History is not about dates.
It’s about people.

Their choices, their fears, their Fate.
Radio Manakova is a project where we explore the past to better understand the present.

Because history is not a list of victories — it’s a question: how did we live through it? And how do we live with it now?
© Photographer - G.N. Malinovsky. MBU "Dolgoprudny Historical and Art Museum"
Svetlana Manakova
About the author
Historian / Lawyer / Genealogy Specialist
A researcher of family and collective memory.
A historian and lawyer with over 15 years of archival work across the Europe, Israeli and US.

Host of podcasts and author of all courses at Radio Manakova.
Author and voice behind all project content
Speaker on educational platforms and media
15+ years in archival practice
Family history is not about dates. It’s about people.
Their fears. Their choices.
Their attempts to understand what it means — to keep going.
We talk about this honestly — so we don’t forget and don’t hide behind myths.
Why we do this
Memory is work
Not just remembering — but making sense.
Not echoing others — but thinking for yourself.
Not agreeing to a fairytale — if you know its cost.
Understanding is freedom
To explain how we got here —
to ourselves and to others.
To stop passing on distortions.
To choose truth — even when it’s frightening.
IT is aBOUT A person
Not a march. Not a timeline.
But a real person — who once
was scared, was silent, made a choice, got it wrong.
And stood where we are now.
We don’t need to convince anyone
It’s enough to listen to what our listeners say
Svetlana, thank you very much for the courses!!! I am going through this path with great interest, I bought books from recommendations, watched films. To be honest, I cried at several lectures. Some things are very hard to accept, some things become a discovery for me… I stopped arguing with people, stopped proving things.
Svetlana, thank you for the courses and knowledge that you share! I’ve been reading you for over a year now and thanks to you I’m hooked on history) Studying it has become interesting and exciting. A lot of what you say resonates and worries me, so I want to change at least myself. It’s just some kind of psychotherapy through family search ❤️
When you hold two pieces of paper from your great-grandmother in your hands: a birth certificate. And you understand that between them there was only hellish physical labor, children, everyday life, routine and everything — you want to get up and live so that something else remains after you, so that life is interesting, joyful, happy, despite all the difficulties.
I have taken all your courses, Svetlana. Your courses have opened a new chapter in my life, so many unknown pages from my parents' lives have become clear to me. Thank you for the vector that you have shown me. Thank you for the truth, which at first shocked me, then sobered me up, and most importantly, thank you for the vector. Happiness to you!!!
Since I took the course on ancestors, I feel more confident. I have a large family. I know everyone. I began to understand some of my character traits or motives for my actions that previously seemed inexplicable. And, of course, I feel proud: wow, how much I found 😊
Svetlana! You have changed my attitude! If before it was interesting to find out who was there "before" us, now, after your course, I am looking not only for my own, but also for my friends' ancestors, not just for their full names, but for their family history. You have involved me with this love for forgotten ancestors, for the lives of all people. You have taught me to see the unobvious, to look into the essence.
Yes, I am shocked… how did they survive… I am generally shocked by their hard fate and the tough challenges they faced. The rose-colored glasses are lying on the shelf, gathering dust. Sometimes it is so sickening that I want to put them on again…
Hello! The first thing that came to mind was that I stopped idealizing “that time” and my ancestors. I loved old films about collective farms, construction sites, etc. Now, after your posts, courses, and after I began to learn at least a little about the lives of my grandparents, it’s as if my rose-colored glasses were taken off.
Good day. I learned the truth, learned the real history of my family and opened my eyes to the present! Now I figured out why. Thank you and good health, that's one of the most important things in my life! Wish you and your project team a grand success!
The houses around and the pages of textbooks became more alive, faces, things — everything acquired the plane of a process, reality became four-dimensional and at the same time much more understandable and exciting.
I took your courses 🤲 and I can't stop. This is the best thing that happened to me. I like the presentation of information, links to sources — everything is very clear and understandable! The best contribution to my education. Thank you very much!
Svetlana. Thank you for the knowledge and truth that you gave in your courses. I am glad that I once subscribed to you, it all started with the search for ancestors, my eyes were opened, and I really fell in love with history!!!
Svetlana, thank you very much for the courses!!! I am going through this path with great interest, I bought books from recommendations, watched films. To be honest, I cried at several lectures. Some things are very hard to accept, some things become a discovery for me… I stopped arguing with people, stopped proving things.
Svetlana, thank you for the courses and knowledge that you share! I’ve been reading you for over a year now and thanks to you I’m hooked on history) Studying it has become interesting and exciting. A lot of what you say resonates and worries me, so I want to change at least myself. It’s just some kind of psychotherapy through family search ❤️
When you hold two pieces of paper from your great-grandmother in your hands: a birth certificate. And you understand that between them there was only hellish physical labor, children, everyday life, routine and everything — you want to get up and live so that something else remains after you, so that life is interesting, joyful, happy, despite all the difficulties.
I have taken all your courses, Svetlana. Your courses have opened a new chapter in my life, so many unknown pages from my parents' lives have become clear to me. Thank you for the vector that you have shown me. Thank you for the truth, which at first shocked me, then sobered me up, and most importantly, thank you for the vector. Happiness to you!!!
Since I took the course on ancestors, I feel more confident. I have a large family. I know everyone. I began to understand some of my character traits or motives for my actions that previously seemed inexplicable. And, of course, I feel proud: wow, how much I found 😊
Svetlana! You have changed my attitude! If before it was interesting to find out who was there "before" us, now, after your course, I am looking not only for my own, but also for my friends' ancestors, not just for their full names, but for their family history. You have involved me with this love for forgotten ancestors, for the lives of all people. You have taught me to see the unobvious, to look into the essence.
Yes, I am shocked… how did they survive… I am generally shocked by their hard fate and the tough challenges they faced. The rose-colored glasses are lying on the shelf, gathering dust. Sometimes it is so sickening that I want to put them on again…
Hello! The first thing that came to mind was that I stopped idealizing “that time” and my ancestors. I loved old films about collective farms, construction sites, etc. Now, after your posts, courses, and after I began to learn at least a little about the lives of my grandparents, it’s as if my rose-colored glasses were taken off.
Good day. I learned the truth, learned the real history of my family and opened my eyes to the present! Now I figured out why. Thank you and good health, that's one of the most important things in my life! Wish you and your project team a grand success!
The houses around and the pages of textbooks became more alive, faces, things — everything acquired the plane of a process, reality became four-dimensional and at the same time much more understandable and exciting.
I took your courses 🤲 and I can't stop. This is the best thing that happened to me. I like the presentation of information, links to sources — everything is very clear and understandable! The best contribution to my education. Thank you very much!
Svetlana. Thank you for the knowledge and truth that you gave in your courses. I am glad that I once subscribed to you, it all started with the search for ancestors, my eyes were opened, and I really fell in love with history!!!
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