Kelly O’Neill

Dr. Kelly O’Neill, a Harvard historian and author of Claiming Crimea, dives into the life of Catherine the Great, a formidable figure who seized power and expanded Russia’s territory. She discusses Catherine's strategic marriages and military conquests, which extended Russia's influence to the Black Sea and beyond. O’Neill highlights Catherine's ambitions, including her dream to reclaim Constantinople. The conversation also touches on the complexities of her rule as a woman in power and how her legacy still resonates in today's geopolitics.