Ep 66 - The Stalin Eras: Part Two Narrative (1930-1934)
Proles Pod
In the narrative for Part Two of “The Stalin Eras”, Justin and Jeremy detail Soviet society and all that comes with it under Stalin’s leadership from 1930-1934. This narrative, titled “Stewards of the Human Soul”, covers the varied personal experiences of Soviet citizens from the center to the periphery of the USSR, the winding down of rapid industrialization and collectivization, the controversial anti-religious and anti-kulak campaigns, the so called “show trials” on industrial sabotage, the true nature of internal opposition, and the astonishing results of the first five year...
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Ep 65 - The Stalin Eras: Part One Discussion (1917-1929)
Proles Pod
Breht O’Shea, host of Revolutionary Left Radio, joins to guide a discussion based on the events covered in the narrative for Part One (which you should listen too first, if you haven’t already!). In this discussion, the gang led by Rae and Jeremy answer wide ranging questions about the nature of Stalin’s rise to prominence in the party, Lenin’s death, the dreaded NEP Men, the first five year plan, and the trials, tribulations, and triumphs in everyday life of Soviet citizens. The Stalin Eras, inspired by the classic RevLeft Radio episode “Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist...
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Ep 64 - The Stalin Eras: Part One Narrative (1917-1929)
Proles Pod
In the narrative for Part One of “The Stalin Eras”, Rae and Jeremy detail Joseph Stalin’s life within the context of Soviet history through the monumental years of 1917-1929. This narrative, titled “Reconstruction In One Country”, covers Soviet history from the early days of the October Revolution, through the Civil War and Imperialist interventions, the Volga Famine, Stalin’s rise in party leadership, the New Economic Program, ultimately ending with the start of rapid industrialization/collectivization, and the of Soviet Union’s first five year plan. Stay tuned for...
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Ep 63 - The Stalin Eras: An Introduction (1878-1917)
Proles Pod
In this introductory episode we cover the who, what, where, and why of “The Stalin Eras”, a multi-part series on the life and times of Joseph Stalin. In addition, we also lay the foundations of young Stalin’s life: from his humble birth in 1878 to his revolutionary career leading into the October Revolution of 1917. This first narrative of the series, “From Soso to Stalin”, begins with his childhood, before movin into his time in church school followed by seminary, and finally his early days as a labor leader and journalist for the Party leading into the October...
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Ep 62 - A Very Special ProlesPod: Behind The Iron Curtain
Proles Pod
As we are VERY busy working on the Stalin Eras series which premiers as early release for paid subscribers on September 18, and for the main feed September 23, we did not feel that we could do a typical episode justice. Instead, we decided to put together an episode of short clips from almost all of our bonus content that is available to paid subscribers over on the page. There are timestamps below in case you have already heard some of the content or want to easily reference/skip something. The bits on media (particularly the X-Men 97 episode) contain spoilers, so be mindful of that also....
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Ep 61 - Foundations of Leninism
Proles Pod
Join the Proles and friend of the pod, Joel, for our first ever episode focused solely on a theory text. If you’ve been following along with the TheoryBeats project on Patreon, you already know the text. It is the the monumental "Foundations of Leninism" by Joseph Stalin. Rae takes the lead on this one. We’ll take you through each of the nine sections of this text, unpacking the history and context while making connections to other thinkers, theorists, and movements both historically and today. You can find the full text freely available to read at: Thank you to our (actual and...
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Ep 60 - Ukraine: Descent to Fascism
Proles Pod
CW: This episode contains frank discussions of murder, torture, and sexual assault of both adults and children, primarily in the context of anti-semitic pogroms against Jewish people. Please proceed carefully through the episode or skip it entirely if any of these things may be difficult for you to hear. Justin picks up where Jeremy left off to cover the development of OUN/UPA, Stepan Bandera's insecure self-promotion, and how the Ukrainian Nationalists were no better than the Nazis. Slava Ukraini bad. As last time, we try to bring some levity to the discussion, but it is a disgusting...
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Ep 59 - Ukraine: Birth of a Nationalism
Proles Pod
CW: This episode contains frank discussions of murder, torture, and sexual assault of both adults and children, primarily in the context of anti-semitic pogroms against Jewish people. Please proceed carefully through the episode or skip it entirely if any of these things may be difficult for you to hear. To signal the depravity of racist language in quotes used in this episode we have used a bleep instead of "contextually stating" the slur or "n-wording" it. Jeremy leads us in a discussion of the early history of what we now know as Ukraine, all the way through the early twentieth...
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EP 58 - Indigenous Resistance in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Proles Pod
For this episode we’re joined by guest expert Beth Pitts for a journey into the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We’re talking about the past, present, and future of indigenous resistance in Ecuador to begin to think about what their struggle can teach us, the benefits and limitations of taking legal action against the imperial nation-state, and the ways in which we can broaden our understanding of the frontline of struggle. For our full interview with members of the Siekopai Remolino community, head over to the . (Don’t worry; we translated it into English.) For information on the...
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Ep 57 - Taiwan: A Short Long History
Proles Pod
Charles Xu joins the show to give us a whirlwind tour of the history of Taiwan starting from about 15,000 years ago to the late 1980s to explain to us the origins of the current tensions between China and the West (led by the United States of America, ofcourse) that has been recklessly escalating to a war! The history covered here is covered in much more detail on the Qiao Collective website which hosts their outstanding . Charles Xu is a member of the Qiao Collective. The Qiao Collective is a diaspora Chinese media collective challenging U.S. aggression in China. Sign up at ...
info_outlineIn this introductory episode we cover the who, what, where, and why of “The Stalin Eras”, a multi-part series on the life and times of Joseph Stalin. In addition, we also lay the foundations of young Stalin’s life: from his humble birth in 1878 to his revolutionary career leading into the October Revolution of 1917.
This first narrative of the series, “From Soso to Stalin”, begins with his childhood, before movin into his time in church school followed by seminary, and finally his early days as a labor leader and journalist for the Party leading into the October Revolution. And ofcourse, we cover young Stalin’s daring bank robbery!
The Stalin Eras, inspired by the classic RevLeft Radio episode “Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective,” mixes both narrative history (ala Blowback) and discussion (like classic ProlesPod) to provide the most comprehensive English overview of the life and impact of Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, in podcast format.
Whether you’re a socialist history enthusiast, someone who’s just curious to learn more than what you got in school about the Soviet Union, or even a total hater who wants to rage, this series has something for everyone.
Episode Sources
Reflections on Stalinism (2024) by J Arch Getty
Secret British ‘black propaganda’ campaign targeted cold war enemies (2022)
Stalin: Passage to Revolution (2020) by Ronald Grigor Suny
Revisioning Stalin and Stalinism Complexities, Contradictions, and Controversies (2020) Edited by James Ryan and Susan Grant
Stalin: From the Caucasus to the Kremlin (2017) by Christopher Read
US., Soviet Textbooks Give Different Accounts of History (1987)
Death of the department that never was (1978)
On Stalin (1953) by W.E.B Dubois
Recommend Reading
Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo
The Collected Works of J.V. Stalin: Volume I
The Collected Works of J.V. Stalin: Volume II
Recommended Listening
Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective