Kristen Ghodsee and her daughter discuss the relationship of Alexandra Kollontai with her lifelong Bulgarian friend, Zoya Shadurskaya.  The two women met when they were six years old and remained friends for their entire lives, often living together and raising Kollontai's son, Misha. Shadurskaya never married, and Kollontai claimed that after her son, Zoya was the most "dear person to her in the world." In this episode, Ghodsee and her daughter discuss the politics of historiography and the prevalence of queer families in the revolutionary circles of Tsarist Russia.

Kristen Ghodsee's author website: www.kristenghodsee.com

Popular Books:

• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence
• Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women

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Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:

• Everyday Utopia
• Red Valkyries
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
• Second World, Second Sex

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Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.