Interview Transcripts

On the Burning Archive I have interviewed some leading historians and public intellectuals from around the world.

Now for paid subscribers I am putting together a page with full transcripts of these interviews so they can be read apart from the ever-passing parade of videos on YouTube.

Thanks to

for prompting me to take this initiative.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, (Soviet Union/Russia)

You can watch the video here.

Sheila Fitzpatrick's brilliant new 100-page history, The Death of Stalin is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/4e2CvkH.

Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick is her generation’s leading English-language historian of the Soviet Union. Her work has transformed the study of Soviet history, in particular scholarship on the Russian revolution and the Stalin years.

The full edited transcript of the Sheila Fitzpatrick Interview (14 June 2025) is available for paid subscribers here.

Marie Favereau, (Mongols, Horde & Eurasia)

You can watch the video here How the Mongols changed the world | Interview | Marie Favereau, historian

The full edited transcript is available for paid subscribers in this post.

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, (World History)

You can watch the video here, Unveiling Global Narratives: A Historian's Perspective | Felipe Fernández-Armesto.

Transcript coming soon.

Michael Carley (Soviet Union and International Politics)

You can watch the video here Is Stalin to BLAME for WW2? The true story from the Soviet Archives | Prof Michael J. Carley

Michael Pembroke (China)

You can watch the video here For 2000 years China's trade changed the world with silk, silver, tea & porcelain. Then came OPIUM.

Marta Havryshko (Ukraine, Far-Right & Holocaust)

You can watch the video here, How Far Right Fanatics Ruined Ukraine | Historian Tells the Story the West Hides | Marta Havryshko

Transcript coming.

Sophie Loy-Wilson, (Australia-China Relations)

You can watch the video here, Can Australia and China rewrite their shared Asian history? | Historian Sophie Loy-Wilson

Transcript coming.

Samantha Rose Hill, (Arendt and Benjamin)

You can watch the video here, Hannah Arendt’s Vision of Freedom | Walter Benjamin's Poetry of History (with Samantha Rose Hill).

Transcript coming.

Warwick Powell, (Australia-China Relations)

You can watch the video here, How Australia, China & Asia can live together in a multipolar world with Warwick Powell

Transcript coming.

Linda Jaivin (China)

You can watch the video here, What REALLY happened in China's Cultural Revolution? Why did Mao Bombard the Headquarters!?

Transcript coming.

Richard Sakwa (Russia)

You can watch the video here, How to build lasting peace by avoiding a Second Cold War | Richard Sakwa Interview

Transcript coming.

Hannah Forsyth (Professions)

You can watch the video here, The history of the professions (Interview with historian, Hannah Forsyth).

Transcript coming.

Glenn Diesen (Eurasia & World Order)

You can watch the video here, Peace After NATO: Glenn Diesen on Ukraine, Eurasia, Australia, and the Danger of Alliances

Transcript coming.

KJ Noh (Korea)

I have done two historically focussed shows with KJ. You can watch these videos here,

Transcripts coming