The American Ambassador Who Supported Stalin w/ Dominique Petit-Wagner
Release Date: 04/16/2024
The Stalin Eras: An Introduction (1878-1917)
Actually Existing Socialism
Since March of this year I have been the co-host of another podcast called Prolespod (my tenure starts on Episode 49). On that show we have been working extensively on producing a special event series known as The Stalin Eras. The key focus of this series is to illuminate the early history of the Soviet Union and the life of its longest lasting leader, Joseph Stalin, using some of the latest scholarship. It features both narrative history and discussion. This upload is the full introductory episode for the series. If you wish to listen to 10+ hours of content released thus far...
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North Korea: Socialist Living After War (1953-1965) w/ Andre Schmid
Actually Existing Socialism
In this fascinating episode Andre Schmid joins to discuss his book “”. As always on this show, we’re covering something new by talking about the early years of the North Korean revolution in the aftermath of the Korean War which "ended" in 1953. Andre Schmid's research and teaching focus on 19th and 20th century Korea and East Asia, as seen in the broader context of global, comparative history. He is interested in historiography and the uses of public memory, the relation between cultural practices and political economy, gendered social history and popular social...
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Soviet Punk Rock: Counterculture & Collapse in the Late USSR w/ Alexander Herbert
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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Win or Else: Soviet Sports, Soccer, and the NKVD w/ Samantha Lomb
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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Understanding Siege Socialism w/ Gabriel Rockhill
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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Indigenous & Soviet: Politics, Power, and Prejudice w/ Sardana Nikolaeva
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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Indigenous & Soviet: Diamonds of Sakha w/ Sardana Nikolaeva
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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Remembering Soviet Georgia's Healthcare w/ Sopo Japaridze
Actually Existing Socialism
In this episode we’ll be discussing Sopo's article on Jacobin entitled "". 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...
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China & Palestine: A Revolutionary Solidarity w/ Qiao Collective
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
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The American Ambassador Who Supported Stalin w/ Dominique Petit-Wagner
Actually Existing Socialism
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...
info_outlineThis 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
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