Why is Putin invading Ukraine anyway?
Mōrena lil shits!!
Ok so I’m obv not gonna spoil anything but that FINALE OF EUPHORIA THO?? Holy fuck season two has been amazing (and you should listen to our podcast all about it to hear why.) We hosted a lil watch party at our place on a projector just to really make the most of our last hour of joy - what the hell am I gonna watch now? Actually, I’ve started watching Ye’s documentary ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ coz we’re gonna do a cheeky little series on him, and I’ve been told I need to watch ‘Severance.’ So no need to answer that rhetorical question above.
I do wanna mention the absolute outpouring of love I received on yesterdays newsy. Do you know what a wonderful feeling it is to see how hungry you all are for the way we give the news? It’s literally the only thing that keeps my cup full while I’m in the depths of dictionary.com trying to make it all make sense! It’s an odd thing to feel fulfilled during times like these, but you all do it for me. And especially my absolute angel paying subscribers who also really see the value in paying for the media you love (and in this case, directly paying the person you love!!! If you love me... that is a bold assumption for me to make.) If you wanna join the party and get a lil star by your name (makes sense - you are superstars after all) you can chuck me $5 a month here. Or! If you want to do a one-off donation of more or less than that, you can do it here! I love you!
If u love me plz support me 🥺 — www.getrevue.co
Subscribe to this newsletter for $5 a month because u love meeeeee (and coz you'll get bonus book lists and other fun stuff!)
In today’s newsletter:
Today's lesson from Luce: Why is Putin invading Ukraine anyway?
An update on the current sitch
I finished reading To Paradise so you don’t have to
Who won at the SAG awards?
Can anyone buy a vending machine?
✨ PS!! I've had a few people reaching out wanting to advertise in the newsy - if you or the organisation you work for is interested in renting some space here, hit us up (or just reply to this email!) ✨
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Explained
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Explained - The Shit Show — open.spotify.com
Everything you've been wondering about what's going on in Russia/Ukraine right now, in words you ACTUALLY understand.
Your daily lesson from Luce 👩🏫
So yesterday I gave you a brief update on what’s happening in Ukraine and introduced to you Putin and Zelenskyy, our main characters. I also told you that in a bid to not overwhelm you, because I love you, I would be breaking up your education on the topic over a few days.
Today, let’s really dive into why Putin wants to invade Ukraine:
Long story short - Putin wants back the power, influence and land that he thinks is rightfully his.
Long story longish - NATO dramas.
So after the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO - which is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation… AKA a group of member countries that come together to guarantee collective freedom and security of its members - started expanding eastward. It’s important to note that NATO was formed in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to specifically provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
Here’s how NATO provide help to their member states:
POLITICAL - NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
MILITARY - NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO's founding treaty - Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.
So anyway, after the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO ended up taking in most of the European nations that had been in the Communist sphere - the Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, once parts of the Soviet Union, joined NATO, as did Poland, Romania and others.
As a result, NATO moved hundreds of miles closer to Moscow, directly bordering Russia - which Putin HATED. What he hated even more though, was in 2008, when NATO stated that it planned to someday enrol Ukraine, putting NATO as close as you could get to Russia.
Why does Putin hate this? Well - NATO was formed to protect members against the Soviet Union, for one. Second, Putin actually reckons that Ukraine and his other old Soviet Union buddies have been robbed from him and that both Ukraine and Belarus are parts of Russia, both culturally and historically (and I should note, he does hold considerable sway over Belarus.)
So anyway, to prep for NATO moving closer, Putin has spent his 22 years in power rebuilding Russia’s military and reasserting its geopolitical clout.
2014
In 2014, there were mass protests in Ukraine, when they forced out a president closely allied with Putin (we know that Putin loves a president who is simply a puppet, right?) So what did Russia do? They invaded and annexed Crimea, part of Ukraine. A pro-Russian separatist rebellion also took control of part of the Eastern regions of Ukraine, in a war that still grinds on, having killed more than 13,000 people (this was also where the current Ukrainian invasion started.)
December 2021
A helpful bit of context is that Russia actually presented NATO and the United States with a set of written demands last December that it said were needed to ensure its security. The biggest demand was a guarantee that Ukraine would never join NATO.
Another bit of context that I can’t really leave out is the timing of all of this. We all know that Putin and Trump were… not buddies… but Putin defs knew he could count on/ manipulate Trump a bit - and Trump was also not the biggest NATO fan - so Putin was chilling when he was in office. But now, Biden’s there, and Biden is waaay more committed to NATO and waaaay more distrustful of the Kremlin, so Putin, naturally, is less into him.
In sum, Putin wants to wind back the clock to establish a broad, Russian-dominated security zone, and get back the power Moscow wielded in Soviet days. And he’s scared of NATO, obv.
And now, an update on the situation:
Here’s your daily summary from the BBC:
Negotiators for Kyiv and Moscow have held talks in Belarus in a bid to end the conflict
Russia says both sides have agreed to continue talking and will meet again "in the next
few days"
Before the meeting, Ukraine's President Zelensky urged Russian troops to lay down their weapons and called for immediate EU membership
A rare emergency session of the UN General Assembly has begun with a demand from the secretary general for an immediate ceasefire
Russia has doubled its interest rate to 20% as its currency plunges and experts warn of a possible run on banks
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, a Ukrainian official says
The UN says more than half a million refugees have now fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries
And here’s the latest from The Kyiv Independent:
Everything We Thought About Euphoria Was Wrong
Everything We Thought About Euphoria Was Wrong - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
Listen to us unpack ALL the rumours and criticisms surrounding Season 2 of Euphoria and its creator Sam Levinson. Are we holding Euphoria to an extremely high standard because we were so obsessed with Season 1????? Are these facts to back up the intense TikTok slamming??? Do we wait with bated breath for every new episode anyway???
The winners of the SAG awards:
Lots of Squid Game, some Ted Lasso, some Succession and some King Richard! We love to see it! I'm gonna put them all here to save you a click (winners in bold):
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
No Time to Die
Black Widow
Dune
The Matrix Resurrections
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
Squid Game
Cobra Kai
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Loki
Mare of Easttown
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar
Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Jared Leto, House of Gucci
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Caitríona Balfe, Belfast
Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Ruth Negga, Passing
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Elle Fanning, The Great
Sandra Oh, The Chair
Jean Smart, Hacks
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Great
Hacks
The Kominsky Method
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage
Michael Keaton, Dopesick
Ewan McGregor, Halston
Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha
Margaret Qualley, Maid
Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Lee Jung-Jae, Squid Game
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game
Elizabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sarah Snook, Succession
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Morning Show
Squid Game
Succession
Yellowstone
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci
Jennifer Hudson, Respect
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick … Boom!
Will Smith, King Richard
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
House of Gucci
King Richard
Times are tough. Here’s Tom Holland with some puppies
Can anyone buy vending machines?
In lieu of a proper mundane poll yesterday (sorry!) I saw a TikTok of a girl who bought her own vending machine, filled it with her own stuff, and started making money from it. Now I’m despo to know: can anyone buy their own vending machine? And fill it with anything???? Because I’d kinda be into that.
If you have any info/ any stories about people you know who’ve bought/ filled their own vending machines (the weirder the better) or just about whether someone can legally do this themselves, please let me know!!!
And yes... I know I could just Google this but I want you to tell me instead.
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Explained (The Shit Show)
Everything We Thought About Euphoria Was Wrong (Culture Vulture)
Key takeaways from the IPCC report on climate impacts and adaptation (Reuters)
A Timeline of Euphoria Obsession and Sam Levinson Hatred (Vulture)
GET A 14 DAY FREE TRIAL TO WATCH EUPHORIA OR YELLOWJACKETS! (Neon)
You can listen to us talk about all things pop culture on Culture Vulture, about THE WORLD on The Shit Show or watch us explain the internet on Extremely Online.
If you liked this PLEASE send it to your mates and get them to subscribe.
You can support us by becoming a paid member for $5!
Or, if you want to do a one-off donation, you can ‘shout us a coffee’ here.
And if you’re a brand that wants to work with us, hit us up.
LOVE YOU THE MOST, LUCE XX
