how can y'all listen to it without flying into a fit of rage? 5 min in and already we have a "totalitarian Stalinism" sighting. There is so much liberalism here.
Mike is good and I will defend him and his podcasts even if he is kinda liberal because they are good history and I miss them.
Yeah the quality of his podcast is so good I can easily look past the occasional blips of liberalism.
Yes, Mike is a lib who's been radicalizing with every season. It's pretty cool.
Right now he posts mostly comparisons between the French Revolution and current US domestic politics 🤔 :thinkin-lenin:
:gui: ?
His trajectory is too slow though. Like the intro to the Russian revolution he made in mid 2019 and he strains himself so hard to leave the door open for dismissal of Marxism. If you study history and don't read the writing on the wall then you might not be that good at reading.
People radicalize at their own pace. I think for Duncan what did it was seeing the same patterns throughout history (elites doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome), but he hasn't yet connected that to the immortal science.
I'll be interested to see his takes once we get to the actual revolution, particularly since he's taken a long break during Covid.
I guess that's when his rubber meets our road. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath though.
october by china mievelle is an easy read/listen on the topic written in narrative form if you're looking for an alternative
Second this. I've listened twice and will probably listen a third time. The audible narrator is terrible at pronouncing Russian names, though, as expected.
capitalism, the only mode of production that's not totalizing! would you like to buy a canister of clean air?
Mike is very good, love his podcasts. He's a radlib/socdem and doesn't pretend to be anything else. Frankly I think it's some of us here who paint him as a socialist or something when he isn't, and that sets expectations sky-high.
I mean if you want to engage with Soviet history you're going to deal with people who aren't crazy about Stalin or the USSR in general, it doesn't bother me at least.
I'll keep on listening. His historical research and thoroughness is impressive. I just don't really agree with the people saying he's radicalising.
His twitter account does not support the "Radicalizing Duncan" theory. I'll grant that he's more clear-sighted than when he started Revolutions, but he's writing a book sucking off Lafayette.
About to hit 1848 on my re-listen.
I mean the very first season has an episode about the diggers where he talks about how cool he thinks they are. I think Mike has been a bit Left forever, but is primarily a history nerd. For better or worse, history nerds are who we have to learn history from I guess.
yes, but it's also a well-packaged explanation of the history of revolutions through the collapse of feudalism. it's unbelievably valuable.
He's a PhD holder.
You can't make it that far in academia without swallowing some of the Kool Aid.
I have only listened to The Russian revolution season. How are the other seasons?
Listening to him slowly radicalize sounds pretty cool tbh. I was going to listen to the American rev season next just because it's short and I could use a refresher. But eventually I plan on listening to all of it, especially the french revolution!
slowly radicalizing liberal
See that's setting up an expectation that I don't think will ever happen. Don't say stuff like that.
I've posted this 8 hours ago. Since then I've listened to the first 8 episodes of the Russian chapter and the very first episode. So kindly fuck off.
He has definitely moved past liberalism since his earlier episodes.
This is just projection. You have know idea what his politics are and can only indirectly infer. I can tell you that when someone is explaining Marx and is compelled to state that the Labor Theory of Value today isn't entirely correct and doesn't say why that is that that person isn't a socialist. Historians aren't in the habit of editorialising except when they have to defend the dominant ideology.
I noticed someone is going around downvoting all my replies no matter the content. If that's you I'm telling you to seriously get a hold of yourself and grow up .
Loved the Russian episodes! They're great and they get better and better as they get closer to the actual revolution. I listened to a couple episodes of the Germany revolution first, and found it simply too boring to keep going. Maybe I should give it another listen, now that I've gotten used to the pace with the Russia episodes, but lets just say I really enjoyed the Russia ones and can't wait for the next season.
Duh. That's a given. I recommend Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary all the time. What surprises me is the people who say he's radicalizing.
I turned that off like within five minutes because the opening line is something like “everyone was just trying to do good and help the world by destroying Vietnam” or some shit. However I once met Ken Burns and drunkenly told him that The Civil War was amazing. He looked at me and said THANK YOU!
You have to grit your teeth but I'd still recommend it. He interviews Viet Minh veterans and it's good history. Just keep our normative conclusions and ignore his.
🙄 just get over it or grab a history book instead of a pod.
I can read a History book. I wanted to see what the fuss is about. You don't have to assume shit about me and be an ass about it.
It's a lot easier to learn history from a pod when commuting to work or working with your hands in the factory though
