Episode Four: Why We Laugh

Ukrainians love to laugh. We laugh when we’re grieving, when there’s danger, in the darkness, and in the face of war. Ukrainian humour is self-deprecating, very dry, and dark. This proclivity for dark humour is not new, but it’s been front and centre since the terrorist state next door invaded Ukraine in 2022. We are the people who told a russian warship to go fuck itself, and then immortalized that exchange on an official postage stamp. We are the people who hook up busted russian tanks to our tractors and haul they away for scraps. We are the people whose бабуся brought down a drone with a jar of pickled tomatoes. Our ability to laugh is a survival strategy. We laugh because we know it’s all so absurd, and that acknowledgment keeps us upright. We laugh because if the only option was crying, we’d never, ever stop.The connection between laughter and crying – between humour and grief – is front and centre in Maria Reva’s 2025 novel, Endling. Maria’s darkly comic novel tells the story of three angry Ukrainian women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail. Oh, and it takes place before and during the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Endling exemplifies the Ukrainian propensity for dark humour, while also portraying the endless grief of this endless war. It’s a wildly entertaining and cathartic read, but don’t just take our word for it: it was recently nominated for the Booker Prize.In this contemplative and yes, funny, conversation, Maria Reva – who is proud to be on russia’s sanction list, and rightly so! – reflects on writing and sharing stories during this war, the connection between grief and humour, and why we as Ukrainians are the way that we are. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the Ukrainian Roots Podcast site.