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Ep 67 - The Stalin Eras: Part Two Discussion (1930-1934)

Proles Pod

Release Date: 11/04/2024

Ep 79 - Soviet Cartoons & Raising Socialist Children show art Ep 79 - Soviet Cartoons & Raising Socialist Children

Proles Pod

The Proles Squad is joined by communist Youtuber to talk about their recent work on soviet children's cartoons, women's liberation in the USSR, and socialist child rearing!  Sign up at  where you can get access to early release episodes, study guides, bonus episodes, TheoryBeats, and MORE! YOU CAN DO SO FOR FREE, which will get you the study guides, merch, and other random drops. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher and rate or review to help extend our reach. Like and rate us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter  and Tiktok @proles.pod. If you have any...

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Ep 78 - The Stalin Eras: Part 6 Conclusions show art Ep 78 - The Stalin Eras: Part 6 Conclusions

Proles Pod

In the FINAL main-feed episode of the Stalin Eras, we sat back and took a look at where we started and where we ended up. Were we successful in what we set out to do? What did we learn? What do we hope listeners learned? How did the process change us? We answer these and more. Please comment what you learned, something that surprised you. We would love to see them. 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...

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Ep 77 - The Stalin Eras: Part 5 Criticisms and Contradictions show art Ep 77 - The Stalin Eras: Part 5 Criticisms and Contradictions

Proles Pod

The much anticipated criticisms and contradictions episode of The Stalin Eras! In this episode we wrestle with the following controversies during Stalin’s leadership of the USSR: the Gulag, anti-homosexuality laws, anti-abortion Laws, the “Final” Contradiction, and more! You don’t want to miss this one!  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...

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Ep 76 - The Stalin Eras Part 4 Discussion (1939-1953) show art Ep 76 - The Stalin Eras Part 4 Discussion (1939-1953)

Proles Pod

As "The Stalin Eras” draws to a close, we discuss, in more granular detail, Joseph Stalin’s placement within the context of Soviet history, focusing on the years 1939 up to his death in 1953. Our host for this episode is (also) Jeremy, from Intervenciones Gringas! We talk accusations of imperialism, the final results of Stalin's theory of Socialism in One Country, and the contradiction of "orthodox" Marxism.  The Stalin Eras, inspired by the classic RevLeft Radio episode “Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective,  mixes both narrative history (ala Blowback) and discussion (like...

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Ep 75 - The Stalin Eras: Part 4.5 Narrative (1943-1953) show art Ep 75 - The Stalin Eras: Part 4.5 Narrative (1943-1953)

Proles Pod

In this final narrative of "The Stalin Eras”, we detail Joseph Stalin’s life within the context of Soviet history through the years 1943-1953. This narrative, titled “Long Live Comrade Stalin!" covers viscerally the experience of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War as well as the key ingredients to their victory, the early days of the cold war, and Stalin's final years.  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...

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Ep 74 - The Stalin Eras: Part 4.0 Narrative (1939-1942) show art Ep 74 - The Stalin Eras: Part 4.0 Narrative (1939-1942)

Proles Pod

In the narrative for Part 4.0 of "The Stalin Eras”, we detail Joseph Stalin’s life within the context of Soviet history through the years 1939-1942. This narrative, titled “Enemy at the Gates" highlights the pivotal years leading to the Nazi invasion of the USSR: the invasion of Poland, Soviet influence over the Baltics, the death of Leon Trotsky, and the start of Operation Barbarossa!  Stay tuned for the next episode which will continue the narrative through from 1943-1953, Stalin's final years.  The Stalin Eras, inspired by the classic RevLeft Radio episode “Stalin: A...

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Ep 73 - January: 2025 Is It Over Yet? show art Ep 73 - January: 2025 Is It Over Yet?

Proles Pod

In this episode, we switched it up a bit to discuss some of the wild events that have been happening and analyze their impact, what we think about them etc. From the "Roman Salute" to the California wildfires, we got it all here. With silliness throughout. You can sign up at where you get access to early release episodes, study guides, the aforementioned bonus episodes, TheoryBeats, and MORE! YOU CAN DO SO FOR FREE, which will get you the study guides, merch, and other random drops. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher and rate or review to help extend our reach. Like and rate us...

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Ep 72 - Palestine Will Be Free show art Ep 72 - Palestine Will Be Free

Proles Pod

Ameed and Cody from join Rae and Jeremy in a Q&A on the conditions and complications related to the struggle of the Palestinian people. Questions were collected from you, the listener. We did our best to condense similar questions together but also to give a solid variety, across multiple topics. Some are covered in the main feed episode. Some in the Patreon bonus. You can sign up at where you get access to early release episodes, study guides, the aforementioned bonus episodes, TheoryBeats, and MORE! YOU CAN DO SO FOR FREE, which will get you the study guides, merch, and other random...

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Ep 71 - The Stalin Eras: Part 3.5 Narrative (1936-1939) show art Ep 71 - The Stalin Eras: Part 3.5 Narrative (1936-1939)

Proles Pod

Our longest and most controversial episode. This narrative, titled “War Is Already Here” (using the latest archival scholarship) details the legitimacy of the controversial Moscow Trials, the origins of the “Great Terror”,  the climax of the Spanish Civil War, war with Japan and apocalyptically - the beginning of a second globe spanning conflict!  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...

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Ep 70 - The Stalin Eras: Part 3.0 Discussion (1935-1939) show art Ep 70 - The Stalin Eras: Part 3.0 Discussion (1935-1939)

Proles Pod

In the Part 3 Discussion, we cover evidence for the Moscow Trials (more to come in the Part 3.5 Narrative), The Spanish Civil War, Molotov-Ribbentrop, and more. Our host is Legacy Prole, Taylor! 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...

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In the discussion for Part Two of “The Stalin Eras”, the gang responds to questions from Jen (aka Big Nasty), host of How the Red Was Won and overall badass comrade. The years in focus are, again, 1930-1934, and based upon the previous episode (which you should listen to if you haven't already).

We talk Stalin's sigma male grindset, writing letters to the man himself, the rise of fascism, and the contradictions facing the USSR at this time.

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 just wants to rage, this series has something for everyone. 

Support the show and get bonus content at patreon.com/prolespod

Recomended Resources on "Holodomor" as Genocide Question

Academics who do not consider the Ukraine famine of 1932-1933 to be a genocide include: J. Arch Getty, Stephen Wheatcroft, Mark Tauger, R.W Davies, Hiroaki Kuromiya, Ronald Grigor Suny, Stephen Kotkin to name a few.

Recommended Additional Reading

Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend  by Domenico Losurdo

Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens 

Recommended Additional Listening

Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective 

Foundations of Leninism 

Episode Sources

The Lesser of Two Hells by Alvin D Coox

Practicing Stalinism by J Arch Getty

Excesses Are Not Permitted byJ Arch Getty

Origins of the Great Purges by J Arch Getty

I Change Worlds by Anna Louise Strong

I Was Stalin's Bodyguard by Achmed Amba

The Pattern Of Soviet Power by Edgar Snow

Revolution on my Mind by Jochen Hellbeck

Stalin's Library by Geoffrey Roberts

The Great Conspiracy by Michael Sayers & Albert E Kahn

Conjuring Hitler by Guido Giacomo Preparata

Molotov Remembers, Conversations with Felix Chuev

Black Bolshevik by Harry Haywood

Teachers of Stalinism by E Thomas Ewing

Stalin: From the Caucasus to the Kremlin, Christopher Read, 2017, Routledge Publishing 

Next to Stalin by A.T. Rybin

Betrayal of an Ideal by G.A. Tokaev

Soviet Famine 1930–1933: "The Law of Spikelets" Myth Explained by Polistrum

In Search of New Facts: Interwar Japanese Military Intelligence Activities in the Baltic States and Finland: 1918–1940 by Shingo Masunaga,

Wrestling with Aspects of Interwar Stalinism by William J. Chase,

Why I resigned from the Trotsky Defense Committee by Mauritz Alfred Hallgren, 1937, International Publishers

Muder at the Kemerovo Mines by Ernst Fischer

Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 1949), Vol. 29

The Goebbels Diaries: 1942-1943 by Joseph Goebbels,

“Secret Hitler-Benes Negotiations in 1936-37.” bt Gerhard L. Weinberg

The Road to Terror. Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks by  J. Arch Getty and Oleg V. Naumov

Russian Soviet Archives

U.S. Archives, Library of Congress

Czech Republic Archives

Vienna Bureau of the Austrian Chancellor

The Red Book, Leon Sedov, 1936, Byulletin Oppositsii, Nos.52-53, October 1936

The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky, (1929–1940), Isaac Deutscher, 1963, Vintage Russian Library

The Russian Enigma, Ante Ciliga, 1940, Pluto Press

“Red Wreckers in Russia.”,by John D Littlepage

My Life,  byLeon Trotsky

Leon Sedov: Son, Friend, Fighter, Leon Trotsky

Harvard Trotsky Archive, Houghton Library, Harvard University

The Great Terror. A Reassessment by Robert Conquest

Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution 1888-1938 by Stephen Cohen

The Kirov Murder and Soviet History by Matthew Lenoe

Many, many diaries published on https://prozhito.org/