Actually Existing Socialism

Soviet Punk Rock: Counterculture & Collapse in the Late USSR w/ Alexander Herbert Oct 15, 2024

In this fascinating episode Alexander Herbert joins to discuss his book “What About Tomorrow?: An Oral History of Russian Punk from the Soviet Era to Pussy Riot”. As always on this show, we’re covering something new by talking about both counterculture music and the late Soviet Era. I myself have virtually no understanding of the punk genre, so don’t think you need to be a Punk Rock enthusiast to enjoy this episode as the topics we broach include: soviet regulation of media, how all of this ties into the end of the soviet union and more!

Alexander Herbert, who holds a Masters in Russian history from Indiana University, and a PHD in Modern Russia from Brendeis University, is an expert in the history of the Soviet Union and Global Environmental History. His research examines the interrelations of science, technology, and environmental change in the late USSR. Alexander is additionally interested in the intersection of popular culture and education and has published two books: the first on the history of punk rock in the Soviet Union and Russia, and another that uses horror films in the late USSR to examine the anxieties and fears of late Soviet society. He has also taught classes on the history of capitalism, radical politics in Europe, film history, and underground culture. Support the podcast at patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Alex's Substack

"Nothing lasts forever: Russian Punks in Georgia" (Alex's documentary mentioned in the episode)

Lenin in 45 Volumes Intro Music

Outro Music

Win or Else: Soviet Sports, Soccer, and the NKVD w/ Samantha Lomb Aug 12, 2024

In this episode, Samantha Lomb returns as a guest to talk about a recent book she edited entitled: Win or Else: Soviet Football in Moscow and Beyond, 1921-1985.

In Win or Else, the late soviet historian Larry E. Holmes shows us how Soviet football culture regularly disregarded official ideological and political imperatives and skirted the boundaries between socialism and capitalism. Drawing on rich archival materials as well as newspapers and interviews with former players, Win or Else reveals the foundations of Soviet sports culture and the hazards that teams faced both in victory and in loss.

This is a fun conversation even if you aren't interested in the sports. We cover the early history of the Soviet conception of sports to the intriguing connection Soviet soccer had to the NKVD, the state security organization that would later become known as the KGB - and everything in between!

You can support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Get the Book here - Win or Else: Soviet Football in Moscow and Beyond, 1921-1985

Intro/Closing Music

Isaiah Rashad x Aaron May Type Beat

Understanding Siege Socialism w/ Gabriel Rockhill Jul 09, 2024

Gabriel Rockhill joins to talk about a controversial concept for Western socialists: “siege socialism”. A term coined by the great Michael Parenti.

Unlike most episodes of this show we won’t be focusing on a specific country but examining the variety of past and present socialist countries through the lens of historical materialism and dialectics, two concepts Gabriel explains for us.

Gabriel Rockhill is the Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop, Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University, and the author or editor of over nine books, as well as numerous scholarly and general public articles.

He is the editor of the upcoming translation of Domenico Losurdo’s magisterial Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn. It is is a paradigm-shifting book that provides a trenchant critique of the Western left intelligentsia. It reveals how its dominant ideological orientation—characterized by defeatism, utopianism, and anti-communism—is rooted in the political economy of imperialism.

You can support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

To learn more about Gabriel's work check out the following links:

https://x.com/GabrielRockhill

https://monthlyreview.org/product/western-marxism/

https://gabrielrockhill.com/

https://criticaltheoryworkshop.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@criticaltheoryworkshop5299

https://monthlyreview.org/product/western-marxism/

Intro/Closing Music

Indigenous & Soviet: Politics, Power, and Prejudice w/ Sardana Nikolaeva Jul 01, 2024

Sardana returns to finish our discussion on her recent study published through Ziibiing Lab "Indigenous Diamonds : Extractivism and Indigenous Politics in the Diamond Province of Russia."

In our discussion we delve into the impacts extractivism has had on the people of the Sakha Republic before, during, and after the Soviet Union (USSR). Sardana, who is Sakha, also gives her own personal and community experiences of growing up both Indigenous and Soviet.

Sardana Nikolaeva is a Postdoctoral Fellow with Ziibiing Lab (Global Indigenous Politics Collaboratory) at the Department of Political Science of the University of Toronto. Her work broadly centers on Indigenous politics, Indigenous classed and gendered experiences, geopolitical 'economy, economic sanctions, and extractivism.

The Indigenous Peoples of the Soviet Union (Part 1) w/ Alice and Dennis Bartels

Support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Find me on twitter @AESThePodcast

Sardana's study

Indigenous Diamonds :Extractivism and Indigenous Politics in the Diamond Province of Russia.

Sardana's appearances on other podcasts

Indigenous diamonds w/ Sardana Nikolaeva

Indigenous People and the Soviet Union: a Sakha perspective w/ Sardana Nikolaeva (pt.1)

An Other's view of Russia w/ Sardana Nikolaeva

Indigenous & Soviet: Diamonds of Sakha w/ Sardana Nikolaeva Jun 17, 2024

Sardana Nikolaeava joins this episode to discuss her recent study published through Ziibiing Lab "Indigenous Diamonds : Extractivism and Indigenous Politics in the Diamond Province of Russia." In our discussion we delve into the impacts extractivism has had on the people of the Sakha Republic before, during, and after the Soviet Union (USSR). Sardana, who is Sakha, also gives her own personal and community experiences of growing up both Indigenous and Soviet.

Sardana Nikolaeva is a Postdoctoral Fellow with Ziibiing Lab (Global Indigenous Politics Collaboratory) at the Department of Political Science of the University of Toronto. Her work broadly centers on Indigenous politics, Indigenous classed and gendered experiences, geopolitical 'economy, economic sanctions, and extractivism.

The Indigenous Peoples of the Soviet Union (Part 1) w/ Alice and Dennis Bartels

Support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Find me on twitter @AESThePodcast

Sardana's study

Indigenous Diamonds :Extractivism and Indigenous Politics in the Diamond Province of Russia.

Sardana's appearances on other podcasts

Indigenous diamonds w/ Sardana Nikolaeva

Indigenous People and the Soviet Union: a Sakha perspective w/ Sardana Nikolaeva (pt.1)

An Other's view of Russia w/ Sardana Nikolaeva

Remembering Soviet Georgia's Healthcare w/ Sopo Japaridze May 21, 2024

In this episode we’ll be discussing Sopo's article on Jacobin entitled "How Free-Market Ideologues Dismantled Health Care in Post-Soviet Georgia". In doing so we will be talking about not only her memories of Soviet Georgia, but the memories of her family members and Georgian workers, doctors and nurses. We delve into the origins of the soviet socialist healthcare system, its operations, its historic outcomes, as well as its catastrophic dismantling in the 1990s.

Sopiko Japaridze is cofounder of Georgia’s Solidarity Network, an independent union. She has been a labor and community organizer in the United States and the post soviet Easten European nation of Georgia. I highly recommend you follow her work on twitter at @sopjap - to get excellent analysis on modern Georgian events from a communist perspective. I also recommend giving Sopo’s podcast Reimagining Soviet Georgia a listen!

Support the show at patreon.com/aesthepodcast.

Find me on twitter @AESThePodcast

China & Palestine: A Revolutionary Solidarity w/ Qiao Collective Apr 30, 2024

In this episode, Charles Xu of the Qiao Collective (a diaspora Chinese media collective challenging U.S. aggression) joins to walk us through the long history of solidarity between China and Palestine.

We do this through discussing "The Gates of the Great Continent: Palestine, China, and the War for Humanity’s Future" which is Charles' recent article published on the Qiao Collective website. We’re going to be talking about the origins and basis of this revolutionary solidarity between the people of China and Palestine, how this relationship has changed over the years, China’s stance today on Palestinian resistance and how this revolutionary history manifests in the present.

If you found this episode useful - Charles and I had an extended discussion on the state of China’s support for other global south countries in general which is accessible via Patreon.

www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

www.twitter.com/aesthepodcast

The Gates of the Great Continent: Palestine, China, and the War for Humanity’s Future

Qiao Collective Twitter

The American Ambassador Who Supported Stalin w/ Dominique Petit-Wagner Apr 16, 2024

This episode features Dominique Petit-Wagner discussing her masters thesis entitled: "Briefing the Ambassador: Joseph Davies and the U.S. Press Corps in Moscow, 1936-1938."

Our discussion focuses on American Ambassador Joseph E. Davies and a few American journalists who bought into the socialist realist presentation of the Soviet Union during the tumoulotus 1930s. We talk about what socialist realism was, why and how these eminent Americans supported the Soviet Union, and what this tells us about modernization during the Stalin period.

Dominique Petit-Wagner is a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Soviet, Canadian, and intellectual history. Whereas her MA thesis explored American perceptions of the Soviet Union and their controversial immersion in socialist realist culture in the late 1930s, her doctoral research seeks to contrast and compare these findings against the experiences of Canadians touring the USSR in the interwar period.

Link to Dominique's paper: https://ruor.uottawa.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/175e024b-31d4-478f-8453-39578212230e/content

To support the show you can join the patreon at patreon.com/aesthepodcast

You can follow the show on twitter @aesthepodcast

Class Based Affirmative Action in Socialist Poland w/ Agata Zysiak Apr 02, 2024

This episode features sociologist Dr. Agata Zysiak talking about her recent work "Limiting Privilege: Upward Mobility Within Higher Education in Socialist Poland" (2023), which examines first-generation students' struggles with reluctant academia in a developing socialist world that was looking for equality.

We talk about the successes and failures of this ambitious socialist program, its similarities and differences to race based affirmative action in North America, and what this tells us about social reproduction and the zombie impact of social systems even in the face of dramatic social revolution.

Agata Zysiak, PhD, is a historical sociologist working at Vienna University in Austria and the University of Łódź in Poland. You can get 30% off Limiting Privilege: Upward Mobility Within Higher Education in Socialist Poland and any other Purdue University Press book by ordering from their website and using the code PURDUE30 at checkout.

How to Visit North Korea w/ Zoe Stephens Mar 12, 2024

This episode features Zoe Stephens (@Zoediscoversnk), an experienced tour guide to North Korea (DPRK). Using her own experience, knowledge, footage and education - Zoe’s goal is to present a image of North Korea that aims to humanize the people of the DPRK in ways that are rarely seen in the West.

She tells us what is required to visit on a guided tour, what to expect, what are some common misconceptions, and even the fascinating opportunity to stay for a few days with a North Korean family outside of Pyongyang. This episode was recorded in 2023 - before the re-opening of the border for tourism - so while we speak to the expectation of re-opening it has now happened as of early 2024.

Link to all of Zoe's social media/project pages: https://linktr.ee/zoediscovers

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic 102: Post-World War II to Present w/ Iskolat Feb 28, 2024

Iskolat, a Latvian communist, returns to teach us more about the shrouded history of Latvia, which was a part of the Soviet Union, officially known as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic continuously from 1944 to 1990.

In this second and final part we’ll be discussing the post-World War II era of building socialism in Latvia and the Baltics at large. We cover the successes of socialist construction, its weaknesses, and ultimately the downfall of soviet system in Latvia in the early 1990s and how that played out. Iskolat also delves into present day realities of Latvia that don’t always make international news.

www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Isoklat twitter: twitter.com/iskolat

Workers' Struggle (English/Latvian/multilang): https://t.me/StradniekuCina

BalticSSRs (Reddit): https://reddit.com/r/BalticSSRs/

Riga History Group (Russian): https://t.me/RigaHistoryGroup…

School of Scientific Communism/Ruslan Dzugov Channel (Russian section): https://t.me/rusdzugov

Dictatorship of the Proletariat (YT channel of the Russian section of the Political School): https://youtube.com/@user-xk6xj4xm4n

Anna Louise Strong's The New Lithuania: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89017381948&seq=5

The Baltic Riddle by Greg Meiksins: https://archive.org/details/TheBalticRiddle

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic 101: Pre-history to World War II w/ Iskolat Jan 30, 2024

Iskolat, a Latvian communist, joins to show to teach us about the shrouded history of Latvia, which was a part of the Soviet Union (officially known as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic) continuously from 1944 to 1990.

In this first part we’ll be discussing the pre-history of the socialist republic by delving into the conditions of what would become Latvia in the early 20th century to the eventual socialist revolution of the early 1940s. When I say the history covered here from the Communist POV is almost impossible to find in English, I am not exaggerating, I hope you find this discussion as informative and enlightening as I have.

Isoklat twitter: twitter.com/Iskolat

BalticSSRs (Reddit): https://reddit.com/r/BalticSSRs/

Telegram: Workers' Struggle (English/Latvian/multilang): https://t.me/StradniekuCina

Telegram: Riga History Group (Russian): https://t.me/RigaHistoryGroup…

Telegram: School of Scientific Communism/Ruslan Dzugov Channel (Russian section): https://t.me/rusdzugov

Telegram: Dictatorship of the Proletariat (YT channel of the Russian section of the Political School): https://youtube.com/@user-xk6xj4xm4n

The Propaganda War Against China w/ Carlos Martinez Jan 16, 2024

Carlos Martinez (@agent_of_change) joins the show to talk about his excellent book "The East Is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century".

In this final part of a three part discussion we’ll be discussing the propaganda war against China and the socialist developments all leftists should be following.

Carlos Martinez is an author and political activist from London, Britain. His first book, The End of the Beginning: Lessons of the Soviet Collapse, was published in 2019 by LeftWord Books. He is a co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, a co-founder of No Cold War, and a coordinating committee member of the International Manifesto Group. He writes regularly in the Morning Star, Global Times, China Daily and CGTN.

Carlos' website: https://invent-the-future.org/

Carlos' youtube: https://www.youtube.com/inventthefuture

Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Podcast twitter @aesthepodcast

Intro/Outro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUPx2jKjkwE

Is China a democracy? w/ Carlos Martinez Dec 19, 2023

Carlos Martinez (@agent_of_change) joins the show to talk about his excellent book "The East Is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century".

In this second part of a three part discussion we’ll be delving into how China operates as a socialist democracy. We'll be answering what that means, talk about some accomplishments as well how it differs from Western liberal democracies.

Carlos Martinez is an author and political activist from London, Britain. His first book, The End of the Beginning: Lessons of the Soviet Collapse, was published in 2019 by LeftWord Books. He is a co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, a co-founder of No Cold War, and a coordinating committee member of the International Manifesto Group. He writes regularly in the Morning Star, Global Times, China Daily and CGTN.

Carlos' website: https://invent-the-future.org/

Carlos' youtube: https://www.youtube.com/inventthefuture

Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Podcast twitter @aesthepodcast

Intro/Outro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbBBnNW6EMA

How China Avoided The Soviet Union's Fate w/ Carlos Martinez Dec 12, 2023

Carlos Martinez (@agent_of_change) joins the show to talk about his excellent book "The East Is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century".

In this first part of this three part discussion on China we’ll be delving into why socialist China remains but the USSR doesnt. We'll be tackling this question through the lens of how these two communist juggernauts approached the necessity of controversial political and economic reforms in the 1970s in China under Deng Xiaoping and in the USSR under Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. Next episodes in this series will look at Chinese socialist democracy, and the propaganda war against it!

Carlos Martinez is an author and political activist from London, Britain. His first book, The End of the Beginning: Lessons of the Soviet Collapse, was published in 2019 by LeftWord Books. He is a co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, a co-founder of No Cold War, and a coordinating committee member of the International Manifesto Group. He writes regularly in the Morning Star, Global Times, China Daily and CGTN.

Carlos' website: https://invent-the-future.org/

Carlos' youtube: https://www.youtube.com/inventthefuture

Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Podcast twitter @aesthepodcast

Intro/Outro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jP5r2b7hew

Black Girl From Pyongyang, North Korea w/ Monica Macias (PATREON PREVIEW) Dec 08, 2023

Monica Macias joins the show to discuss her book "Black Girl From Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity" which covers the harrowing tale of her life journey from post-colonial Equatorial Guinea ,where she was born, to finding herself under the guardianship of Kim Il Sung - the revolutionary founding father of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) also known as North Korea. This is a preview of a patreon-only exclusive. Listen to the full episode by supporting the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948-1990) w/ Julia Mead Nov 30, 2023

In this episode we’ll be discussing the subject of Julia Mead's (@JuliaKMead) PHD research on an often forgotten socialist nation: the nation formerly known as the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Julia covers for us the pre-history, emergence of the communist state, political struggles as well as socialist successes and failures. She also gives us some insight as to why this socialist nation often falls to the wayside in popular Western imagination.

Julia Mead is an environmental historian of modern Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on energy, gender, and labor. Her dissertation, “Socialist Rust Belt: Energy, Masculinity, and the End of Czechoslovak Socialism,” traces the rise and fall of the Czechoslovak coal economy from 1948 to 2004, and its relationship to changing norms of masculinity. She shows how coal miners in socialist Czechoslovakia achieved an elite social status, and how they lost it almost overnight during the transition to capitalism.

Follow Julia at https://twitter.com/JuliaKMead and https://juliamead.squarespace.com/

Support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Stalin vs MLK Jr: Soviet Anti-colonialism & Anti-racism w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro Nov 23, 2023

Henry Hakamäki (@huck1995), host of Guerrilla History podcast (@guerrilla_pod) and Professor Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro join the show to talk about their recent english translation of historian Domenico Losurdo's "Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend".

This episode is the second and final part of a longer discussion. In this part we move into the specifics of the often airbrushed history of anti-racist and anti-colonial policies under Stalin’s Soviet Union and even ponder whether Stalin’s impact on these material objectives was more substantive than that of civil rights figure and fellow socialist - Martin Luther King Jr. We also discuss the equally airbrushed links between liberal democracies and nazi fascism. In the spirit of Domenico Lusurdo we continue to deconstruct, evaluate, and critique the black legends attributed to Stalin.

You can access a free (yes, free!) copy of the PDF and/or order a physical copy at https://www.iskrabooks.org/stalin-history-and-critique

Henry and Salvatore have talked at length about the process of translation and who Domeinco Lusurdo is in the discussion linked below.

https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/stalin-history-critique-of-a-black-legend-w-salvatore-engel-di-mauro-david-peat

https://www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

Critiquing Stalin's Black Legend w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro Nov 13, 2023

Henry Hakamäki (@huck1995), host of Guerrilla History podcast (@guerrilla_pod) and Professor Salvatore Engel Di-Mauro join the show to talk about their recent english translation of historian Domenico Losurdo's "Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend".

This episode is the first part of a longer discussion. In this part we talk about what a black legend even is, the general thesis behind Domenico Losurdo’s controversial book, what academic consensus has to say about the realities and myths surrounding historical presentations of Stalin, and how his often distorted legacy impacts left wing movements to this day. And that just gets us started!

You can access a free (yes, free!) copy of the PDF and/or order a physical copy at https://www.iskrabooks.org/stalin-history-and-critique

Henry and Salvatore have talked at length about the process of translation and who Domeinco Lusurdo is in the discussion linked below.

https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/stalin-history-critique-of-a-black-legend-w-salvatore-engel-di-mauro-david-peat

You can always support the show at www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast and don't forget to follow on twitter @aesthepodcast.

Explaining North Korea (DPRK) w/ Ben Weston Nov 07, 2023

Ben Weston (@BenWestonDPRK), host of the popular "DPRK Explained" youtube channel, joins the show to discuss his insightful experiences visiting North Korea (also known as the DPRK) multiple times as a tour guide. We cover his channel, do some myth-busting about the Democratic Republic of Korea, get a short intro to socialist Mongolia and more!

https://www.youtube.com/c/DPRKExplained

How the Soviet "Threat" Benefited Workers in the West w/ Alice Malone Aug 16, 2023

In this episode we discuss Alice Malone's essay entitled “Concessions” which contains a well sourced and foundational explanation regarding 20th century history that every socialist should be aware of!

Alice illustrates how the gains and progressive feats won by workers of the Soviet Union challenged capitalist elites in the West to concede social reforms in their own countries. Reforms such as desegregation, home ownership, investment in education, public health care and more! We cover some of these concessions as well as how they have been noticeably negatively impacted by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Alice's article: https://redsails.org/concessions/

Alice's app on word frequency's in Marxist texts: https://alicirce.shinyapps.io/mlds/

Intro/Outro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itA4uQvnhyc

Was the Soviet Union totalitarian? w/ Robert Thurston Jul 18, 2023

Robert Thurston, historian of Soviet history, joins the show to talk about his extensive archival research focused on the infamous “Great Terror” or mass arrests of 1937-1938. In doing so Robert rebuts the perrenial anti-communist argument - the claim that the Soviet Union under Stalin was totalitarian! We also discuss the impact his research had on his career, the role CIA, MI5 and other capitalist intelligence services played in the manufacturing of soviet history for western audiences and much more!

Robert's Blog: https://thurstrw.wordpress.com/

Robert's Coffee Bussiness: https://www.oxfordcoffee.com/

Is Cuba A State Sponsor of Terror? w/ Calla Walsh & Aeron Jun 20, 2023

Calla Walsh and Aeron join the show to talk about the absurd imperialist rationales and devestating impacts of Cuba's placement on the US State Departments State Sponsor of Terror list.

Calla is a co-chair of the National Network on Cuba (https://twitter.com/NNOCuba). Aeron is a member of the Michigan General Defense Committee (https://www.instagram.com/michigangdc/).

Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

How to Stand in Solidarity with Cuba w/ Calla Walsh & Aeron Jun 12, 2023

Calla Walsh and Aeron join the show to talk about ways we can all stand in solidarity with Cuba and why engaging in internationalism is a necessary path to socialism both at home and abroad.

Calla is a co-chair of the National Network on Cuba (https://twitter.com/NNOCuba). Aeron is a member of the Michigan General Defense Committee (https://www.instagram.com/michigangdc/).

Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley Mar 24, 2023

Michael Jabara Carley joins the show to talk about his extensive and decades long archival research into Soviet international relations. He focuses particularly on the attempts by Joseph Stalin (in the 6 years leading up to World War II) to build a grand alliance with Britain, France and other European nations against Nazi Germany.

This was a call to maintain peace which ultimately was left unheeded leading to the devastating outbreak of World War II. In Western memory this attempted alliance has become overshadowed by the infamous and often decontextualized signing of Molotov-Ribbentrop Non Agression Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. We get into the details of this complex and important history in this episode.

More info about what we covered in this episode can be freely found at: COMING SOON

Episode Credits

Opening Interlude Music/Outro Music:

Metro Boomin - Superhero (Heroes & Villains) [Instrumental]

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

Bob Rae's Parliamentary Resolution on Totalitarian Nazism and Communism

Opening Music:

Time - Inception by Hans Zimmer (Cello Cover)

Uneasy Comrades: Socialist Ghana & the Soviet Union w/ Nana Osei-Opare Mar 08, 2023

Nana Osei-Opare joins the show to discuss his extensive academic work on Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s socialist period, and Ghana's relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

In this episode’s discussion we examine why anti-colonial figures in Africa favored an alliance with the Soviet Union over the capitalist West. We assess Ghana’s socialist period and Kwame Nkrumah's socialist program which began in 1957 right after independence and ran until1966 when it was ended by a military coup.

We uncover the truth of the relationship between Ghana and the Soviet Union during the Cold War which ties directly into the sucesses and failures of Soviet Anti-Racism. Also Nana picks apart a popular modern portrayal of Kwame Nkrumah as seen in the Netflix miniseries the Crown. And more!

More info about what we covered in this episode can be freely found at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/79917448

Episode Credits

Opening Interlude Music:

Metro Boomin - Creepin [Instrumental]

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

Kwame Nkrumah - Address at Conference of African Freedom Fighters - Accra

Outro Music:

ArrDee - Loser (Instrumental)

How Cuba, the USSR, and East Germany Ended Apartheid w/ Gerald Horne Feb 21, 2023

Gerald Horne, a prolific communist historian, joins the show to discuss his 2019 book "White Supremacy Confronted". This work focuses on the socialist bloc's vital collaboration with the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party to end apartheid in southern Africa.

In this episode we start with the origins of European settler colonialism in Southern Africa and how that led to the emergence of the white supremacist system of apartheid in the 20th century. Horne’s expansive knowledge of history takes us back and forth across the globe and time - highlighting the class collaboration between working people and elites that is inherent to European settler projects from southern Africa to the United States. A class collaboration which bolstered the support of apartheid in the West.

Most importantly we go into detail about what various socialist countries specifically did to turn the tide in favor of the African resistance to apartheid. And we end on what the collapse of the socialist bloc in the early 90s meant for a South Africa in transition!

More info about what we covered in this episode can be freely found at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78957219

Episode Credits

Opening Interlude Music:

Cushy - Fire Drill (Royalty Free Music)

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

Fidel Castro in South Africa with Nelson Mandela

Opening Snippet Music/Outro Music:

Sigma Male Full Theme Song

Laos: Socialist Democracy & Culture w/ Holly High Feb 07, 2023

Holly High, an anthropologist who does field work in Laos, joins the show to discuss her book, "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village".

In this final part of our two part discussion we look at socialist democracy and culture in Laos. We cover what political participation looks like in Laos today including the real life functioning of a one party socialist state, democratic centralism, and consultative democracy. We also talk about what “culture” and “policy” means in Laos and the wider socialist tradition and how it differs from liberal notions of those concepts and much more!'

More info about Holly's work and this episode's discussion can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/laos-socialist-78052179

Episode Credits

Intro Music:

Cushy - Canada (Royalty Free Music)

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

August 23, 1975 New Communist Laos Documentary - UPITN

Opening Interlude Music/Outro Music:

Central Cee - LET GO (Instrumental)

Laos: The Revolutionary Origins of the Forgotten Socialist Country w/ Holly High Jan 24, 2023

Holly High, an anthropologist who does field work in Laos, joins the show to discuss her book, "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village".

In this first part of our two part discussion we look at the revolutionary origins of Laos. We begin with the pre-revolutionary period when Lao was under colonial rule and end with the successful People's War of 1945-1975 including the horrific bombing campaign carried out by the US which shapes the country to this day. Holly leads us into this history through the lens of the ethnic minority Kantu people whose experience and culture give a unique perspective of Laos’ successful socialist revolution.

More info about this episode can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/laos-origins-of-77299787

Intro Music:

The Leftovers - The Departure Suite

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

Chomsky talks about the US war on Lao s

Opening Interlude Music/Outro Music:

Cushy - Voice (Royalty Free Music)

The American Soldier Who Defected to East Germany (Part 2) w/ Victor Grossman Oct 25, 2022

We continue the enlightening discussion with Victor Grossman, a former American soldier who defected to East Germany in 1952.

In this concluding episode we cover Victor's life as a journalist in East Germany and what that meant in terms of censorship and free expression, his bombshell reporting on "former" Nazi's active in the West Germant government and in the nascent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), his perspectives on the Berlin Wall as an East Berliner, his run ins with the East German Stasi and the American FBI, as well as what led to the eventual demise of the East Germany also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Victor brings his unique and balanced perspective laying out both the positive and negatives of this former nation that was committed to building socialism.

The two memoirs he wrote recounting his life story are called "Crossing the River — A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany" and "A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee".

This is part two of a two part discussion.

More info regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: (COMING SOON)

The American Soldier Who Defected to East Germany (Part 1) w/ Victor Grossman Oct 05, 2022

Victor Grossman, a former American solider who defected to East Germany in 1952, joins the show to discuss his remarkable life and experiences in this short lived socialist nation.

We cover Victor's activism in the American communist movement of the 1940s including his participation in the Black freedom struggle of that era, the circumstances surrounding his defection, and what life was actually like living in a nation committed to building socialism - both the good and bad.

The two memoirs he wrote recounting his life story are called "Crossing the River — A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany" and "A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee".

This is part one of a two part discussion.

More info regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72903231

Episode Credits

Intro Music: (Dark Emotional Ambient Chill Trap Beat - Agony) Opening Interlude Voice Over: (The McCarren Act and the Efforts of Senator Joseph McCarthy) Opening Interlude Music: (Dark Emotional Ambient Chill Trap Beat - Fallen Angel)

Unlearning Marx: Why the Soviet Failure was a Triumph for Marx w/ Steve Paxton Sep 20, 2022

Steve Paxton, joins the show to discuss his book, "Unlearning Marx: Why the Soviet Failure was a Triumph for Marx". The book focuses on Marx's theory of history and how Marx foresaw the unsustainability of a successful socialist revolution in the Soviet Union decades before it formed. Some of what we talk about in this episode includes understanding what conservatives and socialists have to "unlearn" about Marx, we dissect and debunk popular anti-socialist critiques such as "Socialism Always Fails" and "Communism killed 100 million people" and we review the history of the Soviet Union through the lens of Marx's theory of history which reveals an ironic outcome! More info regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: (COMING SOON)

East Germany: Stasi State or Socialist Paradise? w/Bruni de la Motte Aug 23, 2022

Bruni de la Motte, born and raised in East Germany, joins the show to discuss her book "Stasi State or Socialist Paradise?: The German Democratic Republic and What Became of It". The purpose of her book, which she co-authored with John Greene, is to provide a more balanced take on East Germany then what is popularly remembered of this ambitious socialist experiment. Some of what we cover includes looking at the German left in the lead up to the second World War and their dire predicament under Nazi rule; why East and West Germany were split in the first place; the Berlin Wall; triumphs of their socialist system, Bruni's experiences living there, and valid criticisms of East Germany that eventually led to it's demise. More info regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70904608

Stalin's Constitution & Life in 1930s Soviet Union w/ Samantha Lomb Aug 04, 2022

Samantha Lomb, a PHD in Russian history, joins the show to discuss her book "Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constitution". Based on her studies of soviet archives Samantha guides us through a discussion of how the average Soviet citizen participated in reforming their new constitution in 1936 (one of the most progressive constitutions ever written!) ; the role of the press in their society, what living on a collective farm was like, the endemic lawlessness and violence of the countryside; the purges of 1936-1937 and addressing whether calling the Soviet Union "totalitarian" holds any validity. And that is just a taste! Samantha's "free to access" book and more information regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70042715

Episode Credits

Intro:

("Wistful" produced by Maxi Beatz)

Outro:

(Internationale Trap Remix by Matt Cousins)

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

(USSR 1936 Consitution read by Nils Paulsson)

Opening Interlude Music:

("Fair" produced by Y-2 )

Cuba's Socialist Democracy vs. America's Capitalist "Democracy" w/ Calla Walsh Jul 19, 2022

Calla Walsh, anti-imperialist writer and organizer, joins the show to discuss her article published in Multipolarista titled "Abortion in Cuba vs US shows which country is truly democratic". We cover her organizing experiences and her recent visit to Cuba as a member of a her local Cuba solidarity group. In our in-depth discussion we compare the reality of Cuba's thriving socialist democracy to that of the illusory capitalist democracy of the United States through examining protections and status of abortion rights in the two countries. Calla can be found on twitter: @CallaWalsh To learn more about the National Network on Cuba check out: nnoc.info The article and more information regarding our discussion can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69206196/

Episode Credits

Intro/Outro:

(Internationale Trap Remix by Matt Cousins)

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

(When the People Rule by Fidel Castro - Read by Socialism For All)

Opening Interlude Music:

("Jump" - Hype Freestyle Type Beat by Zach )

The Indigenous Peoples of the Soviet Union (Part 2) w/ Alice and Dennis Bartels (Part 2) Jul 06, 2022

Alice and Dennis Bartels, authors of "When the North Was Red: Aboriginal Education in Soviet Siberia", join the show to discuss their extensive ethnographic research of the Indigenous (also known as Northern) peoples of the Soviet Union. We cover the experience of the various Northern peoples before, during, and after Soviet socialism and how it greatly differed from the genocidal experience of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The Bartels also give us insight into their own experience of living in the Soviet Union to conduct their research at the height of the Cold War. This is part two of a two part discussion.

More information regarding what we discussed and articles written by the Bartels be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69226790

Episode Credits

Intro/Outro: (Internationale Trap Remix - Matt Cousins) Opening Interlude Voice Over: (Theses on the National Quetion by Vladimir Lenin) Opening Interlude Music: (Logic X JID Type Beat "Arkham")

The Indigenous Peoples of the Soviet Union (Part 1) w/ Alice and Dennis Bartels (Part 1) Jun 21, 2022

Alice and Dennis Bartels, authors of "When the North Was Red: Aboriginal Education in Soviet Siberia", join the show to discuss their extensive ethnographic research of the Indigenous (also known as Northern) peoples of the Soviet Union. We cover the experience of the various Northern peoples before, during, and after Soviet socialism and how it greatly differed from the genocidal experience of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The Bartels also give us insight into their own experience of living in the Soviet Union to conduct their research at the height of the Cold War. This is part one of a two part discussion.

More information regarding what we discussed and articles written by the Bartels be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69218802 Episode Credits

Intro/Outro: (Internationale Trap Remix - Matt Cousins) Opening Interlude Voice Over:(Marxism and the National Question by Joseph Stalin) Opening Interlude Music: (Logic X JID Type Beat "Skywalker")

What Has Socialism Ever Done For Women? w/ Julia Mead Jun 06, 2022

Julia Mead joins the show to discuss the article she co-authored with Kristen Ghodsee entitled "What Has Socialism Ever Done For Women?" From abortion rights to women's unions the Soviet Union was a leader in the fight for women's equality. In this enlightening episode Julia expertly explains the ideas of 19th century socialist feminism, the realization of these ideas in the struggle for women's rights in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, and finally the lasting impacts of those achievements!

The article and more information regarding what we discussed and Julia's work can be found on the patreon posting of this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69210703

Episode Credits

Intro/Outro:

(Internationale Trap Remix by Matt Cousins)

Opening Interlude Voiceover:

(AK-47 Podcast by Kristen Ghodsee (Episode 7)

Opening Interlude Music:

(R&B Beat x Smooth Rnb Instrumental 2021 - "Lola")

Socialism v. Capitalism: The Empirical Data w/Howard Waitzkin May 23, 2022

Premier episode! Dr. Howard Waitzkin joins the show to discuss his landmark 1986 study which compares physical quality of life (life span, literacy rates, education accessibility, infant mortality rate etc.) between capitalist and socialist nations at the same level of development.

The study demonstrates conclusively the material benefits of a socialist political economy. Some of the stuff we cover in this discussion includes origins of the study, it's startling conclusions, how it was received after publication (including criticisms), what this study would like replicated in 2022, and even how socialist countries have tackled COVID-19!

Links to the study itself and more information regarding this episode are freely accessible on the Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69057149/

Episode Credits

Intro/Outro:

(Internationale Trap Remix - Matt Cousins)

Opening Interlude Voice Over:

(Micheal Parenti - Reflections on the Overthrow of Communism)

Opening Interlude Music:

V.I.P.N - Epic Cloud Trap Beat