Podcasts about Great Leap Forward

Episode Summary:In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the complex and often suppressed memory of China's recent past. Drawing on Tania Branigan's Red Memory, we delve into the heart of Beijing—Tiananmen Square—and unpack its layers of history, from the May Fourth Movement of 1919 to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and the tragedy of 1989.Why does the portrait of Mao Zedong still gaze over the square, despite the catastrophes of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution? How does the Chinese Communist Party use "Red Tourism" and curated museums to construct a narrative of national rejuvenation while burying the trauma of its own making? From the "Century of Humiliation" to Xi Jinping's "Chinese Dream," we examine how memory is not just history, but a tool of state legitimacy.Plus: A reminder for students! Tickets are selling fast for our live masterclass on the Russian Revolution and Stalinism on January 26th.and you can access advert free episodes here on PatreonKey Topics:Tiananmen Square: A site of revolution, celebration, and massacre.The Cult of Mao: Why the Chairman remains the "vigilant eye" over modern China.Red Tourism: How the party commodifies its revolutionary past.Historical Amnesia: The erasure of the Cultural Revolution and the Great Famine from public discourse.Books Mentioned:Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China's Cultural Revolution by Tania BraniganThe Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm (referenced contextually)Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT MAO'S SINICIZATION OF MARXISM AND THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD Colleague Joseph Torigian. Torigian discusses how Mao "sinicized" Marxism, rejecting Sovietdogmatism to interpret ideology flexibly. While Xi Zhongxun respected Mao's practical application of Leninism to China, Torigian notes that abandoning the Soviet model—viewed as "revisionist"—ultimately resulted in the Great Leap Forward, causing the deaths of approximately 30 million people. 1910 QING DYNASTY

MAO'S XENOPHOBIC REVOLUTION AND THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD Colleague Professor Sean McMeekin. Moving to China, McMeekin explains that Mao Zedong's ideology was a "bizarre melange" of Marxism, class envy, and intense xenophobia. Unlike European communists, Chinese communism was driven by a deep resentment of foreign imperialism. The conversation analyzes the catastrophe of the Great Leap Forward, where Maoattempted to surpass British economic output by collectivizing agriculture and creating "industrial armies"—an idea taken directly from the Communist Manifesto and Stalin's Five-Year Plans. This experiment resulted in the death of 40 to 45 million people. McMeekin notes that Mao ignored warnings from Soviet advisors to avoid their past mistakes, driven instead by a competitive desire to outdo the Soviets and a "fantasmagorical" hatred of foreign influence. NUMBER 5

Founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong is currently being white washed for a new generation of "socialists". The record however, speaks for it's self.  Let's look into who Mao was, what his philosophy was and how he carried it out. This is not what is being taught in the colleges and universities!Email us at: downtherh@protonmail.com

Founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong is currently being white washed for a new generation of "socialist".The record however, speaks for it's self.Let's look into who Mao was, what his philosophy was and how he carried it out.This is not what is being taught in the colleges and universities!Email us at: downtherh@protonmail.com

HEADLINE: Mao Zedong, Xenophobia, and the Failure of the Great Leap Forward GUEST AUTHOR: Professor Sean McMeekin 50-WORD SUMMARY: Mao Zedong blended Marxism with fierce anti-imperialism and xenophobia, targeting the "global imperialistic system" and foreign influence. The Great Leap Forward combined elements from The Communist Manifesto, Stalin's collectivization, and competition with Khrushchev. This disastrous experiment, aiming to surpass Britain, led to chaos, famine, and the deaths of 40 to 45 million people.

The focus shifts to Mao Zedong and Chinese communism, which was highly influenced by sharp anti-imperialism and xenophobia, blending the Marxist binary struggle with resentment of foreign exploitation. After Stalin's death, Mao began to "experiment," resulting in the Great Leap Forward, which aimed to rapidly "catch up and surpass the West" by radically overturning agriculture and simultaneously industrializing. This chaotic effort, including the collectivization of agriculture and communal organization, led to a vast famine that caused the deaths of tens of millions of people.

The other day I sat down with Pastor Doug Wilson in Moscow, Idaho to have a conversation on all things China. I was excited to get his perspective, since he has personally lived through much of China’s modern communist history. I was not disappointed. In our 30+ minute conversation, we touched on many topics including the Great Leap Forward, Mao’s Great Famine, Doug’s Submarine Adventures with a Taiwanese crew, the China Legacies of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, the Tiananmen Square massacre (and revival), China’s modern-day revival, C.S. Lewis’s 1946 China optimism vs. Doug’s (short-term) pessimism, Hebrews 13:3 and how to pray for the persecuted, and PrayforChina.us’s helpful strategy! Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post new China city prayer profiles every single day. Feel free to send any notes or comments via email @ bfwesten at gmail dot com Find much more about our work in Asia, including my missionary biographies, at PrayGiveGo.us! Frank Dikotter (Dutch, not German) on China https://www.frankdikotter.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Maos-Great-Famine-Devastating-Catastrophe/dp/1408886367 Jimmy Carter’s Complicated China Legacy https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/jimmy-carters-complicated-china-legacy The C.S. Lewis China Letters https://chinacall.substack.com/p/the-cs-lewis-china-letters C.S. Lewis, Burnt Marshwiggle, and the Brainwashing of Richard Wurmbrand https://chinacall.substack.com/p/cs-lewis-burnt-marshwiggle-and-the The NBA, LeBron James, and China https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/nba-back-in-bed-with-china Pray for China places of the week (Follow @chinaadventures for daily updates) https://open.substack.com/pub/chinacall/p/pray-for-china-oct-13-19-2025 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. Follow us on X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

The other day I sat down with Pastor Doug Wilson in Moscow, Idaho to have a conversation on all things China. I was excited to get his perspective, since he has personally lived through much of China’s modern communist history. I was not disappointed. In our 30+ minute conversation, we touched on many topics including the Great Leap Forward, Mao’s Great Famine, Doug’s Submarine Adventures with a Taiwanese crew, the China Legacies of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, the Tiananmen Square massacre (and revival), China’s modern-day revival, C.S. Lewis’s 1946 China optimism vs. Doug’s (short-term) pessimism, Hebrews 13:3 and how to pray for the persecuted, and PrayforChina.us’s helpful strategy! Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post new China city prayer profiles every single day. Feel free to send any notes or comments via email @ bfwesten at gmail dot com Find much more about our work in Asia, including my missionary biographies, at PrayGiveGo.us! Frank Dikotter (Dutch, not German) on China https://www.frankdikotter.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Maos-Great-Famine-Devastating-Catastrophe/dp/1408886367 Jimmy Carter’s Complicated China Legacy https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/jimmy-carters-complicated-china-legacy The C.S. Lewis China Letters https://chinacall.substack.com/p/the-cs-lewis-china-letters C.S. Lewis, Burnt Marshwiggle, and the Brainwashing of Richard Wurmbrand https://chinacall.substack.com/p/cs-lewis-burnt-marshwiggle-and-the The NBA, LeBron James, and China https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/nba-back-in-bed-with-china Pray for China places of the week (Follow @chinaadventures for daily updates) https://open.substack.com/pub/chinacall/p/pray-for-china-oct-13-19-2025 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. Follow us on X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

Send us a textWelcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 475 - Echoes of Horror  Man is capable of tremendous atrocities against other individuals. An example is The Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961): This was a period of mass starvation under Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward.  While the exact number of deaths is debated, estimates range from 15 to 55 million people. While not a direct campaign of extermination like the Holocaust, it was the result of deliberate and disastrous government policies that led to mass death.The Soviet Purges and Gulag System where a result of Joseph Stalin's policies. This period led to widespread repression, forced labor, and mass executions. The death toll from famines, executions, and the Gulag system is estimated to be in the tens of millions, with some sources citing numbers as high as 20 million people.The conquests of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century are considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. It's estimated that military campaigns led by Genghis Khan and his successors resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people, though a precise number is impossible to determine.And while these events often had a higher total number of victims, the Nazi Extermination Efforts - or Holocaust - is distinguished by its systematic, state-sponsored industrial-scale goal of exterminating an entire people.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

While Jonah's travels continue, guest host Kevin Williamson is joined by Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, for a discussion of China's approach to engineering in the 21st century, what living in Shanghai during the pandemic was like, and the future of U.S.-China relations. Show Notes:—Dan Wang's website—Kevin for The Dispatch: “Understanding China's Engineering Empire” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi friends! We're taking a much-needed summer pause—we'll have new episodes for you later in September. In the meanwhile, enjoy this pick from our archives! ------- [originally aired June 1, 2023] There's a common story about the human past that goes something like this. For a few hundred thousand years during the Stone Age we were kind of limping along as a species, in a bit of a cognitive rut, let's say. But then, quite suddenly, around 30 or 40 thousand years ago in Europe, we really started to come into our own. All of a sudden we became masters of art and ornament, of symbolism and abstract thinking. This story of a kind of "cognitive revolution" in the Upper Paleolithic has been a mainstay of popular discourse for decades. I'm guessing you're familiar with it. It's been discussed in influential books by Jared Diamond and Yuval Harari; you can read about it on Wikipedia. What you may not know is that this story, compelling as it may be, is almost certainly wrong. My first guest today is Dr. Eleanor Scerri, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, where she heads the Pan-African Evolution research group. My second guest is Dr. Manuel Will, an archaeologist and Lecturer at the University of Tübingen in Germany. Together, Eleanor and Manuel are authors of a new paper titled 'The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens.' In the paper, they pull together a wealth of evidence showing that there really was no cognitive revolution—no one watershed moment in time and space. Rather, the origins of modern human cognition and culture are to be found not in one part of Europe but across Africa. And they're also to be found much earlier than that classic picture suggests.  Here, we talk about the “cognitive revolution" model and why it has endured. We discuss a seminal paper from the year 2000 that first influentially challenged the revolution model. We talk about the latest evidence of complex cognition from the Middle Stone Age in Africa—including the perforation of marine shells to make necklaces; and the use of ochre for engraving, painting, and even sunblock. We discuss how, though the same complex cognitive abilities were likely in place for the last few hundred thousand years, those abilities were often expressed patchily in different parts of the world at different times. And we consider the factors that led to this patchy expression, especially changes in population size.   I confess I was always a bit taken with this whole "cognitive revolution" idea. It had a certain mystery and allure. This new picture that's taking its place is certainly a bit messier, but no less fascinating. And, more importantly, it's truer to the complexities of the human saga.  Alright friends, on to my conversation with Eleanor Scerri & Manuel Will. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 3:30 – The paper by Dr. Scerri and Dr. Will we discuss in this episode is here. Their paper updates and pays tribute to a classic paper by McBrearty and Brooks, published in 2000. 6:00 – The classic “cognitive revolution” model sometimes discussed under the banner of “behavioral modernity” or the “Great Leap Forward.” It has been recently featured, for instance, in Harari's Sapiens. 11:00 – Dr. Scerri has written extensively on debates about where humans evolved within Africa—see, e.g., this paper.  18:00 – A study of perforated marine shells in North Africa during the Middle Stone Age. A paper by Dr. Will and colleagues about the use of various marine resources during this period.  23:00 – A paper describing the uses of ochre across Africa during the Middle Stone Age. Another paper describing evidence for ochre processing 100,000 years ago at Blombos Cave in South Africa. At the same site, engraved pieces of ochre have been found. 27:00 – A study examining the evidence that ochre was used as an adhesive. 30:00 – For a recent review of the concept of “cumulative culture,” see here. We discussed the concept of “cumulative culture” in our earlier episode with Dr. Cristine Legare.  37:00 – For an overview of the career of the human brain and the timing of various changes, see our earlier episode with Dr. Jeremy DeSilva. 38:00 – An influential study on the role of demography in the emergence of complex human behavior. 41:00 – On the idea that distinctive human intelligence is due in large part to culture and our abilities to acquire cultural knowledge, see Henrich's The Secret of Our Success. See also our earlier episode with Dr. Michael Muthukrishna.  45:00 – For discussion of the Neanderthals and why they may have died out, see our earlier episode with Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes.    Recommendations Dr. Scerri recommends research on the oldest Homo sapiens fossils, found in Morocco and described here, and new research on the evidence for the widespread burning of landscapes in Malawi, described here.  Dr. Will recommends the forthcoming update of Peter Mitchell's book, The Archaeology of Southern Africa. See Twitter for more updates from Dr. Scerri and Dr. Will.   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

In 1958, the People's Republic of China instituted its second five-year plan since the revolution.  Its goal was to rapidly industrialize China and boost agriculture to levels on par with the advanced economies of the Western world. China was going to become a modern country, not through the widespread adoption of machinery, but through the mass mobilization of labor. It didn't work. Not only didn't it work, but it was one of the greatest failures in world history.  Learn more about the Great Leap Forward, what it was, and why it failed so miserably on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Newspapers.com Get 20% off your subscription to Newspapers.com Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Jerry Compare quotes and coverages side-by-side from up to 50 top insurers at jerry.ai/daily. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode delivers a wild and humorous dive into why the baboon is the African bushveld's ultimate communist. We'll explore their chaotic social structures and how their "Great Leap Forward" foraging habits devastate bird populations and crucial plant life, alongside causing millions in damage to industries like timber and agriculture. We'll also expose their cunning "victim" PR campaigns—including those well-meaning "save the baboon" initiatives—even as their bold incursions into human areas lead to property damage and dangerous attacks. Natural predators simply can't control their soaring numbers, making human intervention a critical part of restoring balance.   Enjoy the episode, and remember to Rate & Review!   Cheers  

This is part two of our series with Joseph Torigian, author of the definitive biography of Xi Zhongxun. This episode traces the inner world of a man navigating power politics, exile, and reform, and the legacy he left his son, Xi Jinping. Against the backdrop of the Great Leap Forward, the Sino-Soviet split, the Cultural Revolution, and reform and opening up, we discuss… The moral dilemmas of a mid-level party cadre, What it's like to be purged, and why the party prescribes self-criticism as therapy, “Frenemies” in the CCP, Deng Xiaoping's autocratic side, and the unsung heros of the reform period, How Xi Zhongxun instilled party loyalty and other values in his son, Xi Zhongxun's return from exile and his complicated relationship with reform, How Chinese leaders think about redemption, guilt, and survival, And a bonus: Why the PRC-produced biopic of Xi Zhongxun is so disappointing — and why his life deserves the Star Wars treatment. Outro music: Teresa Teng - 小城故事 (YouTube Link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is part two of our series with Joseph Torigian, author of the definitive biography of Xi Zhongxun. This episode traces the inner world of a man navigating power politics, exile, and reform, and the legacy he left his son, Xi Jinping. Against the backdrop of the Great Leap Forward, the Sino-Soviet split, the Cultural Revolution, and reform and opening up, we discuss… The moral dilemmas of a mid-level party cadre, What it's like to be purged, and why the party prescribes self-criticism as therapy, “Frenemies” in the CCP, Deng Xiaoping's autocratic side, and the unsung heros of the reform period, How Xi Zhongxun instilled party loyalty and other values in his son, Xi Zhongxun's return from exile and his complicated relationship with reform, How Chinese leaders think about redemption, guilt, and survival, And a bonus: Why the PRC-produced biopic of Xi Zhongxun is so disappointing — and why his life deserves the Star Wars treatment. Outro music: Teresa Teng - 小城故事 (YouTube Link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert L. Suettinger examines China's political evolution, from Mao's devastating Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution to Xi Jinping's reversal of market reforms. He underscores the Chinese people's persistent desire for freedom, countered by the regime's repressive surveillance and control.Exploring Hu Yaobang's legacy and the Tiananmen Square protests, Suettinger critiques Beijing's economic policies and surveillance tactics. He questions the sustainability of China's trajectory, weighing its demographic crisis and military ambitions in the Western Pacific, offering insights into its precarious path. Robert Lee Suettinger is a historian of contemporary politics in the People's Republic of China. He spent nearly 24 years in the intelligence and foreign policy bureaucracies of the US federal government. As well as writing a book on the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Suettinger's most recent one is entitled The Conscience Of The Party: Hu Yaobang, China' Communist Reformer.

Joining the European Economic Community in the early 1970s profoundly changed the way we farm and produce food in Ireland, but this was also an era of great change within our food culture. Join us in this episode of Food Island, where we discuss the era spanning from the 1970s to the year 2000. Host Janine Kennedy speaks with Irish Farmers Journal journalists Pat O'Toole and Phelim O'Neill, Co Cork dairy farmers Tim and Katherine O'Leary and chef Eunice Power.Food Island is presented by multi-award-winning food journalist Janine Kennedy and brought to you by the Irish Farmers Journal. It shares the evolving story of Ireland's rich food ways, farming cultures and gastronomy. This special six-part series on the past, present and future of Irish food and agriculture was produced in collaboration with the UCD Earth Institute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame" (1 Co 15:33–35).In this sermon, Caleb warns against deception, using the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast to illustrate how easily people can be misled. Historical examples like Nazi propaganda, Mao's Great Leap Forward, and Rwandan radio lies show the devastating consequences of believing falsehoods. The sermon emphasizes that what we believe shapes our thoughts, actions, and worship, drawing from A.W. Tozer's insight that our view of God is paramount. Paul's three imperatives guide believers to avoid deception: keep good company, as bad influences corrupt morals; be sober-minded, rejecting false teaching to live righteously; and know God deeply, as ignorance of Him leads to spiritual drift. The resurrection anchors this call to clarity, urging listeners to align their lives with gospel truth. The sermon closes with an invitation to the Lord's Table, encouraging reflection on Christ's historical and personal resurrection, which empowers believers to resist deception and live faithfully.

Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America by Ann Coulter. French Revolution chapter 6 All of Ann Coulter's Books are a must have on every Conservatives' bookshelf. Buy them Today... All of them!   The demon is a mob, and the mob is demonic. The Democratic Party activates mobs, depends on mobs, coddles mobs, publicizes and celebrates mobs—it is the mob. Sweeping in its scope and relentless in its argument, Demonic explains the peculiarities of liberals as standard groupthink behavior. To understand mobs is to understand liberals.   In her most provocative book to date, Ann Coulter argues that liberals exhibit all the psychological characteristics of a mob, for instance:   Liberal Groupthink: “The same mob mentality that leads otherwise law-abiding people to hurl rocks at cops also leads otherwise intelligent people to refuse to believe anything they haven't heard on NPR.” Liberal Schemes: “No matter how mad the plan is—Fraternité, the ‘New Soviet Man,' the Master Race, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, Building a New Society, ObamaCare—a mob will believe it.” Liberal Enemies: “Instead of ‘counterrevolutionaries,' liberals' opponents are called ‘haters,' ‘those who seek to divide us,' ‘tea baggers,' and ‘right-wing hate groups.' Meanwhile, conservatives call liberals ‘liberals'—and that makes them testy.” Liberal Justice: “In the world of the liberal, as in the world of Robespierre, there are no crimes, only criminals.” Liberal Violence: “If Charles Manson's followers hadn't killed Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, Clinton would have pardoned him, too, and he'd probably be teaching at Northwestern University.”   Citing the father of mob psychology, Gustave Le Bon, Coulter catalogs the Left's mob behaviors: the creation of messiahs, the fear of scientific innovation, the mythmaking, the preference for images over words, the lack of morals, and the casual embrace of contradictory ideas. Coulter traces the history of the liberal mob to the French Revolution and Robespierre's revolutionaries (delineating a clear distinction from America's founding fathers), who simply proclaimed that they were exercising the “general will” before slaughtering their fellow citizens “for the good of mankind.” Similarly, as Coulter demonstrates, liberal mobs, from student radicals to white-trash racists to anti-war and pro-ObamaCare fanatics today, have consistently used violence to implement their idea of the “general will.” This is not the American tradition; it is the tradition of Stalin, of Hitler, of the guillotine—and the tradition of the American Left. As the heirs of the French Revolution, Democrats have a history that consists of pandering to mobs, time and again, while Republicans, heirs to the American Revolution, have regularly stood for peaceable order. Hoping to muddy this horrifying truth, liberals slanderously accuse conservatives of their own crimes—assassination plots, conspiracy theorizing, political violence, embrace of the Ku Klux Klan. Coulter shows that the truth is the opposite: Political violence—mob violence—is always a Democratic affair. Surveying two centuries of mob movements, Coulter demonstrates that the mob is always destructive. And yet, she argues, beginning with the civil rights movement in the sixties, Americans have lost their natural, inherited aversion to mobs. Indeed, most Americans have no idea what they are even dealing with.             Only by recognizing the mobs and their demonic nature can America begin to defend itself.

In Episode 423 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Joseph Torigian, an expert on the politics of authoritarian regimes and the Chinese Communist Party, with a particular focus on elite power struggles, civil-military relations, and grand strategy. Torigian is also the author of a widely discussed new book titled “The Party's Interests Come First,” a political biography and historical analysis of Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping,  the leader of China and the head of the Chinese Communist Party. In the first hour, Torigian and Kofinas trace the evolution, internal contradictions, and complex dynamics of political power and succession within the Chinese Communist Party, revealing the critical role that personal networks, ideological discipline, factional struggle, and narrative have played in shaping Chinese political history and culture. They explore several critical periods in Chinese communist party history, including Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, the period of reform and opening up under Deng Xiaoping, and the post-Tiananmen period following the 1989 crackdown. In the second hour, Kofinas and Torigian focus on China's current leader, Xi Jinping, examining the political lessons he has drawn from the struggles endured by his father while exploring how those experiences have shaped his party loyalties and reinforced his commitment to restoring China's greatness and securing its position on the global stage. Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you'd like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you enjoyed today's episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by: Subscribing on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, CastBox, or via our RSS Feed Writing us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify Joining our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/ Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe and support the podcast at https://hiddenforces.io. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas Episode Recorded on 06/17/2025

From the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, to the Chinese Revolution and Civil War, through the Long March and the rise of Mao Zedong, to the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, all the way to Deng's Reform and China today, Professor of East Asian and Global History Dr. Ken Hammond walk us through 200 years of Chinese history to highlight in detail how modern China was forged through centuries of class struggle, resistance, rebellion, and revolution.  After listening to this mega-episode you will have a profound, and deeply inspired, understanding of the rich modern history of China, and be much better able to understand its present and future.   This series originally aired on Guerrilla History in the Spring of 2024 Support Guerrilla History HERE Learn More, Follow, and Support Rev Left Radio HERE

PREVIEW: Author Joseph Torigian, "The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun" comments on how Xi Jinping's father, Xi Zhongxun, came to admire Mao before the catastrophe of the Great Leap Forward mass death by famine. More later and next week. 1949 XI ZHONGXUN

Xi Van Fleet, author of "Mao's America," discusses the Cultural Revolution's impact on education and society. She explains how Mao targeted intellectuals and teachers, using youth indoctrinated in government schools to destroy old institutions. Van Fleet compares this strategy to modern movements like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, noting the use of divisive language and the empowerment of youth. She warns of the dangers of importing proletarians to create a larger underclass and divide American society. Van Fleet emphasizes the importance of understanding historical parallels to counter current political strategies aimed at consolidating power.0:00:00 - Intro0:00:20 - Cultural Revolution & It's Impact on Education 0:03:00 - Role of Intellectuals & The Great Leap Forward 0:06:32 - The Red Guards & Giving Young People Power 0:13:20 - Terminology & Counter-Revolutionaries 0:14:25 - Division By Class: Peasants, Elites & False Promises 0:20:45 - Advice to Americans, Red Flags & Communists USA0:26:05 - Division By Oppression & Rich Hypocrisy 0:28:37 - Immigration, Recruiting Revolutionaries & Promises0:33:16 - What Happens to Rich Liberals with Communism 0:37:15 - Dealing with Homeless & Drug Addicts & Power 0:40:35 - Labor Camps, Removing Threats & Power Struggles0:46:13 - Puppet Masters, Globalists & Excuses to Take Power 0:48:53 - Education & Youth in China Vs America 0:53:50 - Outro Xi Van Fleet X account:https://x.com/XVanFleetXi Van Fleet book "Mao's America: A Survivor's Warning" on Amazon:https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1546006311?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_3HC7306SB91XQ027VJ67&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_3HC7306SB91XQ027VJ67&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_3HC7306SB91XQ027VJ67&bestFormat=trueChuck Shute link tree:https://linktr.ee/chuck_shuteSupport the showThanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

A Year Just Happened in a WeekOverviewThis newsletter issue captures an extraordinary acceleration in technological innovation within an especially intense week, focusing on the broad and deep impact of AI across industries and devices. Listeners get a front-row seat to seismic shifts at major AI players—Google, Anthropic, OpenAI—and how their breakthroughs and strategic maneuvers are reshaping software, hardware, venture capital, productivity, and ethics.What makes this collection compelling is its exploration of AI's layered disruption—from Google's AI-powered reimagining of search and productivity tools, Anthropic's record-breaking AI assistant capable of deep autonomous work, to OpenAI's audacious entry into consumer hardware design with Apple's design luminary Jony Ive. The newsletter also provides reflections on startup funding trends, evolving AI workplace mandates, and foundational debates over AI's ethical architecture and future ecosystem. Together, these pieces sketch a vivid snapshot of an inflection point in AI where technology, business models, and societal stakes intertwine.Key TrendsKey Trend 1: The AI Technology Leap — From Advanced Models to New Product ParadigmsAI development is surging at unprecedented pace, not just in capability but in practical integration across applications and devices. The focus is shifting from conceptual AI to usable, extended-duration, agentic assistants deeply embedded in daily workflows and consumer products.Significance: This trend reflects AI moving beyond isolated bursts of insight or simple chat interfaces to sustained, autonomous collaboration with users, spanning complex reasoning, coding, multi-modal inputs, and tool integrations. This lays the foundation for redefining productivity, creativity, and user experience in the AI era.Key Trend 2: Strategic Hardware Plays and the Battle Beyond SoftwareOpenAI's multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Jony Ive's startup signals a strategic pivot into hardware—building new AI companion devices designed to transcend conventional screens and possibly displace smartphones. At the same time, Google pushes integrated AI experiences centered on search and productivity on existing platforms.Significance: This trend shifts AI competition into physical devices and operating environments, creating new battlegrounds involving design innovation and consumer ownership models, with potentially profound effects on user habits and ecosystem dynamics.Key Trend 3: Venture Capital Evolution in the AI and Tech LandscapeFunding trends reveal concentrated capital flows into AI, with Series B rounds showing volatility but an overarching pivot toward efficiency, profitability, and selective aggressive capital deployment. Seed investing scales with new playbooks supporting early founder engagement and dynamic portfolio strategies.Significance: This trend highlights the ongoing maturation and transformation of venture capital amid AI's rise, balancing risk, returns, and market realities, while exploring creative financing strategies crossing over traditional VC and private equity models.Key Trend 4: Workplace Transformation and AI-Driven ExpectationsLeading companies mandate widespread AI adoption to boost productivity, heighten efficiency, and reshape employee roles. Executives issue candid warnings on AI's impact on jobs while simultaneously emphasizing the opportunity to master AI tools or face obsolescence.Significance: This trend underscores the sociological and managerial upheaval driven by AI in the workforce, where adoption is non-negotiable and where AI influences morale, workflows, and corporate culture at a fundamental level.Key Trend 5: Calls for an Open, Protocol-Based AI Ecosystem vs. Concentration of PowerThere is growing advocacy for “an architecture of participation”—a decentralized, interoperable AI ecosystem fueled by open protocols and multi-agent cooperation—to avoid premature monopolization by dominant platforms. Yet, industry maneuvers reveal increasingly concentrated power among a few mega players.Significance: This sets the stage for an ideological and practical contest over the future of AI infrastructure: will it foster broad innovation and cooperation or become locked under monopolistic control? The ultimate shape of AI's ecosystem has huge technological, economic, and ethical implications.Talking Points for Each TrendTrend 1: The AI Technology LeapTalking Point 1: Anthropic's Claude Opus 4 demonstrated sustained 7-hour autonomous coding and set new benchmarks (72.5% on SWE-Bench), reflecting AI's step from quick interactions to deep, continuous collaboration.> “Anthropic is reshaping the landscape... pushing the boundaries of what machines can achieve in creative and technical collaboration over sustained periods.” (VentureBeat)Talking Point 2: Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro introduces ‘Deep Think' mode for complex multi-hypothesis reasoning, advancing AI's understanding and problem-solving in dynamic environments.> “Gemini 2.5 Pro... features an enhanced reasoning mode called 'Deep Think', evaluating multiple possible answers before responding.” (VentureBeat)Trend 2: Strategic Hardware PlaysTalking Point 1: OpenAI's acquisition of Jony Ive's startup io ($6.5B) marks their largest deal, signaling a major move into “physical AI embodiments” with devices aiming to reduce screen dependence and potentially challenge Apple's dominance.> “They are working on a new device... fully aware of a user's surroundings... designed as a third core device alongside MacBook and iPhone.” (Reuters)Talking Point 2: Google, while heavily AI-centric, remains focused on embedding AI in software and services (Search, NotebookLM mobile, AI Overviews), reinforcing software ecosystems but facing competition on the device front.> “Google launched AI Mode... a 'total reimagining of search'... while rolling out NotebookLM mobile for on-the-go AI productivity.” (FT.com)Trend 3: Venture Capital EvolutionTalking Point 1: AI has grabbed roughly one-third of global venture capital ($100B+ in 2024), showing AI's outsized role in funding flows amid overall tightening of Series B round sizes.> “AI sector dominated global venture funding, doubling from $55.6 billion to over $100 billion in 2024.” (vccafe.com)Talking Point 2: Seed-stage investing is scaling with firms like BoxGroup emphasizing early believer status and collaborative partnerships to back startups through various growth phases.> “BoxGroup makes 40 seed investments annually... focuses on supporting founders without dominating ownership or boards.” (TwentyMinuteVC)Trend 4: Workplace TransformationTalking Point 1: Shopify's CEO Tobi Lutke mandates AI proficiency, linking job security to AI adoption and productivity boosts, signaling new workplace norms amid AI anxiety.> “Before asking more headcount... teams must demonstrate why tasks can't be done via AI.” (NYMag)Talking Point 2: Fiverr's CEO issued stark warnings about AI threat to jobs, urging employees to master AI tools or risk professional irrelevance.> “AI is coming for your jobs... You are expected to do more, faster, and better. If you don't, your value will decrease.” (NYMag)Trend 5: Open Ecosystem vs Concentration of PowerTalking Point 1: Tim O'Reilly and others advocate for protocol-based AI ecosystems (Anthropic's MCP, Google's A2A, Microsoft's NLWeb) fostering interoperability and distributed innovation, echoing open Internet ideals.> “Participatory markets are innovative markets... solutions can come from everywhere, not just from a dominant monopolist.” (O'Reilly)Talking Point 2: Despite open ideals, dominant players like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are actively building controlling ecosystems and platforms—OpenAI's language of “operating system” and multi-billion-dollar acquisitions hint at winner-takes-most dynamics.> “It's hard not to feel we are witnessing aggressive maneuvers... pursuing a winner-takes-most opportunity.” (Newsletter Editorial)Discussion QuestionsHow will the shift from AI as a tool to AI as an autonomous collaborator change the nature of work and productivity across sectors?What are the implications of OpenAI entering the hardware space with design leadership from Jony Ive? Can this challenge entrenched tech giants like Apple and Google?Considering venture capital trends, how might the concentration of funding in AI affect startup diversity and innovation outside the AI sector?Are the workplace mandates for AI adoption sustainable, or do they risk damaging employee morale and creativity? How should companies balance AI integration with human factors?What are the pros and cons of pursuing an open AI ecosystem based on cooperative protocols versus the reality of platform dominance by a few major players?To what extent could OpenAI's and Google's competition reflect the longstanding tech ecosystem rivalry between integrated and modular approaches, and what does that mean for consumers?With OpenAI aggressively building an ecosystem and platform, how might regulators or policymakers respond to ensure competitive, ethical AI development?Closing SegmentThis week crystallized a pivotal inflection point—a "Great Leap Forward" in AI's maturity and reach. We've seen models like Claude Opus 4 and Google's Gemini 2.5 evolve into sophisticated, sustained collaborators capable of seamlessly integrating into human workflows and devices. At the same time, strategic moves—especially OpenAI's multi-billion-dollar hardware acquisition—signal a new battleground beyond software into hardware innovation and consumer experience design.The venture capital landscape is adapting rapidly with concentrated AI funding and evolving seed strategies spotlighting early founder support, all while workplace cultures grapple with AI-driven mandates that challenge traditional roles and morale.Beneath these shifts lies an ideological tug-of-war over AI's future architecture—whether it will be governed as an open, participatory ecosystem enabling broad innovation or solidify under winner-takes-all platforms controlled by a few giants.As hosts close this broadcast, invite listeners to ponder: Are we witnessing the dawn of truly universal AI assistants integrated into our lives, or the birth of new digital gatekeepers? And how will individuals and organizations navigate this rapid transition to stay ahead in an AI-powered future?What's clear is this: the year truly just happened, compressed within a single week, and AI stands at the stage center, shaping what comes next.Relevant Links and Sources (for producer reference)Anthropic Claude 4 & Opus 4 Coding MilestoneGoogle Gemini 2.5 Pro and AI Mode DetailsOpenAI Acquisition of Jony Ive's ioOpenAI's Leadership and Profitability FocusVenture Capital and AI Investment TrendsAI Workplace Mandates at Shopify and FiverrTim O'Reilly on Architecture of ParticipationGoogle I/O 2025 Summary and AI Product StrategyEnd of Show Notes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thatwastheweek.com/subscribe

New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 116 "To rebel is justified," Mao told his young Red Guard, loosing them on China at the beginning of the brutal Cultural Revolution. He wanted them to expose the "capitalist roaders" who had ruined everything in the Great Leap Forward and afterwards, as he led them to believe. "Smash the Four Olds!" he commanded, and his young, thoughtless followers did, breaking every taboo of Chinese culture to vent their frustrations with a situation they were led to believe was intolerable because of their class enemies and wrong thinking. Today, it's not Mao; it's MAGA influencers. It's not capitalist roaders being hunted; it's "neocons," whatever they mean by that. It's not the Four Olds that must be smashed; it's "Boomer mentality." In this long episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay sends a chilling and important message to young conservatives in America and beyond, warning them of how they might be being used, only to be ruined and discarded later. New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/ Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames © 2025 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #maga

Preview: Colleague Charles Ortel explains that the banks were busy selling the China miracle to spoil the mood with warnings of a property bubble. More later. 1959 GREAT LEAP FORWARD

The last time an autocratic government made policy decisions based on pseudoscience, millions of people died. America is on the precipice of doing the same. Policy must be based on science. -o-Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingispublichealth  Bluesky Social: @everythingisPHMastodon: @everythingispublichealth Email: EverythingIsPublicHealth@gmail.com   Audio Credit: Capybaralol69, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsSpeech by Joseph Stalin, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSovietball, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSupport the show

This week, I bring you the first in a series of podcasts in conjunction with the China Research Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The series, titled "Studying China in the Absence of Access: Rediscovering a Lost Art," ran from September to November 2021, and featured four eminent "Pekingologists," or specialists in Chinese elite politics: Joseph Fewsmith, Thomas Fingar, Alice Miller, and Fred Teiwes. The talks were later published in a volume you can download here. The series is introduced by Andrew Mertha, George and Sadie Hyman, Professor of China Studies and director of the SAIS China Research Center, and each lecture includes a moderated discussion with Andy. After this series, I'll also be sharing with you a second series of lectures titled "Studying China from Elsewhere," which will include talks by Maria Repnikova, Mike Lampton, William Hurst, and Maggie Lewis — many of whom Sinica listeners will know from the show.This week's talk is from FrederickTeiwes, truly a legend in the field. The American-born Australian sinologist is best known for his analysis of Chinese Communist Party elite politics. He served as a professor emeritus in Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney until his retirement in 2006. Teiwes has frequently collaborated with Warren Sun, producing seminal works such as The Tragedy of Lin Biao (1996) and China's Road to Disaster: Mao, Central Politicians and Provincial Leaders in the Great Leap Forward, 1955-59 (1999). In this talk, he focuses on forthcoming work on the transition following Mao Zedong's death in 1976.Great thanks to Andy and to Hasta Colman, who first suggested this collaboration when we met in Shanghai recently.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Utopian Ruins: A Memorial Museum of the Mao Era (Duke University Press, 2020) Jie Li traces the creation, preservation, and elision of memories about China's Mao era by envisioning a virtual museum that reckons with both its utopian yearnings and its cataclysmic reverberations.  Li proposes a critical framework for understanding the documentation and transmission of the socialist past that mediates between nostalgia and trauma, anticipation and retrospection, propaganda and testimony. Assembling each chapter like a memorial exhibit, Li explores how corporeal traces, archival documents, camera images, and material relics serve as commemorative media. Prison writings and police files reveal the infrastructure of state surveillance and testify to revolutionary ideals and violence, victimhood and complicity.  Photojournalism from the Great Leap Forward and documentaries from the Cultural Revolution promoted faith in communist miracles while excluding darker realities, whereas Mao memorabilia collections, factory ruins, and memorials at trauma sites remind audiences of the Chinese Revolution's unrealized dreams and staggering losses. Suvi Rautio is a part-time Course Lecturer at the Social & Cultural Anthropology discipline at University of Helsinki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Utopian Ruins: A Memorial Museum of the Mao Era (Duke University Press, 2020) Jie Li traces the creation, preservation, and elision of memories about China's Mao era by envisioning a virtual museum that reckons with both its utopian yearnings and its cataclysmic reverberations.  Li proposes a critical framework for understanding the documentation and transmission of the socialist past that mediates between nostalgia and trauma, anticipation and retrospection, propaganda and testimony. Assembling each chapter like a memorial exhibit, Li explores how corporeal traces, archival documents, camera images, and material relics serve as commemorative media. Prison writings and police files reveal the infrastructure of state surveillance and testify to revolutionary ideals and violence, victimhood and complicity.  Photojournalism from the Great Leap Forward and documentaries from the Cultural Revolution promoted faith in communist miracles while excluding darker realities, whereas Mao memorabilia collections, factory ruins, and memorials at trauma sites remind audiences of the Chinese Revolution's unrealized dreams and staggering losses. Suvi Rautio is a part-time Course Lecturer at the Social & Cultural Anthropology discipline at University of Helsinki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In Utopian Ruins: A Memorial Museum of the Mao Era (Duke University Press, 2020) Jie Li traces the creation, preservation, and elision of memories about China's Mao era by envisioning a virtual museum that reckons with both its utopian yearnings and its cataclysmic reverberations.  Li proposes a critical framework for understanding the documentation and transmission of the socialist past that mediates between nostalgia and trauma, anticipation and retrospection, propaganda and testimony. Assembling each chapter like a memorial exhibit, Li explores how corporeal traces, archival documents, camera images, and material relics serve as commemorative media. Prison writings and police files reveal the infrastructure of state surveillance and testify to revolutionary ideals and violence, victimhood and complicity.  Photojournalism from the Great Leap Forward and documentaries from the Cultural Revolution promoted faith in communist miracles while excluding darker realities, whereas Mao memorabilia collections, factory ruins, and memorials at trauma sites remind audiences of the Chinese Revolution's unrealized dreams and staggering losses. Suvi Rautio is a part-time Course Lecturer at the Social & Cultural Anthropology discipline at University of Helsinki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

In 1959 as the process of communalising agriculture and the forced industrialisation of the Great Leap Forward led to catastrophe on an unprecedented scale, Mao was challenged at the Lushan Conference by Peng Duhai, who denounced him in ways the few party members had ever dared. Mao was temporarily marginalised from leadership of the state but not the party and Deng Xiaoping and Lui Shaoqi were the beneficiaries. These events set up Mao's political comeback in the mid 1960s and his vengeance on the party with the Cultural Revolution.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways:If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership hereOrYou can support the podcast via Patreon hereOr you can just say some nice things about it here Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you believe that humans and other species have evolved or you believe in a creator of living things, this episode is going to excite you or challenge you to think outside the box. Both scenarios are worthwhile, as Tom is joined by the world renowned evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins. Trying to fully grasp how the human mind works and what role evolution plays with our emotions, thought processes and sexual selection can be overwhelming. Tom highlights the inspiring works from Richard and discusses some complex ideas from his latest book, Books Do Furnish A Life. This is a deep dive into what evolution is, and raises the question of whether or not science, technology, and the human search for meaning and exploration has surpassed our basic evolutionary need for survival. Where does that leave humanity and what options are potential solutions worth exploring? Order Richard Dawkins new book, Books Do Furnish A Life: https://amzn.to/39fEeSU [Original air date: 9-21-21]. SHOW NOTES: 0:00 | Introduction Richard Dawkins 1:34 | How The Mind Works 7:28 | Nature of Thought & Emotion 14:01 | Emergent Properties Beyond Survival 21:13 | Lack Of Evolving Creativity 29:30 | The Great Leap Forward 30:46 | Evolution of Sexual Selection 41:25 | The Handicap Principle 45:17 | Human Sexual Selection 57:13 | Genetic Variance 1:04:07 | Finding Origin of Life 1:10:55 | Natural Selection & DNA 1:27:29 | Writing Sci-Fi & Morality 1:37:58 | Hard Problem of Consciousness 1:41:32 | Memes + Hyper Connectivity CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS Range Rover: Explore the Range Rover Sport at  https://landroverUSA.com Miro: Bring your teams to Miro's revolutionary Innovation Workspace and be faster from idea to outcome at https://miro.com. ButcherBox: Get your choice of a free protein in every box for a year, plus that $20 off your first order with code IMPACT at https://butcherbox.com/impact. What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER SCALING a business: see if you qualify here. Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here. If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Join me live on my Twitch stream. I'm live daily from 6:30 to 8:30 am PT at www.twitch.tv/tombilyeu LISTEN TO IMPACT THEORY AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS: apple.co/impacttheory FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vejas Liulevicius is a historian specializing in Germany and Eastern Europe, who has lectured extensively on Marxism and the rise, the reign, and the fall of Communism. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep444-sc See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. CONTACT LEX: Feedback - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: Vejas's Courses: https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/vejas-gabriel-liulevicius Vejas's Books: https://amzn.to/4e3R1rz Vejas's Audible: https://adbl.co/4esRrHt SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: AG1: All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to https://drinkag1.com/lex BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex Notion: Note-taking and team collaboration. Go to https://notion.com/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex Eight Sleep: Temp-controlled smart mattress. Go to https://eightsleep.com/lex OUTLINE: (00:00) - Introduction (08:48) - Marxism (36:33) - Anarchism (51:30) - The Communist Manifesto (1:00:29) - Communism in the Soviet Union (1:20:23) - Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin (1:30:11) - Stalin (1:37:26) - Holodomor (1:51:16) - The Great Terror (2:04:17) - Totalitarianism (2:15:19) - Response to Darryl Cooper (2:30:27) - Nazis vs Communists in Germany (2:36:50) - Mao (2:41:57) - Great Leap Forward (2:48:58) - China after Mao (2:54:30) - North Korea (2:58:34) - Communism in US (3:06:04) - Russia after Soviet Union (3:17:35) - Advice for Lex (3:25:17) - Book recommendations (3:28:16) - Advice for young people (3:35:08) - Hope PODCAST LINKS: - Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 - Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips SOCIAL LINKS: - X: https://x.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexfridman - TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://facebook.com/lexfridman - Patreon: https://patreon.com/lexfridman - Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman

In this episode of Guerrilla History, we get into part 3 of our 4 part miniseries on modern Chinese history featuring Ken Hammond (and guest host Breht O'Shea of Revolutionary Left Radio) with an amazing discussion of The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution!  If you haven't already listened to part 1 of the series, on the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, or part 2 on The Chinese Revolution & Civil War, be sure to go back and check those out because we pick up right where we left off last time.  With these final two episodes in the series, we enter the period where various ideological traditions diverge in their analysis of the events, but regardless of what ideological background you come from, we encourage you to listen to these and engage with the information, as we believe the information will help you deepen your own analysis regardless of your ideological position.   Ken Hammond is Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University. He has been engaged in radical politics since his involvement in the anti-war movement at Kent State in 1968-70.  Ken is also the author of the book China's Revolution & the Quest for a Socialist Future. ----------------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left Radio

In this episode of Guerrilla History, we get into part 2 of our 4 part miniseries on modern Chinese history featuring Ken Hammond (and guest host Breht O'Shea of Revolutionary Left Radio) with this absolutely terrific discussion on the Chinese Revolution & Civil War!  If you haven't already listened to part 1 of the series, on the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, be sure to do so because we pick up right where we left off last time.  The next two installments will cover the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and then the Reform period up to the present day, so be sure to not miss any of those upcoming episodes! Ken Hammond is Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University. He has been engaged in radical politics since his involvement in the anti-war movement at Kent State in 1968-70.  Ken is also the author of the book China's Revolution & the Quest for a Socialist Future.

In this episode of Guerrilla History, we launch our 4 part miniseries on modern Chinese history featuring Ken Hammond (and guest host Breht O'Shea of Revolutionary Left Radio) with this terrific discussion on the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions!  Be sure to go back and listen to the previous episode we did with Ken in the fall, which serves as a bit of an introductory work for this miniseries. The other three installments will drop every other week (with other episodes in between), and will cover the Chinese Revolution/Civil War, the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, and the Reform period, so be sure to subscribe to not miss any of those coming episodes! Ken Hammond is Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University. He has been engaged in radical politics since his involvement in the anti-war movement at Kent State in 1968-70.  Ken is also the author of the book China's Revolution & the Quest for a Socialist Future.

Sean Illing talks with economic historian Brad DeLong about his new book Slouching Towards Utopia. In it, DeLong claims that the "long twentieth century" was the most consequential period in human history, during which the institutions of rapid technological growth and globalization were created, setting humanity on a path towards improving life, defeating scarcity, and enabling real freedom. But... this ran into some problems. Sean and Brad talk about the power of markets, how the New Deal led to something approaching real social democracy, and why the Great Recession of 2008 and its aftermath signified the end of this momentous era. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: J. Bradford DeLong (@delong), author; professor of economics, U.C. Berkeley References:  Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by J. Bradford DeLong (Basic; 2022) The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek (1944) The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi (1944) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter (1942) "A Short History of Enclosure in Britain" by Simon Fairlie (This Land Magazine; 2009) "China's Great Leap Forward" by Clayton D. Brown (Association for Asian Studies; 2012) What Is Property? by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1840) The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle (Oxford University Press; 2022) Apple's "1984" ad (YouTube) The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes (1936) "The spectacular ongoing implosion of crypto's biggest star, explained" by Emily Stewart (Vox; Nov. 18) "Did Greenspan Add to Subprime Woes? Gramlich Says Ex-Colleague Blocked Crackdown" by Greg Ip (Wall Street Journal; June 9, 2007) "Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same," from President Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address (Jan. 27, 2010) "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" by Karl Marx (1852) Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein (Simon & Schuster; 2020) The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media, and Perilous Persuasion by Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing (U. Chicago; 2022)   Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by:  Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices