Beyond Berlin

Stories —big and small— that start in Berlin and look eastward, where Europe´s heart beats and its future unfolds. A blog, a podcast and a journey connecting past and present of our continent, as seen from Berlin and looking beyond, toward the East. Subscribe on beyondberlin.substack.com

Today's episode:

Sofi Oksanen's "Same River, Twice" and Victoria Amelina's "Looking at Women Looking at War." Two books, one message, three words: woman, war, justice.

What does justice look like in the middle of a war? And what does it mean to be a woman facing that war—documenting it, resisting it, surviving it?

In this episode, we follow the voices of two writers—Finnish writer and activist Sofi Oksanen and Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, killed by Russians in 2023—who were also PEN friends, and whose books speak to one another across borders.

From Soviet-occupied Estonia to Putin's Ukraine, from raped ancestors to defiant librarians, from family trauma to battlefield diaries—this is a journey through a war that doesn't only happen on the frontline, but inside homes, language, and memory.

We talk about sexual violence, imperial lies, and the myth of the Great Patriotic War. We talk about the silence of one woman, and the thousands who found their voices and took action. And we talk about justice—not only as a deserved verdict in international courtrooms, which we might wait a long time to see, but as an act of storytelling. Which is happening now.

Women. War. Justice.

📖 Books references

Same River, Twice: Putin's War on Women by Sofi Oksanen. Published in Finland in 2023. Translated into several languages between 2024 and 2025.

Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary by Victoria Amelina, published worldwide in 2025.

🎧 This episode and others are available on Substack at beyondberlin.substack.com, where Valentina Giannella shares stories in English, German, and Italian about Europe's past and present. Writing from Berlin, she turns her gaze eastward to where Europe's heart beats and its future takes shape.

📌 Subscribe for free at beyondberlin.substack.com to get all upcoming episodes and explore our other content—compelling stories from past and present, stunning photographs, plus diverse voices and book recommendations.

Music Credits

🎶 Intro/Outro music & podcast theme: “Happy Klezmer” by zec53

🎶 Musical Theme: 230 Days of Winter by Ukrainian musician Serge Pavkin (buy me a coffee)