Kristen Ghodsee reads Cathy Porter’s translation of an excerpt from Alexandra Kollontai’s autobiography. Reflecting on a visit to Narva, Estonia in March of 1896, when she was just 24-years-old, Kollontai describes the event that radicalized her forever.

Recent Writings from Kristen Ghodsee:

“Clima y Utopía,” El País Semanal, October 17, 2025

“Materialists skewers the dating market – but stops too short,” Jacobin Magazine, July 12, 2025

“From Democracy to ‘Safety’,” Los Angeles Review of Books, July 3, 2025

Recent Interviews with Kristen Ghodsee:

Meagan Day, “How Manosphere Content Placates Disenfranchised Men,” Jacobin Magazine, May 1, 2025 (Also in Spanish, French, and German)

“Der Sozialismus behandelte Frauen besser,” Konkret Magazin, May 2025: 52-52

Meagan Day, “Tradwives are a Harbinger of Systemic Breakdown,” Jacobin Magazine, April 27, 2025 (Also in Spanish)

Recent writings about Kollontai:

Cathy Porter, Alexandra Kollontai: Writings from the Struggle

Maria Wiesner, Radikal selbstbestimmt – Ihrer Zeit weit voraus. Was wir von Alexandra Kollontai lernen können

Mridula Manglam, “Across Struggles and Time: If I Could Speak to Alexandra Kollontai.”

If you can stomach social media, please request to follow @prof_kristen

Send us a text

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. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:

Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee’s free, episodic newsletter at: https://kristenghodsee.substack.com

Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work: www.kristenghodsee.com or request to follow her on Instagram @prof_kristen