In this episode of Shit Platypus Says, members Laurie R, Cam H, and Ethan L dig into the archives for a wide-ranging conversation on Cuba. Together, they trace Cuba’s historical role in the socialist imagination and ask what the latest crisis means in the shadow of the twentieth century. Their discussion is interspersed with highlights from an interview members Ben K. and Mohammad H. conducted with Steve Eckardt of the Chicago Cuba Coalition. Listen for a reflective conversation on whether, and how, Cuba still matters for anyone trying to think seriously about the past, present, and future of the Left. ----- Links: Ethan Linehan, “The revolution marooned: Cuba and the Left,” in Platypus Review 114 (March 2019) https://platypus1917.org/2019/03/02/the-revolution-marooned-cuba-and-the-left/
C.D. Hardy, “Cuba and Trotskyism’s breakdown,” in Platypus Review 116 (May 2019) https://platypus1917.org/2019/05/01/cuba-and-trotskyisms-breakdown/ Fidel Castro, “The Universal Conscience,” speech to the Cultural Congress of Havana, January 1968, in The New Left Reader, ed. Carl Oglesby (New York: Grove Press, 1969), 186–206. Frantz Fanon, “Algeria Unveiled,” in The New Left Reader, ed. Carl Oglesby (New York: Grove Press, 1969), 161–185. Carl Oglesby, “The Idea of the New Left,” in The New Left Reader, ed. Carl Oglesby (New York: Grove Press, 1969), 1–20. New Left Reader: https://archive.org/details/newleftreader0000ogle Port Huron Statement by the SDS in 1962. https://www.crmvet.org/info/620615_sds_huron-stmt.pdf Joseph Hansen, "Cuba- The Acid Test: A Reply to the Ultra-Left Sectarians" https://www.marxists.org/archive/hansen/1962/11/acidtest.htm Tom Kerry, "Anatomy of Stalinism" (1972) Kerry's remarks about Cuba are in the Q&A, which is not included in the published Education for Socialists pamphlet (pdf below), but audio is available online, link below in three parts. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/swp-us/education/anatomy-of-stalinism.pdf Audio, part 1:https://marxists.architexturez.net/history/etol/audio/kerry/The%20Anatomy%20of%20Stalinism%20Part%201.mp3 Audio, part 2: https://marxists.architexturez.net/history/etol/audio/kerry/The%20Anatomy%20of%20Stalinism%20Part%202.mp3 Audio, part 3: https://marxists.architexturez.net/history/etol/audio/kerry/The%20Anatomy%20of%20Stalinism%20Part%203.mp3 C. Wright Mills, Listen, Yankee! (1960) https://archive.org/details/listenyankeerevo0000mill Additional readings: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/icl-spartacists/cuba/index.htm
