Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of Ukrainian Railways, with members of his management team.  Photo by Alan Chin.

Photographer Alan Chin was on the show over a year ago talking about the siege of the U.S. Capitol. He’s now recently returned from covering the war in Ukraine—taking photos and writing stories for Insider, an online business magazine. I gave him a few days to settle after he got home to New York City, and then I called him to find out what it was like over there.

Link to Alan’s series for Insider.

Olena Yaryna and Oleksandr Zhuravel take cover inside the Vrubivskiy Lyceum school building (Luhansk) as incoming shellfire struck the area. At least eight impacts striking within a mile could be heard over the next several minutes, and Yaryna and her staff took cover inside the school building away from the windows. Photo by Alan Chin.

At the Turboatom factory (Kharkiv), which manufactures turbines for steam, hydroelectric, and nuclear power stations in dozens of countries, enormous machines manipulate heavy metal into gleaming blades and rotors. Deputy General Director of Production Sergei Paciuk admitted that war has been bad for business. Photo by Alan Chin.

With 800 artists and staff, the Lysenko State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is the biggest in Ukraine and the second biggest in Europe after Munich’s in Germany. When I arrived, I found the performers about to perform this season’s first performance of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Photo by Alan Chin.

Aleksandra Guzovskaya, a recent design graduate working as an artist’s assistant at the Afanasiev State Academic Puppet Theater. Photo by Alan Chin.

At the Cathedral of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a landmark 18th century structure that was heavily damaged during the Second World War and restored afterwards, the basement crypt has been turned into an air raid shelter. Photo by Alan Chin.

Maria Lukashevych, 21, is the youngest employee at the Novoiavorivsk post office. She’s making a stop to deliver cash pensions and groceries. Photo by Alan Chin.

Internally displaced Ukrainians who fled Russian bombardment built a fire for warmth at the Lviv train station while waiting for ongoing travel. Photo b Alan Chin.

Passenger wagons are loaded to at least twice their normal capacity. This Thursday, March 10, a train bound for Przemysl was loaded at twice its normal capacity, with over a hundred passengers in each wagon. Travelers stood or sat on every inch of floor space. The passengers were mostly women, children, and seniors, because of Ukraine’s wartime policy prohibiting men considered of military age (18 – 60) from leaving the country. Photo by Alan Chin.

I’m going to take a break for a few months, or at least until the pandemic is over. Thank you very much for your support. This podcast has been the best thing in my life, professionally, and I couldn’t have done it without you. I hope to be back soon with more stories.

The moment the police line breaks. West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

Many Trump supporters I spoke with before the election said there would be violence after the election, and now here we are. I missed last Wednesday’s insurrection, but my friend photo-journalist Alan Chin was there. So I called him.

You may remember Alan from a previous episode. I met him in 2001 in Afghanistan. We worked together there and he went on to cover the war in Iraq. He’s covered a lot of war zones. His photos are published in the New York Times and Newsweek. I’ve always been amazed by his spot-on verbal descriptions and accounts, his command of history, and his confidence in the role of photo-journalism.

This is a very good report of what it was like at the U.S. Capitol last week.

All photos by Alan Chin.

Trump in Dalton, Gerogia, January 4th, 2021, railing against fictitious election fraud and ostensibly supporting Kelly Loeffler’s Senate campaign.

At the Trump rally in Dalton Georgia, January 4th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

Virginia State Police using tear gas to clear the West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

The Yellowstone River, Montana.

Following the river was a good idea, especially across the Great Plains, because it’s really easy to get lost out there. The view is the same in all directions—rolling hills of dry grass that resemble giant waves on the open ocean. It seemed I would never find my way across them. I was lost at sea. But the river knows where it’s going, downhill to the sea, and it has cottonwood trees and green meadows along its shore. Animals and birds live along the river. People come to hang out and fish. Following the river kept me sane and grounded.

The music is from Neil Young’s soundtrack to “Deadman,” a film by Jim Jarmusch. I highly recommend it.

On the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota.

Gabe Romo, Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota.

South Dakota

Back in the beginning of September, two months before the election, I set out on a trip driving across the country talking to people about the candidates and the issues. I collected a lot of interviews and I think now is the time to play them, at length.

Most of the interviews are with Trump supporters and some of the things they say may trigger you. You don’t have to listen. You may feel the time for listening is over.

This is the first of three parts.

The music is from Neil Young’s soundtrack to “Deadman,” a film by Jim Jarmusch. I highly recommend it.

South Pass, Wyoming

Atlantic City, Wyoming

Arthur “Junior” Hernandez

Don Metzger

Kansas City, Missouri, September 20, 2020. I came upon this man who was unconscious but still breathing. I called 9/11 and an ambulance came. He was able to get up on the stretcher by himself. I think he’ll be ok.

I went to New Orleans but didn’t interview anyone because I thought things were getting too sketchy with the spreading virus. So I drove home. And I’m sort of beat. It was an exhausting trip. But I recorded a lot of good interviews, maybe the best ever. Thanks very much for supporting this series.

Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, September 26, 2020. I asked them, “What’s up?” One said, “We’re just standing by.”

Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, Missouri.

I’ve been driving around talking to people in the Mississippi Delta, small towns like Clarksdale, Sumner, Greenwood, and Elaine. I heard a lot of stories that I should have known already. People were very friendly.

The Mississippi near Mayersville.

Near Onward, Mississippi.

The courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where the men who killed Emmett Till in 1955 were found not guilty. That’s a monument to the Confederate Soldier.

The Missouri River meets the Mississippi River a few miles north of St. Louis. The river is like a half mile wide at this point with tug boats pushing long barges to oil refineries and railroad shipping yards. I was in St. Louis the first couple days after the Breonna Taylor decision came down in Louisville. I went to Ferguson where Michael Brown was killed by police in 2014 and no charges were brought. But it was difficult to find people who would talk to me.

After following the Missouri across the low plains, I have come to a better understanding of Trump supporters.

Monument in Fort Yates, North Dakota.

I’m following the Missouri River now, heading south down through the Dakotas. I stopped at Standing Rock and talked to some people about the protest four years ago.

Along the river/reservoir at Standing Rock.

I’ve been following some roads through deeply red voting districts in Wyoming and Montana. I thought I would not enjoy talking to Trump supporters, but I was wrong.

The Yellowstone River near the confluence with the Bighorn River in Montana.