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GP maybe found one nit to pick too vigorously. However, their first point of asking to conduct the interview in Russian is such a big deal to me that I’ll proba

GP maybe found one nit to pick too vigorously. However, their first point of asking to conduct the interview in Russian is such a big deal to me that I’ll probably not be listening to Lex anymore. Either it was a completely tone-deaf request from someone excited to practice his rusty Russian, or it was a political play to help frame Zelensky as unreasonable. Neither are good looks. I’m reminded of an interview William Buckley gave Malcolm X in which the first question was “but what is your real name?” Its a request he knew 100% would be denied, doesn’t pertain to any important issues, and frames his interviewee as uncooperative from the first question. Now I’m not saying Lex has any responsibility to give Zelensky softball questions. On the other hand he is just some schmuck* in a suit interviewing the commander in chief of a country at war and asking if they could use the language of their aggressors. I don’t like it * ok maybe I’m biased against lex a little already…

throw_pm23 2y ago
Isn't Russian the native language of Zelensky as well? You may be reading too much into it.
- dismalaf 2y ago
  Because of the war, speaking Russian has become political. Many Ukrainians who spoke Russian as their first language now refuse to ever speak it, at least publicly. It is an odd request though considering Zelenskyy speaks very good English and Lex normally does all his podcasts in English.
  - kiney 2y ago
    he did the interview with Milei in english/spanish mixed too
    - dismalaf 2y ago
      Because Milei didn't want to use English. Which is fine. He could have done the Zelenskyy interview in English/Ukrainian. That would have been normal. Again, the Russian language is very politically charged in Ukraine right now, for obvious reasons. Which is why Zelenskyy doesn't typically use it in public despite it being his native tongue...
      - kiney 2y ago
        it was just a reply to the "Lex normally does all his podcasts in English." part.
- DiggyJohnson 2y ago
  Without diving into the lumpers versus splitters politics too much, how familiar are you with the similarities between Russian and Ukrainian?
tim333 2y ago
>excited to practice his rusty Russian He's a native Russian speaker who grew up in Moscow. Zelensky is also a native Russian speaker.
DiggyJohnson 2y ago
Why is it weird that two native Russian speakers would use their native tongue instead of English?

throw_pm23 2y ago

Isn't Russian the native language of Zelensky as well? You may be reading too much into it.

dismalaf 2y ago
Because of the war, speaking Russian has become political. Many Ukrainians who spoke Russian as their first language now refuse to ever speak it, at least publicly. It is an odd request though considering Zelenskyy speaks very good English and Lex normally does all his podcasts in English.
- kiney 2y ago
  he did the interview with Milei in english/spanish mixed too
  - dismalaf 2y ago
    Because Milei didn't want to use English. Which is fine. He could have done the Zelenskyy interview in English/Ukrainian. That would have been normal. Again, the Russian language is very politically charged in Ukraine right now, for obvious reasons. Which is why Zelenskyy doesn't typically use it in public despite it being his native tongue...
    - kiney 2y ago
      it was just a reply to the "Lex normally does all his podcasts in English." part.
DiggyJohnson 2y ago
Without diving into the lumpers versus splitters politics too much, how familiar are you with the similarities between Russian and Ukrainian?

tim333 2y ago

>excited to practice his rusty Russian He's a native Russian speaker who grew up in Moscow. Zelensky is also a native Russian speaker.

DiggyJohnson 2y ago

Why is it weird that two native Russian speakers would use their native tongue instead of English?