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

In this bonus episode, Kristen Ghodsee speaks with her daughter about care work in the time of coronavirus lockdowns. As the school year begins in the United States, many children are learning remotely, creating an incredible burden on working parents. How can you socialize childcare and other forms of care work during a pandemic when institutional options are few and far between, and when state a...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee takes a break from reading Red Love to reflect on the state of the world during the coronavirus pandemic and how to cope with political despair and what the Germans aptly call Weltschmerz .  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 li...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads Part Two of Chapter Five of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . August Special: All E-books of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence are only $2.99 for August 2020 in the United States. Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account an...

Kristen R. Ghodsee discusses the ongoing protests in Portland, Oregon and reads Part One of Chapter Five of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . Mentioned in this episode are: the Wall of Moms , the Mothers of the Disappeared , Women in Black , the women who marched in Russia in February 1917 , and the women's march to Versailles in 1789 .  Send...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads Chapter Four of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . Mentioned in the episode are the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World . 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 to support the...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads Chapter Three of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love .  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 to support the work being done here, please spread the word with your networks. Kristen R. Gho...

A brief meta-reflection on the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . Kristen R. Ghodsee pauses in her reading to discuss relationships, Hype Beasts, capitalism, and feminism with her 18-year-old daughter. Mentioned is this episode is this TikTok by Sally as well as this song by Lizzo.  Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patr...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads part 2 of Chapter Two of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . 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 to support the work being done here, please spread the word with your networks. Kristen...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads part one of Chapter Two of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . Mentioned in this episode are the following books: Amis, B.D. African American Radical: A Short Anthology of Writings and Speeches. Andrews, Gregg. Thyra J. Edwards: Black Activist in the Global Freedom Struggle. Davies, Carole Boyce. Left of Karl Marx: The Politi...

Kristen R. Ghodsee reads Chapter One of the 1927 English translation of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love . 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 to support the work being done here, please spread the word with your networks. Kristen R. Ghodse...

Kristen R. Ghodsee introduces Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love (full text available at marxists.org) and reads the Foreword to the 1927 English language edition. Also mentioned in the episode is Sally Rooney's novel, Normal People . _______ "This novel is neither a study in “morals,” nor a picture of the standard of life in Soviet Russia. It is a purely psychological stu...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee reads a passage from Cathy Porter's excellent biography of Alexandra Kollontai about the events of the year 1922 when Kollontai turned 50. Her standing in the Party was at its worst and her marriage to Dubenko was falling apart. It was during this time that she wrote her "Letters to Working Youth," trying to share her experience and advice with the y...

In this episode Kristen Ghodsee reads the third and final part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "Sisters." The "Nepmen" in the story are Soviet revolutionaries that take advantage of Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) to get rich and return to traditional gender roles. Kollontai herself was very critical of the NEP and especially its effects on Soviet women. ...

In this episode Kristen Ghodsee reads the second part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "Sisters." The "Nepmen" in the story are Soviet revolutionaries that take advantage of Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) to get rich and return to traditional gender roles. Kollontai herself was very critical of the NEP and especially its effects on Soviet women.  Send us...

In this episode Kristen Ghodsee reflects on the coronavirus and begins to read Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "Sisters." Mentioned in this episode are the $2.99 e-book sale for the entire month of April for Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence , as well as Ghodsee's April 6th appearance on the Quarantine Books Club . ...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee send greetings from New Zealand and shares some exciting news about various articles and interviews that were published in conjunction with International Women's Day and Women's History Month. Please find below a list of links mentioned in this podcast: three in English and two in German. There is also a link to a Spanish translation of the New York Times...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee recounts the amazing story of how Alexandra Kollontai saved the lives of one of her colleague's parents in Sweden. After the Nazi invasion of Norway in 1940, Hans Cerf and his wife needed to immediately get out of Europe through Moscow, but the clerk in the Soviet embassy in Stockholm said that it would take six weeks to issue them visas. Enter one "beaut...

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee discusses the fraught historical relationship between left movements and women's emancipation. As the case of Kollontai shows us, revolutionary men do not always remain committed to women's issues after the revolution has been accomplished. Mentioned in this essay is this article about August Bebel from Jacobin Magazine. Send us Fan Mail Thanks so much fo...

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee discusses Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai's advice....

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads the final part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai&...

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads the fourth part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai...

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads the third part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai&...

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads the second part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai...

In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads the first part of Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 short story, "The Loves of Three Generations," her most controversial piece of fiction and one that caused her terrible amounts of trouble with her Bolshevik colleagues. This story is written as a letter to Kollontai from a revolutionary comrade who is having personal problems and seeks Kollontai&...

In this bonus episode, Kristen Ghodsee speaks once again with Angelina Eimannsberger, a doctoral student in Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, about Alexandra Kollontai and the usefulness of her theories today, particularly with regard to popular culture. Mentioned in this episode are Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine , and the political economy of...