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 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 at www.patreon.com/prolespod

Recommended Supplemental Listening

Was the Soviet Union Totalitarian w/ Robert Thurston

Stalin's Constitution & Life in 1930s Soviet Union w/ Samantha Lomb

Understanding Siege Socialim w/ Gabriel Rockhill 

Recommended Supplemental Reading 

Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn by Domenico Losurdo 

For a Few Canards More: Counter Inquiry on Stalin and the Soviet Union by Aymeric Monville

Episode Sources

Love - Family Life - Career: Behind the Soviet Law Limiting Abortions and Increasing Aid to Mothers 1936

Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation by Sherry Wolf

Lavender and Red by Leslie Feinberg 

Criminal Proesecution of Homosexuals in the Soviet Union (1946-1991) - Numbers and Discourses by Uladzmir Valodzin 

Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent by Dan Healey 

The Gulag: A Very Short Introduction by Alan Barenberg 

Belomor: Criminality and Creativity in Stalin’s Gulag by Julie S. Draskoczy

 

Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo

The Gulag - Espresso Stalinist Collection of Qoutes About Gulag 

‘Factory of invalids’: Mortality, disability and early release on medical grounds in GULAG, 1930-1955