Once again, I'm late linking to it, but a new episode of Revolutions Podcast came out this week: 10.95- Russian Empire Soviet Empire: Tbh, it's bit like one of those "circle five differences in these two pictures that otherwise seem identical" games.

Another fascinating episode.  When the episode began by saying it would be a tour of the Soviet Union, I was worried it wouldn't be interesting.  (I prefer narrative driven history.)  But man, there was so many little interesting details in this one.  I learned a ton.

A few random notes:

*  I sometimes have a hard time understanding what Lenin's ultimate goal is here.  There seems to be a conflict between the communist ideology which rejects imperialism, and the Bolshevik desire to extend their influence.  But then, unravelling that contradiction is the whole point of this episode, isn't it?

* Speaking of that conflict, Mike hasn't mentioned China very much so far, but I'm reminded of what I wrote in an old college paper on the Chinese Communist Party:

It was the Russian Revolution that brought Marxism to the attention of China. Lenin’s twisting of Marx now allowed the theory to be applied to pre-industrial nations, and his writings on imperialism appealed to the Chinese, who were victims of imperialism. More importantly, the Chinese were impressed by the policies of the new Soviet Union (Schwartz 7-8). On July 25, 1919, the Soviet Union formally announced its plan to return the Chinese Eastern Railroad to the Chinese people, as well as giving up any concessions enjoyed by the Czarist government. The Soviets also pledged to help the Chinese in their struggle for freedom. 

* The part about the Communist using the language of Holy War reminded me of that scene from Reds (W) when John Reed is upset once he realizes his speech about was translated wrong to encourage a Holy War.   (I can't find the clip on Youtube right now, but if you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about.)  

Sidenote: I'm really overdue to re-watch Reds.  I haven't seen it since college.

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This was yet another episode which managed to ironically reflect the news cycle.  As Mike Duncan pointed out on his Twitter feed:

1. "The Russian Empire one and indivisible" hasn't been a thing since 1920. The Whites lost.
2. "Part of the USSR" =/= "Part of Russia"
3. In any case the USSR broke up in 1991. It doesn't exist anymore.
4. Paul's logic endorses the British reconquest of Ireland. Just saying. https://t.co/4tVfKXvGBS

— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) April 26, 2022

I swear I'm not doing this on purpose. I got my episode out a good 18 hours before Paul started channeling the ghost of Admiral Kolchak. https://t.co/rNGGAKP8BP

— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) April 26, 2022

And then, because this is Twitter (where everyone misunderstands everyone) someone misinterpreted Mike's comment: 1. "The Russian Empire one and indivisible" hasn't been a thing since 1920. The Whites lost. to be about the White Race...

The guy got mad at Mike cause he thought "Whites" meant white people. People shut him down in the replies and he deleted his account

— Karl (@PointStolen) April 26, 2022