A.K. 47 - Selections from the Works of Alexandra Kollontai

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee and her daughter discuss the "value" of our relationships. Why is it an achievement to have a hundred thousand followers on social media (most of whom you will never know), but not an achievement to have ten really close friends? Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no a...

Kristen Ghodsee and her daughter discuss the what's in and out for the new year, including Kollontai, Kir Royale cocktails, and community care. Mentioned in the episode are Rebecca Amsellem's podcast, " The Method ;" the Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women's Activists around the World , Sophie Lewis's new book, Abolish the Family , Liza Featherstone's forthcomin...

Kristen Ghodsee reads a 21 January 1923 piece from the New York Times .  A labor leader from Seattle gives his impressions of women in Russia, including his attendance at the World Congress of Women held in Moscow. Discussed in this episode are the current protests against mandatory headscarves for women in Iran in the context of the Soviet campaign to "emancipate" Central Asian and Cauc...

In this episode Kristen Ghodsee reads a newspaper article from the periodical Current Opinion from 18 January 1918, just months after the Russian Revolution. The article, "Madame Kollontay: Heroine of the Bolsheviki Upheaval In Petrograd," is a profile of Kollontai by an American newspaper using Swiss  sources. Much of the information is incorrect, and the article draws on many negative...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee finally finishes the second essay in the 1919 pamphlet, "Women Worker's Struggle for Their Rights," where Kollontai implicitly acknowledges the important work of bourgeois feminists in ensuring that socialist men took women's issues seriously. Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no...

After a three-month hiatus while she dealt with the aftermath of a nasty bout of COVID-19,  Kristen Ghodsee returns for a two-part conversation with her daughter, who is now a junior at her university. These episodes explore questions of contemporary sexual politics on college campuses and whether Kollontai's work on "winged" and "wingless" eros can help to make better sen...

After a three-month hiatus while she dealt with the aftermath of a nasty bout of COVID-19,  Kristen Ghodsee returns for a two-part conversation with her daughter, who is now a junior at her university. These episodes explore questions of contemporary sexual politics on college campuses and whether Kollontai's work on "winged" and "wingless" eros can help to make better sen...

Kristen Ghodsee (now dealing with long Covid) reads the second part of the essay, "Forms of Organization of Women Workers in the West ," which is the second essay in the pamphlet, "Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights" published in 1919. Mentioned in this episode is a 50% discount code for the new book from Verso: Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women...

Kristen Ghodsee (recovering from Covid) reads the first part of the essay, "Forms of Organization of Women Workers in the West ," which is the second essay in the pamphlet, "Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights" published in 1919. Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter . You'll get maybe one newsletter every 2 to 3 months. Also, here is a...

Kristen Ghodsee (with Covid) reads the fourth part of the essay, "The Socialist Movement of Women Workers in Different Countries," part of the pamphlet, "Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights" published in 1918. Mentioned in this episode is the run-off election for the French National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron's coalition did lose their parliamentary majority ....

Kristen Ghodsee reads the third part of the essay, "The Socialist Movement of Women Workers in Different Countries," part of the pamphlet, "Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights" published in 1918. Mentioned in this episode is the article about August Bebel, " Socialists Have Long Fought for Women’s Liberation ," in Jacobin Magazine . Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee&ap...

In response to a leaked Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade , the landmark decision that guaranteed all American women autonomy over their own bodies, Kristen Ghodsee reflects on the Romanian experience as well as a 1936 interview with Kollontai on the reversal of the 1920 Soviet law that made the Soviet Union the first country in the world to grant women access to abortion. In t...

Kristen Ghodsee reads the second part of the essay, "The Socialist Movement of Women Workers in Different Countries," part of the pamphlet, "Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights" published in 1918. Mentioned in this episode is Jodi Dean's great book, Comrade . Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee's (very occasional) free newsletter . You'll get maybe one newsletter ev...

Kristen Ghodsee reads Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 pamphlet: "Women Workers Struggle for their Rights." Mentioned in this episode are the blurbs for Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women , forthcoming with Verso Books in July. “Written with clarity and zest, Red Valkyries is an illuminating introduction to the extraordinary lives of prominent socialist women in...

In this bonus episode, Kristen Ghodsee speaks with an anarchist activist recently returned from a pipeline resistance camp (who wished to remain anonymous). They discuss theories of organizing for successful social movements, and the lingering fears of the vanguard party that haunt the left. Mentioned in this episode are the books: Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity Through This Crisis (and the Next)...

For the 100th episode of A.K. 47, Kristen Ghodsee reads Alexandra Kollontai's 1915 speech, "The Third International," which she delivered in the United States while rallying Americans against World War I.  Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no ads and there is no monetization. If you'd like...

Kristen Ghodsee reads a 1912 speech which Alexandra Kollontai delivered on May 1st in Stockholm, Sweden. She talks about the intersections of war and capitalism. Mentioned in this episode is former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry's Book, My Journey at the Nuclear Brink where he discusses his opposition to the eastward expansion of NATO. For this episode, the Internationale is in Ukrai...

Kristen Ghodsee's (now twenty-year-old) daughter interviews Ghodsee about the original idea for the podcast and how it has developed since January 2019 when she posted her first episode.  Mentioned in this podcast are these books and articles: Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women , Verso Books, 2022 “ The Most Famous Feminist You’ve Never Heard Of ,” Ms. Magazine , Ma...

Kristen Ghodsee records part of a spontaneous chat with Minja Bujakovic and Marta Chmielewska, both Ph. D. researchers at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Over a bottle of wine, Minja discusses her Master's thesis examining the work of Kollontai as it was disseminated in interwar Yugoslavia. Of particular interest is the reported conversation that the French liberal femin...

Kristen Ghodsee discusses two key themes in Kollontai's 1918 essay, "New Woman." The first is the persistence of nostalgia for an imagined traditional family of the past that might save us from the difficulties and loneliness of late capitalism. Kollontai herself understood that many "new women" in the early years of the Soviet Union were nostalgic for the sheltered lives...

Kristen Ghodsee reads Part 4 of Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 essay: "New Woman" where Kollontai discusses the relationship between life and art in the representation of female characters in literature.  Kristen Ghodsee's author website: www.kristenghodsee.com Popular Books: Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence Red Valkyries: Fem...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee attempts to read the last part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 essay, "New Woman," but fails. Instead, she reflects on the sudden appearance of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the end of the Mycenaean civilization and the Greek dark ages, and some bad news about a good friend back home. Mentioned in this episode are the books: E verything was F...

Kristen Ghodsee reads Part 3 of Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 essay: "New Woman" where Kollontai discusses the relationship between life and art in the representation of female characters in literature.  Kristen Ghodsee's author website: www.kristenghodsee.com Popular Books: Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence Red Valkyries: Fem...

Kristen Ghodsee reads Part 2 of Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 essay: "New Woman" where Kollontai discusses the relationship between life and art in the representation of female characters in literature.  You can join Kristen Ghodsee's newsletter here [Note from Kristen Ghodsee: "Apologies for the weird "shushing" sound in the background. I do not have my regularly r...

Kristen Ghodsee reads Part 1 of Alexandra Kollontai's 1918 essay: "New Woman" where Kollontai discusses the relationship between life and art in the representation of female characters in literature.  Kristen Ghodsee's author website: www.kristenghodsee.com Popular Books: Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence Red Valkyries: Fem...