Actually Existing Socialism

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

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.      

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

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      

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/    

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

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

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)    

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)

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