Over the past few weeks, I’ve published the final version of Stop Stealing the Future: Chronicles of the Ukrainian Resistance here on Substack in its entirety.
What began as a three-week journey across Ukraine became a much larger project: dozens of conversations, thousands of miles traveled, and countless hours of listening, writing, editing, and reflecting. It has also been an experiment—my first time publishing a book in serialized form on Substack.
I want to thank you for coming along for the ride.
Whether you read a single chapter, followed the entire series from Warsaw to Odesa, left a comment, shared a post, or simply opened an email and spent a few minutes with these stories, your support has meant a great deal.
This project has been a journey of learning and expansion for me. Publishing chapter by chapter, engaging directly with readers, and building an archive that can be explored at your own pace has opened new possibilities that I’m excited to continue exploring.
If you enjoyed the series, I hope you’ll share it with friends, family, and anyone interested in Ukraine, resistance, travel, journalism, or the stories of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. The full archive is now available to read at your own pace.
Looking for photographs, video, interview audio, and new material from Ukraine?
Visit the complete series archive:
https://briangruber.substack.com/s/chronicles-of-the-ukrainian-resistance
For additional photographs, videos, audio clips, and ongoing updates from Ukraine and beyond, follow the Notes feed at Taxiing the Planet.
The journey is not over.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be releasing a PDF edition of Stop Stealing the Future, followed by an expanded book edition. The Ukraine journey will also become part of an expanded second edition of My Fabulous Fascist Summer Vacation, continuing the story and deepening the questions that first sent me across Europe in search of answers to the renewed emergence of authoritarianism in the United States and worldwide.
For now, though, I simply want to say thank you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for your encouragement and support. Thank you for joining me on the journey.
Most of all, I remain grateful to the Ukrainians who opened doors, shared meals, offered rides, answered questions, and entrusted me with their stories.
— Brian Gruber