Holly High, an anthropologist who does field work in Laos, joins the show to discuss her book, "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village". In this first part of our two part discussion we look at the revolutionary origins of Laos. We begin with the pre-revolutionary period when Lao was under colonial rule and end with the successful People's War of 1945-1975 including the horrific bombing campaign carried out by the US which shapes the country to this day. Holly leads us into this...

Brief update on what to expect from the show going forward, thank yous, as well as a preview of the first bonus episode: "Socialism, Literacy and the Cold War" Twitter: https://twitter.com/AESThePodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aesthepodcast

We continue the enlightening discussion with Victor Grossman, a former American soldier who defected to East Germany in 1952.  In this concluding episode we cover Victor's life as a journalist in East Germany and what that meant in terms of censorship and free expression, his bombshell reporting on "former" Nazi's active in the West Germant government and in the nascent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), his perspectives on the Berlin Wall as an East Berliner, his run ins with the...

Victor Grossman, a former American solider who defected to East Germany in 1952, joins the show to discuss his remarkable life and experiences in this short lived socialist nation.  We cover Victor's activism in the American communist movement of the 1940s including his participation in the Black freedom struggle of that era, the circumstances surrounding his defection, and what life was actually like living in a nation committed to building socialism - both the good and bad.  The two...

  Steve Paxton, joins the show to discuss his book, "Unlearning Marx: Why the Soviet Failure was a Triumph for Marx". The book focuses on Marx's theory of history and how Marx foresaw the unsustainability of a successful socialist revolution in the Soviet Union decades before it formed.   Some of what we talk about in this episode includes understanding what conservatives and socialists have to "unlearn" about Marx, we dissect and debunk popular anti-socialist critiques such as...

Bruni de la Motte, born and raised in East Germany, joins the show to discuss her book "Stasi State or Socialist Paradise?: The German Democratic Republic and What Became of It". The purpose of her book, which she co-authored with John Greene, is to provide a more balanced take on East Germany then what is popularly remembered of this ambitious socialist experiment.   Some of what we cover includes looking at the German left in the lead up to the second World War and their dire...

Samantha Lomb, a PHD in Russian history, joins the show to discuss her book "Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constitution".   Based on her studies of soviet archives Samantha guides us through a discussion of how the average Soviet citizen participated in reforming their new constitution in 1936 (one of the most progressive constitutions ever written!) ; the role of the press in their society, what living on a collective farm was...

Calla Walsh, anti-imperialist writer and organizer, joins the show to discuss her article published in Multipolarista titled "Abortion in Cuba vs US shows which country is truly democratic".   We cover her organizing experiences and her recent visit to Cuba as a member of a her local Cuba solidarity group. In our in-depth discussion we compare the reality of Cuba's thriving socialist democracy to that of the illusory capitalist democracy of the United States through examining protections...

Alice and Dennis Bartels, authors of "When the North Was Red: Aboriginal Education in Soviet Siberia", join the show to discuss their extensive ethnographic research of the Indigenous (also known as Northern) peoples of the Soviet Union.  We cover the experience of the various Northern peoples before, during, and after Soviet socialism and how it greatly differed from the genocidal experience of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The Bartels also give us insight into their own...

Alice and Dennis Bartels, authors of "When the North Was Red: Aboriginal Education in Soviet Siberia", join the show to discuss their extensive ethnographic research of the Indigenous (also known as Northern) peoples of the Soviet Union.  We cover the experience of the various Northern peoples before, during, and after Soviet socialism and how it greatly differed from the genocidal experience of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The Bartels also give us insight into their own...

Julia Mead joins the show to discuss the article she co-authored with Kristen Ghodsee entitled "What Has Socialism Ever Done For Women?"   From abortion rights to women's unions the Soviet Union was a leader in the fight for women's equality. In this enlightening episode Julia expertly explains the ideas of 19th century socialist feminism, the realization of these ideas in the struggle for women's rights in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, and finally the lasting...

Premier episode! Dr. Howard Waitzkin joins the show to discuss  his landmark 1986 study which compares physical quality of life (life span, literacy rates, education accessibility, infant mortality rate etc.) between capitalist and socialist nations at the same level of development. The study demonstrates conclusively the material benefits of a socialist political economy. Some of the stuff we cover in this discussion includes origins of the study, it's startling conclusions, how it was...