“Abuse of power comes as no surprise.” Reading up on the GULAG.
Annie Clark aka St. Vincent - She actually did an interview where she talked about Stalin and it’s as bad as you’d think.
How much podcast and audiobook listening do you typically do?
I’m obsessed with podcasts and audiobooks. I probably listen to more audiobooks than I do music. I mean, I certainly listen to music — for enjoyment, for research, for just making sure I know what is happening. Luckily, maybe because I’m a musician, I can retain a lot of information that comes through on the auditory side. I mean, I’ve really been brushing up on my Stalin.
You’ve brushed up on your Stalin?
It makes me feel much better about where we are today. Because they had it bad.
It’s pretty bad now.
It’s really bad now. But it was worse. I’ll go ahead and say it was worse in Stalin’s Russia. So there we are. That makes me feel bright and sunny. I’ve been on a real Stasi Gulag Stalin kick for the past many months. Cold war, espionage — all of it.
https://archive.vn/Ci86Z
Anna Louise Strong seems to be an incredible person. Writing books from location in USSR, Laos, China, interviewing Mao, covering communist activities as they happened in the world.
She wrote a pamphlet in 1931 promoting Soviet Collectivization - I would love to read it if you know where it could be found
Yeah she's an amazing journalist, like she deserves to be treated if not equal to John Reed then on a greater level than him.
I'll check my books for her writings on the collectivization project, and dig around for a copy of that '31 pamphlet