New episode of Revolutions Podcast is out: 10.75- The People's Commissars: The Bolsheviks caught the car. Now they had to figure out what to do with it.

What can I say? Another fascinating episode.

So, we all know where this story is ultimately headed.  The Bolsheviks are eventually going to go from idealistic revolutionaries to despotic authoritarians.  And now that they've seized power, that journey is officially starting.  But, seeing exactly how it happens, and what the first steps are, is very fascinating.

In this first post October Revolution episode, the Bolsheviks are still mostly likable, and are still showing a lot of idealism.  I mean, I'm definitely on board with the very democratic and progressive declarations that they are issuing in this episode.  But there are definitely hints of the authoritarianism emerging here.

But what I really like about Mike Duncan is that he gives you everyone's perspective.  You can see how Lenin thinks everything he's doing is totally legitimate given the ideological stance that he's operating from.  But you can also see how his opponents think that what they're doing is also legitimate.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mike Duncan break down exactly what is going to happen in the next few episodes.

Notes:

* It's funny that the SRs got so mad that the Bolsheviks enacted their land reform program.  I mean, if they truly cared about the land reform, they should just have been glad that the reforms were being done, right?

* Interesting to hear that once the soldiers in the Bolshevik army had control of the city, they immediately raided the alcohol and promptly became drunk and useless.  The exact same thing happened to a lot of the soldier in the Paris Commune.  It sounds like alcohol is the enemy of the proletariat revolution.