The Empire Never Ended

Rey takes Arc 4 back to the Old Country, unraveling the complex tangle of nationalist militants, Young Bosnia nihilists, assassinations, and empires that lead to the rise of a proto-deep state in Serbia at the start of the 20th century. Did the Black Hand live on in the United States? Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Boris and Fritz recount the remarkably parallel lives of George Wuchinich and George Musulin; the former was an American Slav Congress member and champion of the Partisan cause and US socialism while the latter was a Chetnik-loving nationalist and career CIA anti-communist. Both were Yugoslav Americans from Western PA, both were among the first US paratroopers for the Office of Strategic Services in Yugoslavia, yet these were two very different Georges. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Boris guides TENE into the McCarthy era of anti-communist hysteria in the US, and its disastrous effects on the Yugoslav diaspora as it paves the way for nationalists and fascists to rise to prominence. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.  

TENE explores the life and career of Slovenian-American snitch, Matt Cvetic, by watching his absurdly fantastical biopic from 1951 titled, "I Was a Communist for the FBI". The boyzies dissect this genre-defining example of HUAC-era propaganda and compare it to Cvetic's actual (terrible) experiences. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Rey introduces saint and stench wizard, Nikolaj Velimirović, one of Serbian Orthodoxy's most important bishops and the gray eminence of Serbian Fascism. Once a government emissary beloved by Serbian liberals, he took a turn towards the fashy in the 1920s, catching the eye of Adolf Hitler, whom Velimirović compares to none other than Saint Sava himself. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

TENE unpacks the 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee report on the massive American Slav Congress of the 1940s which organized millions of Slavs in the US under a banner of socialist anti-fascist resistance. Despite being almost entirely unknown today, the ASC was a profoundly influential institution that the post-FDR US Government saw as one of its greatest threats. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Boris and Rey examine the activities of South Slavs in America during WW2, stretching from rifts in the Serbian community in response to Ustaša genocide to the success of the popular front in the form of the United Committee of South Slavic Americans and (failed) attempts to join the partisans in the old country. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

TENE examines the under-recognized 1940s horror film, Cat People, the story of a young Serbian immigrant working as a fashion designer in New York who is struggling with a dark secret. Her home village in Serbia suffers an evil curse whereby the women become terrifying werepanthers when their passions are aroused! A classic film with a very shaky handle on Serbian history and culture. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Boris rediscovers two forgotten stories from the history of Southern Slav working people in the United States: the Serbian Orthodox Church's struggle against its socialist congregation and the Soviet Union's frustrated attempt to bring America's Balkan proletariat into the party line. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.

Kemal joins TENE to discuss American folk hero, Joe Magarac, a Hunky literally made of steel. They contrast his heroic image against that of the industrial laborer as laid out both in tragic journals and whacky Tamburitzan sketch comedy c. 1930. Kemal also breaks down the controversy surrounding Liberty City folk-hero, Nico Bellic, of Grand Theft Auto fame. Subscribe to  patreon.org/tenepod and twitter.com/tenepod.