istoricly is an investigative journalism project dedicated to counter-propaganda analysis and historical documentation. I'm Esha, an investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and podcaster with a background in law. I'm fluent in Russian, Spanish, and Kannada, which allows me to work with primary sources across multiple languages and regions.

Methodology: Opponent Admission

The core of my work relies on what I call the "opponent admission" methodology. Rather than citing sources that can be easily dismissed as "biased" or "propaganda," I use establishment Western sources—mainstream newspapers, government documents, academic institutions, and official records—to expose contradictions within their own narratives.

This approach is deliberate. When The New York Times contradicts itself across decades, when State Department cables reveal different motives than public statements, when establishment historians quietly acknowledge facts that contradict popular mythology—these admissions carry weight precisely because they come from sources that cannot be dismissed as ideologically motivated.

What I Do

I specialize in systematic documentation of:

  • Atrocity propaganda techniques across historical interventions, from the USS Maine through Iraq WMDs to current operations
  • Anti-communist narratives and their propagation through Western media and academia
  • Primary source research including FOIA documents, trial transcripts, and Russian-language Soviet-era materials
  • Media manufacturing of consent in real-time, documenting how narratives are constructed and deployed

My databases have been acknowledged by figures like Julian Assange. I've read through 800 pages of Moscow trial transcripts in both English and Russian. I've infiltrated propaganda certification courses. I track how the same techniques get recycled across different target countries and time periods.

Background

Before transitioning to journalism, I trained in law. I co-host "Lit with Lenin" and produce documentary work alongside written investigation. I operate with the understanding that rigorous methodology and establishment sourcing are the only ways to cut through reflexive dismissal.

This work exists because someone needs to systematically document how propaganda actually operates—not through theory, but through comprehensive evidence that even skeptics cannot easily wave away.