It’s perhaps more important than ever in these especially tumultuous, lonely, and oppressive times that we continue to believe that another world is possible. Simply reimagining the way we raise our children, the homes that we dwell in, the property we horde or share, and the form of the families we choose — can have profound and long-term impacts on the quality of our lives and on the world we’re living in more broadly. By challenging these seemingly ordinary structures of everyday life we can spark and re-spark our collective and individual desire to live in a more just and equitable world. This is the premise of new book Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, written by Kristen Ghodsee. In this conversation, we take a journey around the world and through time, exploring some of the most fascinating, inspiring, and sometimes quirky, experiments in alternative ways of living. From Plato to the Buddha, from the Bible to the Communist Manifesto, from ancient Athens to the Soviet Union, we’ll explore what utopian thinking and practice has achieved, not just materially, but also in igniting our capacity for hope, radical imagination, and militant optimism.  Kristen Ghodsee is a Professor of Russian and East European Studies and a member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the critically acclaimed author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence and Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism.  Further resources: Just on the Horizon: Nine Utopian Books to Deprogram Our Brains Thank you to Alice Phoebe Lou for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Exploring the impact of socialism on women's sexual satisfaction and relationships. How capitalism commodifies intimacy and affects societal norms. Author Kristen Ghodsee delves into the link between economic independence and sexual freedom. Capitalism's role in shaping human relationships and the need to separate social reproductive labor for better quality of life. Celebrating female empowerment, solidarity, and revolution under socialism.

Kristen Ghodsee, an ethnographer and author of Everyday Utopia, joins Dan to discuss Pythagoras' utopia and other attempts at creating paradise throughout history, including gender equality and communal property. They also explore the dualist belief system of the Bogomiles, its influence on the Albigensian Crusade, and the potential for reorganizing life on other planets based on historical experiments.

Dr. Kristen Ghodsee explores the commodification of relationships under capitalism and patriarchy. Topics include the impact of marriage and monogamy on women's sexuality, challenging patriarchal naming practices, sexual economics theory and its intersection with capitalism, Alexandra Kollontai's Marxist analysis of love, intergenerational conversations and learning, and navigating social media.

What do we mean when we talk about capitalism? Our economic system might seem inevitable, but it's a construction project hundreds of years in the making and no part of it is natural or left to chance. This week, we kick off our series on the past, present and future of capitalism with Kristen Ghodsee, Vivek Chibber, and Bryan Caplan, who debate how an economic system became an all-encompassing force that rules our lives and our minds.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy