138 episodes
A.K. 47 - Selections from the Works of Alexandra Kollontai Kristen R. Ghodsee
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- History
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5.0 • 8 Ratings
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Kristen R. Ghodsee reads and discusses 47 selections from the works of Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952), a socialist women's activist who had radical ideas about the intersections of socialism and women's emancipation. Born into aristocratic privilege, the Ukrainian-Finnish Kollontai was initially a member of the Mensheviks before she joined Lenin and the Bolsheviks and became an important revolutionary figure during the 1917 Russian Revolution. Kollontai was a socialist theorist of women’s emancipation and a strident proponent of sexual relations freed from all economic considerations. After the October Revolution, Kollontai became the Commissar of Social Welfare and helped to found the Zhenotdel (the women's section of the Party). She oversaw a wide variety of legal reforms and public policies to help liberate working women and to create the basis of a new socialist sexual morality. But Russians were not ready for her vision of emancipation, and she was sent away to Norway to serve as the first Russian female ambassador (and only the third female ambassador in the world).In this podcast, Kristen R. Ghodsee – a professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence (Bold Type Books 2018) – selects excerpts from the essays, speeches, and fiction of Alexandra Kollontai and puts them in context. Each episode provides an introduction to the abridged reading with some relevant background on Kollontai and the historical moment in which she was writing.
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138 - Bonus Episode – Socialism: A Logical Introduction with Professor Scott Sehon
Kristen Ghodsee speaks to Scott R. Sehon, a professor of philosophy, about his new book, Socialism: A Logical Introduction, and why we should use arguments to make a case for socialism and against capitalism.
The first ten U.S.-based listeners to email Alexandra.kollontai.podcast@gmail.com with a name and address will get a free copy of Professor Sehon's new book.
Mentioned in this episode:
Anti-anti-communism"What Democratic Socialists Should Think about Anti-Communism"www.scottrsehon.com
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com -
137 - A.K. 47 - Bonus Episode - Claudia Jones's 8 March 1950 International Women's Day Speech
For International Women's Day, Kristen Ghodsee reads the Black Trinidadian activist and journalist Claudia Jones's speech for International Women's Day in 1950. This speech, (and the published version which appeared afterwards) led to Jones's arrest and eventual deportation from the United States. Jones was a member of the CPUSA, and believed that women's emancipation and civil rights required a strong stance against imperialism and militarism. She say capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy are deeply intertwined ideologies.
Read the full text of Claudia Jones's speech here
Listen to Kristen Ghodsee's IWD guest appearance on the Upstream Podcast
Watch Kristen Ghodsee's IWD guest appearance on the Total Liberation Podcast
Read Kristen Ghodsee's 2019 Op-Ed in the New York Times on IWD
Read an Associated Press article about 8 March 2024
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com -
136 - A.K. 47 - "Diplomat, Novelist, Leader - Versatile Mme. Kollontay"
Kristen Ghodsee reads a profile of Alexandra Kollontai which appeared in the Washington Post on May 15, 1927 when Kollontai was serving as the Soviet ambassador to Mexico.
Mentioned in this episode: The hardcover of Everyday Utopia is on sale at Amazon.com for $14.99 (50% off)
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com -
135 - A.K. 47 - Bonus Episode - 5th Anniversary Conversation about Parenthood
Kristen Ghodsee and her daughter share a conversation about Kollontai's pro-natalism and the current discourse about the BirthStrike. Are the relevant moral imperatives about having or not having children? And how does the climate crisis factor into people's decisions? We also discuss the future of the podcast and the newly discovered fact that it is listened to in 100 countries around the world.
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com -
134 - A.K. 47 - The Labor of Women in the Evolution of the Economy - Part 3
Kristen Ghodsee reads the final part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1921 essay, "The Labor of Women in the Evolution of the Economy" to explore Kollontai's arguments for the socialization of the family and the socialist uses of the maternal instinct. Although Kollontai is openly pro-natalist, and emphasizes that motherhood is a social obligation to help produce new workers for the world's first workers state, she is making these arguments to suspicious men in the Bolshevik government who do not want to expend resources to socialize the domestic labor that Russian women historically did for free.
Mentioned in this episode:
Kristen Ghodsee on Dan Snow's History Hit podcast talking about "Pythagoras' Utopia"Also, check out a free pdf of the conclusion of Everyday Utopia: "The Star Trek Game Plan" (Click the green button at the top of the page)Kristen Ghodsee's Year in Reading at The Millions"Marxism and Mistletoe," book recommendations for the lefties in your life at Lithub.comAlso, wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com -
133 - A.K. 47 - The Labor of Women in the Evolution of the Economy - Part 2
Kristen Ghodsee reads the second part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1921 essay, "The Labor of Women in the Evolution of the Economy" to explore Kollontai's arguments for the socialization of the family and the socialist uses of the maternal instinct. Although Kollontai is openly pro-natalist, and emphasizes that motherhood is a social obligation to help produce new workers for the world's first workers state, she is making these arguments to suspicious men in the Bolshevik government who do not want to expend resources to socialize the domestic labor that Russian women historically did for free.
Mentioned in this episode:
Alexandria Shaner's review of the podcast for ZNetBehavioral Scientist's Notable Books of 2023A free pdf of the conclusion of Everyday Utopia: "The Star Trek Game Plan" (Click the green button at the top of the page)Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon account and receives no funding. If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word and share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links:
Buy Kristen Ghodsee's new book now: Everyday Utopia
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter.
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com
Customer Reviews
perfect
wonderful podcast! i had only recently heard of kollontai but really wanted to do a deep dive into her work and this was everything i needed. amazing woman who should definitely be more widely remembered ❤️i will definitely recommend this to others.
A favourite
As few people have even heard of Kollontai, it was a surprise and a delight to find a whole podcast dedicated to her. I have been listening for a year and enjoying the way Kristen has interspersed the historical content with reflections on the current state of the world even though I’m normally impatient with such intrusions on media that are supposed to be dedicated to a specific subject. It provides a feeling of continuity that bridges the gap between Kollontai’s works of very different ideas and our own. My own approach to Kollontai’s era is as a student of Russian history so to hear her ideas framed in the context of contemporary socialist thought provides a whole new dimension. I hope the podcast continues to episode 470. If there’s one thing that’s a bit sparse - probably because it’s more frivolous than political! - I’d like to suggest an episode or two taking a direct look at Kollontai’s character in daily life; if the information is available. What was such a person actually like to speak to and work with?