Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Last year, Proles Pod completed a multi-part series on The Stalin Eras. Now Jeremy, one of the co-hosts, joins Steve for a conversation about it, resulting in a two-part dialectical excavation of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Project. The purpose of this exploration is neither to sanctify nor condemn, but to strip away bourgeois mythologies and ground the discussion in material conditions and collective processes.
In Part One, Jeremy and Steve look at democratic centralism, where rigorous debate is followed by unified action, then contrast it with the false choice offered by US electoral politics. They draw on Rosa Luxemburg, Julius Nyerere, and materialist analysis of US history (slavery, settler colonialism, Jim Crow as inspiration for Nazi laws), and agree that both Democrats and Republicans serve the same capitalist-oligarchic permanent state.
You can find their YouTube, including their series "The Stalin Eras," at youtube.com/@ProlesPod/. They are also on social media including Twitter/X at https://x.com/ProlesPod
Introduction & Context — 0:42
Why the Stalin Eras Podcast Came to Be — 4:25
Humanizing Stalin: Against Great Man Theory — 5:39
What Were the Soviets? (Workers Councils Explained) — 8:09
The Soviet Union's Decision-Making Structure — 10:27
Technology Limits on Centralized Control — 11:48
Lenin as the Actual Dictator — 14:25
Democratic Centralism: What It Is and Why It Matters — 16:49
The Problem of the Western Left: Individualism vs. Collective Action — 18:09
Transposing 1917 onto Today: What We Can and Can't Learn — 15:21
The Two-Party Illusion: Kayfabe Politics — 33:44
Roots of US Imperialism: From Colonies to Global Empire — 39:10
The Corporate Media Machine & Manufacturing Consent — 46:22
Trans Athletes and the Art of Manufactured Wedge Issues — 47:44
Why You Can't Vote Your Way to Socialism — 50:02
Stalin Being Vilified: A US Imperial Necessity — 51:42
Closing: Plant the Apple Tree — 55:01
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
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Write for Real Progressives
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We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
Last year, Proles Pod completed a multi-part series on The Stalin Eras. Now Jeremy, one of the co-hosts, joins Steve for a conversation about it, resulting in a two-part dialectical excavation of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Project. The purpose of this exploration is neither to sanctify nor condemn, but to strip away bourgeois mythologies and ground the discussion in material conditions and collective processes.
In Part One, Jeremy and Steve look at democratic centralism, where rigorous debate is followed by unified action, then contrast it with the false choice offered by US electoral politics. They draw on Rosa Luxemburg, Julius Nyerere, and materialist analysis of US history (slavery, settler colonialism, Jim Crow as inspiration for Nazi laws), and agree that both Democrats and Republicans serve the same capitalist-oligarchic permanent state.
You can find their YouTube, including their series "The Stalin Eras," at youtube.com/@ProlesPod/. They are also on social media including Twitter/X at https://x.com/ProlesPod
Introduction & Context — 0:42
Why the Stalin Eras Podcast Came to Be — 4:25
Humanizing Stalin: Against Great Man Theory — 5:39
What Were the Soviets? (Workers Councils Explained) — 8:09
The Soviet Union's Decision-Making Structure — 10:27
Technology Limits on Centralized Control — 11:48
Lenin as the Actual Dictator — 14:25
Democratic Centralism: What It Is and Why It Matters — 16:49
The Problem of the Western Left: Individualism vs. Collective Action — 18:09
Transposing 1917 onto Today: What We Can and Can't Learn — 15:21
The Two-Party Illusion: Kayfabe Politics — 33:44
Roots of US Imperialism: From Colonies to Global Empire — 39:10
The Corporate Media Machine & Manufacturing Consent — 46:22
Trans Athletes and the Art of Manufactured Wedge Issues — 47:44
Why You Can't Vote Your Way to Socialism — 50:02
Stalin Being Vilified: A US Imperial Necessity — 51:42
Closing: Plant the Apple Tree — 55:01
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Donorbox
donorbox.org/each-one-teach-one-3
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
Subscribe to our Substack:
realprogressives.substack.com
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
