reputation as one of the most if not the most isolated societies on Earth. It was as if North Korea was already living under the conditions of a permanent COVID-19 lockdown. Indeed, it was hard to imagine that the hermit nation could get any more reclusive than it had already been. Yet with C…

1
Episode 43 – How does North Korea make money illegally? 15:39

3y ago15:39

15:39

Quite some time ago I’ve received a couple of suggestions to cover the question of how North Korea earns money illicitly. Since this is a massive topic, it took me a while to figure out what kind of episode I want to make while answering the question. Hence, today, I will try to respond to this question by focusing on the main areas of North Korean…

1
The Podcast’s Participation in Annual Podcast Awards: Your Vote is Needed! 1:35

3y ago1:35

1:35

Hello everyone! So, I am coming to you today with another announcement/request. As some of you might have seen, I have recently registered for the annual Podcast Awards competition in the category 'News & Politics'. I would be very grateful, if you could use 2 minutes of your time and support my podcast with your vote as a listener. Your help would…

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Episode 42 — What is it like to be an organizer of tours to North Korea? 19:39

3y ago19:39

19:39

Today’s podcast episode is an interview with an organizer of North Korea tours. Nicolas Platt is a travel guide, who works with the Young Pioneers’ Tours, one of the most renown DPRK tour organizers internationally. The YPT website describes Nic as a “North Korea wunderkind and tour guide par extraordinaire. Whilst he’s not touring you may usually …

1
Episode 41 – What is North Korea’s diplomatic standing in the developing world? 14:06

3y ago14:06

14:06

Back in the Cold War days, North Korea was one of the key players in the non-aligned movement or the so-called Third World. Pyongyang used to position itself as a leader of the opposition to international imperialism and even tried to project its juche ideology on other countries. However, now the country is largely seen as an international pariah …

1
Episode 40 – What are North Korean cartoons? 10:33

3y ago10:33

10:33

North Korean animation is not really renowned world-wide, but you might have seen some of its products without even realizing it. Indeed, its quality can be surprisingly good! For example, North Korean animators drew some of the scenes in “The Lion King”, one of Disney’s biggest bestsellers. On the other hand, it is also responsible for producing e…

1
Episode 39 – Did COVID-19 reach Pyongyang: What is North Korea’s ‘grave coronavirus incident’? 9:41

3y ago9:41

9:41

It was quite a sudden bit of news when Kim Jong-un, speaking at a high-level Party meeting at the end of June of 2021, warned of “grave consequences” as a result of senior officials neglecting the country’s COVID-19 prevention measures. This statement caused a lot of interest and controversy in the international mass-media with North Korea experts …

1
Episode 38 – Why did the Workers’ Party of Korea change its rulebook and why does it matter? 12:34

3y ago12:34

12:34

Today I am discussing one of the most important recent political developments in North Korea. Specifically, I will talk about the revisions to the rules of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). They were made public and resurfaced on the professional DPRK watchdog websites only a couple of weeks ago, despite the fact that officially the WPK Congress, …

1
Season 2 Finale – Podcast Updates, Book Lottery, and June Hiatus 3:47

3y ago3:47

3:47

Today I am coming to you with some updates on the podcast, several messages, and a book lottery announcement. Want to get a copy of Kim Jong-un’s biography? Just spread the word about the podcast.

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Episode 37 – Why did Joe Biden and Moon Jae-in meet and what does it mean for North Korea? 14:35

3y ago14:35

14:35

Today I would like to do some news coverage from the past week. If some of you have been following the news on North Korea, South Korea, or the United States, you most likely know that a major meeting between the US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in took place on May 21. Why did they meet in the first place, why does it mat…

1
Episode 36 – What are the challenges and joys of studying North Korea? 12:13

3y ago12:13

12:13

After having produced quite a number of podcast episodes, I wanted to reflect a little bit exactly on the subject of my exploits – North Korean studies. Thus, in this episode, I will be doing what I do best – complaining. Specifically, I would like to tell you about all the issues that North Korea watchers like me have to face in their research. Pe…

1
Episode 35 – What is the history of football in the North Korea? 12:22

3y ago12:22

12:22

There are not that many things that both North and South Korea have in common. Yet football is one of them. Given the love of the game in both countries, football can also be a powerful diplomatic tool in inter-Korean relations as well as a gate for North Koreans to the outside world. In today’s episode, I will talk about the history and peculiarit…

1
Episode 34 – How bad is the human rights situation in the DPRK and how did it get there? 18:41

3y ago18:41

18:41

While the human rights problem in North Korea is rather well-documented and well-studied, in this episode I wanted to provide you with a quick introduction on the topic; suggest some follow-up readings; and, most importantly, reflect on how the situation became so bad in the first place. After all, the human rights situation in that country is a go…

1
Episode 33 – What is the geopolitical dimension of the Russia-North Korea relations? 18:30

3y ago18:30

18:30

Moscow is often seen, similar to Beijing, as one of the key allies of the North Korean regime. Yet politics and history of the Russia-North Korea relations have vacillated from strategic importance to complete indifference – and the pendulum would swing back and forth every other decade. The Korean Peninsula, which lies as the Eastern-most border w…

1
Episode 32 – What is it like to travel to North Korea? (Part 2) 19:00

3y ago19:00

19:00

Today we continue with discussing the impressions of the people, who travelled to North Korea back in the pre-COVID era. In this episode, Mr. Vitaly Konovalov, who went to the DPRK in 2009 for professional purposes, shares his experiences of staying in that reclusive authoritarian state and draws parallels between the North Korea of 2009 and Brezhn…

1
Episode 31 – Why is the number of North Korean refugees dwindling? 17:49

3y ago17:49

17:49

People fleeing from North Korea are not a new phenomenon. Since the division of Korea after the end of the Korean War, citizens of the DPRK have fled from their country for not only political or ideological, but also economic and personal reasons. So, the area from which my question stems is quite well-studied – there have been hundreds of intervie…

1
Episode 30 – What is it like to travel to North Korea? (Part 1) 48:47

3y ago48:47

48:47

For quite some time I have been meaning to talk about how people travel to North Korea – not for diplomatic or political purposes, but just as ordinary tourists or business people. Even though I could have recorded a more or less standard episode in my attempt to answer that questions, I thought that perhaps there could be a more interesting way of…

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Episode 29 – Who is Kim Yo-jong and what is her role in North Korea? 13:48

3y ago13:48

13:48

Kim Yo-jong is another member of the Kim dynasty, who has recently been attracting a lot of attention on international social media platforms. Being Kim Jong-un’s sister, she is seen as one of the key members of the narrowest circle of top North Korean elites with many media speculating about her being Kim Jong-un’s potential successor. But how did…

1
Episode 28 – Why are Sino-North Korean relations not as good as they seem? 20:43

3+ y ago20:43

20:43

When browsing some Western media outlets, you might encounter a misplaced stereotype about North Korea being a Chinese puppet. Others argue that these two countries are very close allies, recalling how Mao Zedong called the relationship as close as ‘lips and teeth’. However, the reality is that Sino-North Korean relations have never been particular…

1
Episode 27 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 5: Weddings) 12:23

3+ y ago12:23

12:23

In North Korea, your wedding is not just your moment – but also a ritual demonstrating your filial piety both to your family and to the state. So how do North Korean weddings look like? How do families prepare for them? What are the main wedding traditions? Are they similar to the South Korean ones? I talk about these questions in today’s episode.…

1
Episode 26 – Why are foreigners fleeing from the North Korean COVID lockdown and why does it matter? 11:58

3+ y ago11:58

11:58

Living in a lockdown is never easy, but it is especially hard when you are stuck as a foreign citizen in North Korea. The numbers of international expats, who live and work in North Korea usually as a part of some foreign missions or international humanitarian organizations, have never been high to begin with. With the start of the COVID-19 pandemi…

1
Episode 25 – Have there been any coup attempts in North Korea? 11:50

3+ y ago11:50

11:50

Palace or military coups is something that you often witness in a variety of different autocracies – ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe; from one-party authoritarian regimes to personalistic dictatorships. However, you probably have never heard about one happening in North Korea. Have there been any coup attempts in the DPRK? Were they successful…

1
Episode 24 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 4: Entertainment industry) 12:38

3+ y ago12:38

12:38

Leisure is an essential part of humans’ daily lives – wherever we are, we try to carve out some free time for our hobbies ranging from watching TV-series to going on mountain climbing expeditions. After all, working all the time is physically and mentally impossible. Thus, even in the most authoritarian of countries, both the state and the people h…

1
Episode 23 – Who is Kim Jong-un and how is he shaping North Korea? 28:07

3+ y ago28:07

28:07

Kim Jong-un is one of the most well-known leaders in contemporary world politics, who gets a lot of press – and a lot of very bad press. Despite that fact, very little is actually known about him as a person and, especially, about his early years of political career before becoming the leader of North Korea. While he is often seen by many Westerner…

1
Episode 22 – Who was Kim Jong-il and how did he shape North Korea? 26:07

3+ y ago26:07

26:07

Kim Jong-il, the second ruler of the DPRK, transformed North Korea in many ways – willingly or not. During the years of his rule, North Korea became a semi-capitalist isolated society in possession of nuclear weapons, a country that would not leave the front pages of international mass-media outlets. An incompetent leader but a talented diplomat, K…

1
Episode 21 – Who was Kim Il-sung and how did he shape North Korea? 26:04

3+ y ago26:04

26:04

Kim Il-sung is, perhaps, a name that you do not hear all that much these days, if you are not a North Korea watcher. What you might hear way more often is the name of his grandson, Kim Jong-un, who is the current head of the North Korean state. However, it was Kim Il-sung, who shaped North Korea as we know it today – as the most controlled society …

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Season 1 – Hiatus Announcement (20.03-03.04) 2:31

3+ y ago2:31

2:31

As season one is approaching an end, in this brief announcement I outline what episodes will be coming next after a break of two weeks. I also ask for your help with promoting the podcast online - do not worry, it won’t take too much effort :)

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Episode 20 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 3: Organizational Life & Surveillance) 12:37

3+ y ago12:37

12:37

One of the key pillars of the long-lasting North Korean authoritarianism is a highly complex system of mass-surveillance. Spying on your own citizens is something that is characteristic of many authoritarian regimes, but Pyongyang has certainly outperformed all of its undemocratic counterparts in this field. Some researchers even argue that the Nor…

1
Episode 19 – Could North Korea really be an investment opportunity? 13:50

3+ y ago13:50

13:50

North Korea has been rightfully regarded by many economists as one the most least likely places to attract foreign investors. Poor infrastructure, chaotic and very toxic politics, as well as a regime of harsh international sanctions do not necessarily contribute to the country’s economic image. Despite all that, there are still some adventurous cap…

1
Episode 18 – Why is the North Korean regime so stable? 19:23

3+ y ago19:23

19:23

North Korea is known to the world as one of the most authoritarian nations. Despite the regular predictions of collapse coming from Western political scientists, the Kim dynasty succeeded in creating a political system that outlived all communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe; a system that survived one of the biggest famines in modern hist…

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Episode 17 – Is starvation still a problem in North Korea? 18:46

3+ y ago18:46

18:46

One of the most commonly used cliches about North Korea is that it is a destitute, starving country, where people are literally dropping dead from hunger in the streets. In the late 1990s, the DPRK experienced a major economic shock, which brought about one of the worst famines in modern human history. But are North Koreans still starving today? Th…

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Episode 16 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 2: Celebrations & Religion) 18:39

3+ y ago18:39

18:39

One often wonders whether people lead their daily lives in the same manner even in the most totalitarian regime on earth. This series of episodes deals with various aspects of daily life in North Korea – ranging from individual interactions and work to education and cooking. This episode looks into such topics as traditions, celebrations, and relig…

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Blitz Episode 3 – Bullet-Proof Trains, Revolutionary Badges, and Names of Korea 13:54

3+ y ago13:54

13:54

In my blitz episodes, I combine different smaller questions that do not require as much elaboration as some broader topics that I normally discuss. Today I will be talking about why Korea has so many different names and why North Korean leaders are obsessed with travelling by train. And I will also unveil the mysterious meaning of the Kim-family-ba…

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Episode 15 – Why do some North Koreans struggle with their lives in the South? 20:25

3+ y ago20:25

20:25

Many North Koreans embark on dangerous adventures to escape from their country – some of them flee for political reasons, but most for economic ones. Their motivation to move to South Korea is understandable – who would not want to live in a country that is thirty times richer than yours and offers greater political freedoms? North Koreans fleeing …

1
Episode 14 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 1: University, Work, Spending) 19:36

3+ y ago19:36

19:36

One often wonders whether people lead their daily lives in the same manner even in the most totalitarian regime on earth. This series of episodes will be dealing with various aspects of daily life in North Korea – ranging from individual interactions and work to education and cooking. Today’s episode looks into university education, daily life at w…

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Episode 13 – Why is North Korea undergoing a major drug crisis? 13:42

3+ y ago13:42

13:42

The North Korean government’s reputation has for a long time been marred by many illicit activities with drug trafficking being only one of those. The diplomats from Pyongyang were particularly notorious in the 1990s and early 2000s for misusing their diplomatic privileges to smuggle in drugs into other countries. But did you actually know that unr…

1
Episode 12 – How could the European Union play a greater role in the Korean peace process? 19:54

3+ y ago19:54

19:54

As the European Union is trying to geopolitically establish itself in East Asia, which has become the heart of the world’s rapid economic development in recent years, it faces numerous issues in its attempts to assert its strategic sovereignty. There are many challenges in the region – ranging from Chinese foreign policy to local territorial disput…

1
Episode 11 – Who are the Americans living in North Korea? 13:10

3+ y ago13:10

13:10

The American diaspora is scattered all around the globe, but did you know that there are Americans, who also settled down in North Korea? The thought might seem ridiculous, considering how bad the hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang are. Yet there really are some Americans, who did end up there – either because they were forced to or on th…

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Blitz Episode 2 – Illegal Choco Pie Trade, Ice Hockey, and Kim Jong-un’s Haircut 12:53

3+ y ago12:53

12:53

In blitz episodes, I combine different smaller questions that do not require as much elaboration as some broad topics that I normally discuss – like nuclear weapons or economic development. Today I will be talking about how Choco Pies became a black market currency in North Korea; about the situation with ice hockey; and Kim Jong-un-style haircuts.…

1
Episode 10 – Is North Korean culture only a means of propaganda? 19:49

3+ y ago19:49

19:49

North Koreans have pop-culture? You can’t be serious! Many Westerners see culture of the DPRK as a kitschy throwback to the Stalinist era and a mere tool of Pyongyang’s crazy propaganda. Is there more to North Korean culture than that? In today’s episode I will be talking about how culture and art are used in North Korea; what cultural developments…

1
Episode 9 – Why is corruption both a blessing and a curse for North Korea? 12:03

3+ y ago12:03

12:03

While internationally corruption is always seen as a major problem that most governments and societies are desperately trying to combat, in North Korea it has become somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Why is that so? How has it become the foundation of North Korean capitalism and state-society interactions? What will its consequences be for the co…

1
Episode 8 – Why is Korean reunification almost impossible? 17:32

3+ y ago17:32

17:32

Korean reunification is officially proclaimed to be a major policy goal both in the North and the South. However, the country has remained divided for more than 70 years. Why? Do both parties really want to reunify? What do their neighbors think? In this episode I will be talking about Korean reunification and why it is going to be almost impossibl…

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Episode 7 – What is it like to be gay in North Korea? 8:30

3+ y ago8:30

8:30

Today we will be looking into a question that is not so often raised in discussions about North Korea – but it is, nonetheless, extremely important and interesting. What is it like – being gay in North Korea? While there is not much that we hear about the LGBTQ community in the DPRK, it does not mean that these people do not exist. In fact, their l…

1
What do Republicans, DPRK, Multilateralism, and Nuclear Weapons have anything to do with each other? 29:01

3+ y ago29:01

29:01

In this episode Prof. Dmitry Ivanovich Pobedash and I are talking about how the U.S. domestic politics can have a broader impact on not only all things North Korean, but the international security system and broad issues of denuclearization around the world. Prof. Dmitry Pobedash is an Associate Professor at the Ural Federal University in Yekaterin…

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