Reading in the Time of Monsters 011 - Revolutionary Russia from the Shop Floor with Kevin Murphy

Reading in the Time of Monsters

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Reading in the Time of Monsters 011 - Revolutionary Russia from the Shop Floor with Kevin Murphy

Peter Berard

Jul 26, 2023

On this episode of RITTOM, we talk with Russian historian Kevin Murphy about his Deutscher Prize-winning book, “Revolution and Counterrevolution: Class Struggle in a Moscow Metal Factory.” Since the Russian Revolution and its descent into Stalinist tyranny, there’s been a great deal of debate of how and why things went the way it did. Much of the discussion focuses on major individual political actors and on ideologies. Kevin chose to delve into the world of the Hammer and Sickle metal factory in Moscow, its labor disputes, political debates amongst workers, and conditions on the shop floor. The result is a fascinating work of history that sheds light on the fate of the revolution in Russia. Kevin was good enough to join me in discussing his work, and I think you’ll all enjoy it.

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Reading in the Time of Monsters

The old world is dying; the new one cannot be born; now is the time of monsters. What better time to read, and read seriously? Every pedant on the internet thinks they're a critic because they have cultural preferences and their various streaming and social media services encourage them to state these preferences in little boxes. But some of us think criticism is something more. We know that criticism implies a way of being- a rejection of complacence, a dedication to searching high, low, and in between for insight and perspective, a constant development of the critical toolkit. Not only does that way of being point towards a better existence, but it also makes for criticism that's more fun to read. That's the gambit of this podcast- that there's an audience for something other than same-same mediocrity and parasocial agreement-clubs.

There should be one free episode a month. There will be another for people who become Citizens by subscribing at the Citizen (or Chieftain!) level at Melendy Avenue Review. MAR includes numerous text reviews a month, various life updates and guest posts, cute cat pictures, etc.

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