Actually Existing Socialism

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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 )