Teach Me Communism

We’re very excited to introduce a new feature to our Patreon notes: illustrations by Christine! We’re still figuring out exactly how this will work, so pardon the pen scratching noises in the background. Our first edition of these notes will be made a public post so you all can take a look. Take a look and a listen to learn about the German Democratic Republic.   Check us out on social media: Merc...

An announcement on why we're out for this week. We appreciate your understanding, comrades!   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.com Patreon: Patreon.com/teachmecommunism   And like and subscribe to us at Teach Me Communism on YouTube!   Solidarity...

We talk about the revolutionary potential of… a stop motion animated children’s movie from 2000? Yes, that’s right, it’s Chicken Run! Come to Coop 17 to get the scoop on getting organized, being ready when the moment strikes, and just how far we can stretch a metaphor.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommuni...

Mail call! We get into many questions and many answers, including doctors, city planning, maximalism, pre-industrial cultures, distribution, and more!   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.com Patreon: Patreon.com/teachmecommunism   And like and subs...

It’s the thrilling conclusion of our first ever three-part episode, Stalin’s biography! Christine starts us off with another dramatic recap. Then we dive right into WWII. We zoom through a lot of history in this one before we give our concluding thoughts on this very complicated dude.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram:...

We’re back for part 2 of our Stalin episode! This goes over some economic plans, rapid collectivization and industrialization, and uh, some really not great stuff like purges. This episode ran a little long so we decided to cut it off right at the start of WWII. Tune in next time for part 3. Oh and enjoy Christine’s weird Will Arnett impression they use for recaps.   Check us out on social media:...

This week has been… a lot, to say the least, so we needed a space to vent. We fantasize about a pro-choice utopia, lay down rules for good communists, and for some reason go on a tangent dunking on British food. Reminder to be careful about privacy when researching abortion options and to support local abortion funds in your area. Stay safe out there, ya’ll.   Check us out on social media: Merch:...

We finally get to THAT GUY! Part one includes his early life all the way up to his rise to power in 1930. Topics include his folksy charm, Red Clippy, and ideas for a (totally) fictional revolution. Apologies for the slightly wonky audio quality; in person recordings are always a little more echoey for us.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?r...

In this episode we discuss democracy! What even is it? We talk about various leftist approaches to real democracy, the potential pitfalls of democracy and how to address them, and, of course, we put on our utopian dreamer hats and figure out how we would do things.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism T...

Join us and our big glasses of wine as we chat about a really not good thing: fascism! Whose idea was this anyway? Plus, dog art, bad French pronunciations and WWI time travel theories!   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.com Patreon: Patreon.com/t...

It’s absolute anarchy over here! CHAOS! DISORDER! Or is it? Maybe it’s just a cool way to run things. We talk about Errico Malatesta’s pamphlet, which includes cool stuff like wolves and wine.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.com Patreon: Patreo...

Christine decides to take us off the rails a bit and we just chat. Topics include Mass Effect and transhumanism, leftist scolds, other leftist podcasts we like, the documentary Our Father, and some research tips.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail...

What are the do’s and don’ts of leading a slave rebellion? How many sons does this guy have, anyway, and why is one of them named Salmon? What do trains have to do with Bleeding Kansas? Find out the answer to these questions and more!   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail:...

It’s another music episode! We chat about Paul Robeson, a way too talented guy who was a football player, actor, singer, civil rights activist, communist, and a correctly typed Aries. We also get into some rabbit holes about classical music and occult stuff because well, it's us. Link to the playlist for this episode is here .

Despite the best efforts of Dave and Dan and our pesky cats, we manage to record an episode talking about the movie The Young Karl Marx. Marx is a wife guy. Engels has drip. Christine does a bad French accent.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.co...

Who’s that guy who led Tanganyika, then Tanzania, then did some socialism, then got nominated for sainthood? Oh yeah, it’s Julius Nyerere, the subject of our podcast today!   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gmail.com Patreon: Patreon.com/teachmecommuni...

This week, Grady tells us about the United States backed coup to takeover an independent kingdom, better known as the annexation of Hawaii. The characters in this tale include scammers, missionaries, sugar cane tycoons, and double crossing ambassadors.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teac...

Let’s talk more about food! We cover organic farming, grazing management, the ethics of eating animals, and wrap up with our overall thoughts on how capitalism affects our relationship with food and how we’d handle it instead. Christine dunks on philosophers a bit and we talk about the urban/rural divide.   Check us out on social media: Merch:  https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?r...

What does corn have to do with capitalism? A lot, apparently! Find out how this weird grass has taken over almost every aspect of agriculture. Hilariously enough, after this episode Christine came downstairs to find grilled corn had been prepared for dinner.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter:...

It’s our seasonal mailbag episode! We answer questions about aliens, Judas Iscariot, serial killers and the Smurfs? My Wikipedia search history is wild, ya’ll. We also take a leftist values quiz and discuss our results. Quiz is here if you want to see what you get! https://leftvalues.github.io/   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068...

This week, we apply our leftist lens to The Quiet Year, a collaborative map making game where you play as a community trying to survive and prep for the coming winter. Tales of ambitious projects, sun temples, and roving gangs of libertarians ensue! Be sure to check our social media for images of our map throughout the seasons.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/store...

Grady’s got a fierce competitor for Christine’s undivided attention this week: their adorable cat, Higgins. But the story of the British Labour Party is juuuust enough to pique their interest, what with its union roots, interesting strategy, and that inexplicable allure of the electoral horse race.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10...

Today Christine is telling us about MOVE Philadelphia, a radical organization most known for its encounters with the Philadelphia Police Department in the 1970s and 1980s. We talk about just how far a city will go to get rid of an organization that doesn’t gel with their beliefs. Warning: This episode talks about a lot of police violence.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepubli...

BOO! That’s the First Red Scare sneakin’ up on ya. Look, after a while it’s hard to write cool new episode descriptions. Anyway, we’re talking strike actions, propaganda of the deed and senate committees over here.   Check us out on social media: Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/teach-me-communism?ref_id=10068 Instagram: @teachmecommunism Twitter: @teachcommunism Gmail: teachmecommunism@gma...

This week we’re reading Mao’s Combat Liberalism. We talk about the state of today’s left, how to respectfully disagree with others, what place identity has in our politics, and what would happen to the movement if we got healthcare, like, tomorrow. Find the reading here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_03.htm   Check us out on social media: Merch: https...