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Podcast: History Unplugged Podcast
Episode: What it Was Like Living Through the USSR’s Collapse
Description: The Collapse of the Soviet Union was twice as devastating as the Great Depression for those who lived there. It immediately led to widespread economic chaos and a breakdown of public services, plunging millions into a difficult period where mere survival was the priority. As one Russian described, after hyperinflation wiped out their family's savings, "my parents still had the same 50,000 rubles... But by then, all they could afford to buy with it was a pair of winter boots for my mother." There was optimism that democracy could emerge, but thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, the...