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 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 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

Recommended Supplemental Listening

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic 101: Pre-history to World War II w/ Iskolat

How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley

Was the Soviet Union Totalitarian w/ Robert Thurston

Understanding Siege Socialim w/ Gabriel Rockhill 

The American Ambassador Who Supported Stalin w/ Dominique Petit-Wagner

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

Sources

Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953 by Geoffrey Roberts

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

The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941-45: A Documentary Reader by Alexander Hill

Stalin: From the Caucasus to the Kremlin by Christopher Read

The Boy in the Woods: A True Story of Survival During the Second World War by Maxwell Smart

Soviet Russia and the Baltic Republics by Philip Farr

The Baltic Riddle: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania—Key Points of European Peace by Gregory Meiksins

Russia, Finland and the Baltic W.P. and Zelda K. Coates

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 Patreon 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 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @prolespod and Tiktok @proles.pod.

If you have any questions or comments, email us at [email protected]. May the spectre haunt your streets, and solidarity forever.

Intro Music: 

"ProlesPod Theme" by Ransom Notes

Midroll written and read by Rae

Midroll music "Bidenika"  by DJ DTA

Outro music "Eastern Bloc Beats" by DJ DTA

Ameed and Cody from Good Shepherd Collective 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 Patreon 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 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @prolespod and Tiktok @proles.pod.

If you have any questions or comments, email us at [email protected]. May the spectre haunt your streets, and solidarity forever.

Sources: Gaza Mutual Aid Solidarity Ahel Gaza Palestine Action Gaza Funds Workshops 4 Gaza Defund Racism

Intro Music: 

"ProlesPod Theme" by Ransom Notes

Midroll written and read by Rae

Midroll music "Profit Meets Precarity"  by DJ DTA

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 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 Reading

Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend  by Domenico Losurdo

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

Recommended Supplemental Listening

How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley

Was the Soviet Union Totalitarian w/ Robert Thurston

Understanding Siege Socialim w/ Gabriel Rockhill 

The American Ambassador Who Supported Stalin w/ Dominique Petit-Wagner

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

Sources

Stalin's Failed Alliance: The Struggle for Collective Security, 1936-1939 by Michael Jabara Carley

Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army's Victory That Shapped World War II by Stuart D. Goldman

Stalin and War, 1918-1953: Patterns of Repression, Mobilization, and External Threat by David Shearer 

International Communism and the Origins of World War II by Jonathan Haslam

Marshal of Victory: The Autobiography of General Georgy Zhukov

The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Spanish Civil War ed. Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez, Alison Ribeiro De Menezes, Adrian Shubert

Reflections on Stalinism ed. J.Arch Getty, Lewis Siegelbaum 

How Russia Blasted Hitler's Spy Machine by Joseph E. Davies

Soviet Archives 

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 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 Additional Reading

Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend  by Domenico Losurdo

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

Recommended Additional Listening 

Stalin's Constitution & Life in 1930s Soviet Union w/ Samantha Lomb How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley

Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective 

Foundations of Leninism 

Sources

Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constituion by Samantha Lomb

The New Soviet Constitution: A Study in Socialist Democracy by Anna Louise Strong

Stalinist Values: The Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity, 1917–1941

The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Spanish Civil War

Broué, P. (1990). Party opposition to Stalin (1930-1932) and the first Moscow trial. In J. W. Strong (Ed.),

Essays on revolutionary culture and Stalinism. Selected papers from the Third World Congress for Soviet and East European studies. Craig, G. A. (1951).

Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918–1945. Series D (1937–1945). Volume III. Germany and the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. Volodarsky, B. (2015). Stalin's agent. The life and death of Alexander Orlov. London and New York: Oxford University Press.

In the narrative for Part Three of "The Stalin Eras”, Tony and Jeremy detail Joseph Stalin’s life within the context of Soviet history through the years 1935-1936.

This narrative, titled “Triumph and Tribulations” highlights the USSR as a rising star to both the global proletariat and colonized peoples, the utter triumph of socialist construction during the Great Depression, the highly progressive 1936 Soviet Constitution, and finally the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War!

Stay tuned for the next episode which will continue the narrative through from 1936-1939 focusing mostly on the controversial Moscow Trials, the Great Purge, the climax of the Spanish Civil War, and apocalyptically - the beginning of World War II. 

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 Additional Reading

Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend  by Domenico Losurdo

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

Recommended Additional Listening 

Stalin's Constitution & Life in 1930s Soviet Union w/ Samantha Lomb How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley

Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective 

Foundations of Leninism 

Sources

Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constituion by Samantha Lomb

The New Soviet Constitution: A Study in Socialist Democracy by Anna Louise Strong

Stalinist Values: The Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity, 1917–1941

The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Spanish Civil War

Broué, P. (1990). Party opposition to Stalin (1930-1932) and the first Moscow trial. In J. W. Strong (Ed.),

Essays on revolutionary culture and Stalinism. Selected papers from the Third World Congress for Soviet and East European studies. Craig, G. A. (1951).

Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918–1945. Series D (1937–1945). Volume III. Germany and the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. Volodarsky, B. (2015). Stalin's agent. The life and death of Alexander Orlov. London and New York: Oxford University Press.

Comrades!

We are hard at work on the Stalin Eras, as you all know. Part 3 in particular, given the Moscow Trials, The Military Trial, Ezhovchina, and other major topics, this episode in particular has taken a LOT of work. We have also uncovered a bunch of archival material that we hope will create context that we believe has never been presented in the English language. 

On top of that, a few listeners have given us feedback that, particularly given the very dense nature of the material, that they feel like they are falling behind and thus unable to engage with the discussion online and participate in the live-listens we do for every new Stalin Eras episode on the Patreon. 

As such, we are taking an intermission of sorts (still slaving away in the podcast mines) to give people time to catch up and to give us the time to properly represent our vision in Part 3 as the DEFINITIVE collection of materialist analysis and historiography on the Stalin Era of Soviet History. 

We didn't want to leave you hanging, so, here is a peek behind the Iron Curtain of the paywall, featuring our two most recent Q & Rae episodes. We hope you enjoy. Please consider subscribing so that we may continue to put the effort that we have put into the Stalin Eras into all of our future episodes.

We hope you're enjoying it, and solidarity forever. 

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/

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 plan.

Stay tuned for the next episode which will feature a full length discussion with guest host Jen of How the Red Was Won. Jen joins to guide an in-depth discussion about the era covered in this narrative episode. 

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/

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 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 here: www.patreon.com/prolespod

Thematic Introduction Source: "Forword" of Stalin: A New World Seen Through One Man by Henri Barbusse

Episode Sources 

I Change Worlds by Anna Louise Strong

Stalin: A New World Seen Through One Man by Henri Barbusse

The Great Conspiracy: The Secret War Against Soviet Russia 

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Stalin: From the Caucasus to the Kremlin by Christopher Read 

Small Comrades: A Revolutionizing Childhood in Soviet Russia 1917-1932. 

Recommended Additional Reading

Stalin History & Critique of a Black Legend  by Domenico Losurdo

Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolphe Trouillot

Recommended Additional Listening 

The Indigenous Peoples of the Soviet Union w/ Alice and Dennis Bartels

Foundations of Leninism 

Soviet Cinema 

Stalin: A Marxist-Leninist Perspective