soviets

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Lenin. A couple months ago we had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Le Blanc, the author of a new book entitled Lenin: Responding to Catastrophe, Forging Revolution. 

Paul Le Blanc is an activist dating all the way back to Students for a Democratic Society or SDS in the 1960’s. He is also an acclaimed historian who teaches at La Roche University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of too many books to name, but several on Lenin, Trotsky, CLR James, Rosa Luxemburg and other revolutionaries and movements.

We talk to Le Blanc about Lenin’s flexibility, his understanding of Marxism as not a dogma, but a guide to action, his belief that ordinary people could and must change the world, and his childhood. We also get into the concept of the United Front, Lenin’s experiences working with individuals who did not share his ideology, his understanding of dialectics, and his fierce commitment to struggle and to constant learning from struggle. Paul shares some thoughts on Lenin’s analysis of imperialism, his concept of revolutionary defeatism, and the question of authoritarianism, bureaucratization, and democracy through examples in Lenin’s life and leadership as well as what he advocated on these issues at the end of his life.

We close with some thoughts from Le Blanc on today and the type of approach he thinks organizations and parties need to undertake in today’s world in order to change it once again before it’s too late.

We deeply appreciate Paul Le Blanc for taking the time to talk to us about his book which is available now from Pluto Press. 

We would like to thank Aidan Elias who did the lion’s share of the production work on this episode. 

If you appreciate the work that we do, the best way to support the show, to stay updated on our study groups, follow any writings Josh or I may publish, and keep track of our work on both YouTube and our audio podcast feed is to become a patron of the show. You can join that for as little as $1 a month or $10.80 per year at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. We have a new study group that will be announced this week, so keep an eye out for that.

R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire USA writer with an MA in Fine Arts, which he exorcises in dive bars and coffee shops. He is a frequent panelist at the Boskone Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Boston, and his work has been in Stupefying Stories, Daily Science Fiction, New Myths, and Jersey Devil Press, among others. Greene is a past board member of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project. He keeps bees, collects typewriters, and lives with writer/artist spouse Brenda and two cats.  He has published three books: The Light Years, Twenty-Five to Life, and Mercury Rising, all with Angry Robot Books.

RWW Website

SRTN Podcast Website

3:11 chasing balloons around the desert. Was this a peyote thing? 

7:50 Mars like terrain 

10:02 Is the Earth really flat?

13:08 people thought I was a traitor, because I'd worked with the Soviets so nobody would hire me 

15:39 the only thing I've really ever known for sure I wanted to do in life was race cars.   

17:02 spying on American citizens 

19:51 SpaceX and Elon Musk 

29:44  What the fuck do you think that idiot savant is up to? 

41:09 New space

49:53 Phantom space

55:02  "...45km is going to come back within five years... 800 km... you're talking about  100 year lifetime

56:50 reentering and crashing

58:10 Space tourism 

1:00:38 I want to get into TransAm

World War II placed the Church in an impossible position. It could not support a Nazi Europe. On the other hand, it could not rejoice over an Allied victory signifying the entry of Soviet Russia and Americanist concepts into the mainstream of European life. Dr. John Rao talks of Pius XII's difficulties in sailing through these troubled waters. Taken from: The Church of Eugenio Pacelli - 2000 VonHildebrand Institute

The people of the small Armenian enclave known as Nagorno-Karabakh have no way to get out. Recently, the long-simmering conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has once again heated up with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of blocking the only road that connects the disputed region with Armenia. The Azeris deny this and blame Russian peacekeepers. There are extremely heated opinions on both sides to this issue. Regardless of where the blame lies, the humanitarian risks to the region are growing. 30,000 kids cannot go to school as roads and gas have been cut off. Food can't be brought in because the airport is closed.

In a special edition of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks to Ruben Vardanyan, who last month became state minister in charge of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Armenians refer to as Artsakh.

Vardanyn discusses the blockade and reality on the ground, his region's hope for democracy, and the history of Artsakh's 30-year struggle to break free of Azerbaijan, whose government does not recognize the territory as independent. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, people living in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted in a referendum to become free from the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic. Now, Russian peacemaking forces won't commit to staying very long in the region, and the European Union and the US have called for an end to the blockade. How will a resolution be reached, and what impact might this have on the Armenia/Azerbaijan peace agreement?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Ruben Vardanyan

The people of the small Armenian enclave known as Nagorno-Karabakh have no way to get out. Recently, the long-simmering conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has once again heated up with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of blocking the only road that connects the disputed region with Armenia. The Azeris deny this and blame Russian peacekeepers. There are extremely heated opinions on both sides to this issue. Regardless of where the blame lies, the humanitarian risks to the region are growing. 30,000 kids cannot go to school as roads and gas have been cut off. Food can't be brought in because the airport is closed.

In a special edition of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks to Ruben Vardanyan, who last month became state minister in charge of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Armenians refer to as Artsakh.

Vardanyn discusses the blockade and reality on the ground, his region's hope for democracy, and the history of Artsakh's 30-year struggle to break free of Azerbaijan, whose government does not recognize the territory as independent. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, people living in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted in a referendum to become free from the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic. Now, Russian peacemaking forces won't commit to staying very long in the region, and the European Union and the US have called for an end to the blockade. How will a resolution be reached, and what impact might this have on the Armenia/Azerbaijan peace agreement?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Ruben Vardanyan

This is the continuation of our conversation with Winston James about his latest work Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik. In part 1 we talked about McKay’s origins in Jamaica up through the Red Summer of 1919 when he would pen his famous poem “If We Must Die.”

In this conversation we talk about McKay’s time in Harlem, his relationship with Hubert Harrison, his support of - and political differences with - the Garvey movement or the UNIA. In that vein we also talk about McKay’s theorization of the relationship between class struggle, anticolonial struggle, and anticapitalist revolution. And relatedly his support of movements for Irish nationalism, Indian independence, and Black Nationalism. 

James also shares McKay’s experiences as a worker, as a member of the Wobblies or the IWW, and as a member of Sylvia Pankhurst’s Workers Socialist Federation in the UK and some associated discussion of syndicalism and leftwing communism. We close with some reflections on McKay’s attitudes towards Bolshevism over time, especially after Lenin.

We really enjoyed Winston James book and highly recommend it to people who are interested in McKay’s life or just in history including debates of the Black left - and communist left - in the early 20th century. You can pick up Winston James' Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik which is currently on sale from our friends at Massive Bookshop.

A final reminder as this is likely to be our final episode of this month. October is the 5 year anniversary of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism. We had set a goal of adding 50 patrons this month. And with 2 days left is attainable. We need just 4 more patrons to hit that goal. You can help us hit that goal for as little as $1 a month or $10.80 per year at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. A new post will be up on patreon about it this week, but our Black Marxism study group will start up in November, and our 5 year anniversary episode is still on its way.

Activist and author Daniel Ellsberg (virtual), Harvard professor of business administration Nancy Koehn (virtual), New York University professor of public service and of history Tim Naftali, Johns Hopkins professor of historical studies Mary Sarotte (virtual), and University of Virginia professor of history Philip Zelikow (virtual) discuss the history of the crisis and crisis leadership in the conference’s first session.  

As the sun set on the end of the world for Nazi Germany the Soviets made a super tank of their own to counter the wonder weapons.

With the armour to defeat German 88s, and the biggest gun ever mounted in a tank (until then) it was only relevant for a year, but it won the final battles of the Second World War.

This episode is about the IS2.

As the sun set on the end of the world for Nazi Germany the Soviets made a super tank of their own to counter the wonder weapons.

With the armour to defeat German 88s, and the biggest gun ever mounted in a tank (until then) it was only relevant for a year, but it won the final battles of the Second World War.

This episode is about the IS2.

The US-backed regime in Afghanistan lasted 9 days from the taking of the first provincial capital to the taking of Kabul. After the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989. That government lasted over three years. What was the difference? Why after spending two trillion dollars and twice as long in the country did we do so much worse? Francis Fukuyama has asserted that the are no ideologies which can compete with liberal democracy. And everyone seems to believe that, but if that's so why did we have such a hard time implanting it in Afghanistan?

Mistakes were made. 

We should have split this tank up over two episodes, we should have bought a Russian beer, not a dutch beer that was sitting on the Czech beer shelf.

But in terms of speaking glowingly about the most produced tank of WW2 for over an hour.

Nailed it!

Mistakes were made. 

We should have split this tank up over two episodes, we should have bought a Russian beer, not a dutch beer that was sitting on the Czech beer shelf.

But in terms of speaking glowingly about the most produced tank of WW2 for over an hour.

Nailed it!

Is The Girl From Petrovka a cold war version of Breakfast At Tiffany’s? Chris Wuergler isn’t so sure. Jimmy isn’t sure if it even qualifies as entertainment. Arguably Goldie Hawn’s most forgotten movie – and deservedly so.

More than 40 years ago, a bunch of college kids from the USA squared off on a sheet of ice in Lake Placid, NY at the 1980 Winter Olympics against a heavily-favored Soviet Union squad.

These two teams played an exhibition just a month earlier that ended in a 10-3 Soviet victory so many didn't give the Americans a chance. But this game that would turn out to be arguably the most important sporting event of the 20th century.

• The dominance of the Soviets leading up to this matchup
• Al Michaels and his iconic performance behind the mic
• The final round format for medals
• Periods or quarters?
• Jim Craig is a beast
• Why did the USSR coach bench his all-world goalie? 
• Ticket prices for the big game
• The strange Olympic hockey format that has led to a lot of confusion over the years
• Herb Brooks
• Why the game was tape-delayed 

We'll talk this and much more on the show. If you want to see it as it aired on ABC that night in 1980, check out our website here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-66-1980-olympic-hockey-team-usa-vs-soviet-union/ 

Spycraft, an eight-part Netflix docuseries about the amazing technology and nefarious practices of espionage, should be gripping. But it isn't.

As crazy as it seems, it is totally possible for Hitler to have escaped Nazi Germany and flee to a safe haven in another country with a sympathising government.This week Rod and Tom have a look at Hitlers escape from Nazi Germany

Foo Fighters were seen throughout many bombing raids, dogfights, land, sea and air mission’s by all sides involved in combat activities during World War 2. Aircraft were routinely “buzzed” by craft with incredible abilities that we simply could not match. They were photographed, filmed, seen by crew and tracked on radar. At the time, the Allies thought they were some form of highly advanced aircraft or weapon being deployed by Nazi Germany. After the war had come to an end and enemy sides started to have communications with each other, it became apparent that the Nazi’s had been encountering them too and were equally baffled. No one on either side knew what they were, what they wanted or where they came from. They are still seen during wartime activities to this day. Find us on Facebook Robots For Eyes Podcast, Twitter @robotsforeyes.