Cool Zone Media.

Cool Zone Media.

Hello, and welcome to Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. You're a weekly reminder that when there's bad things, there's people trying to do good things, or at least interesting things. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and my guest this week is Katie Stole. Hi.

Hello, and welcome to Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. You're a weekly reminder that when there's bad things, there's people trying to do good things, or at least interesting things. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and my guest this week is Katie Stole. Hi.

How are you ugh, I'm okay, I'm good. I'm glad to be here, happy to be here.

How are you ugh, I'm okay, I'm good. I'm glad to be here, happy to be here.

In fact, Yeah, the world's going great.

In fact, Yeah, the world's going great.

The world's going great. Nevertheless, I would love to hear some stories about cool people who did cool stuff. Not that we don't have a ton of cool people doing cool stuff right now at this moment in time.

The world's going great. Nevertheless, I would love to hear some stories about cool people who did cool stuff. Not that we don't have a ton of cool people doing cool stuff right now at this moment in time.

It's true. Hey, completely unrelated. There's been all this stuff about people bringing down the stock value of Tesla. But anyway, through all kinds of methods.

It's true. Hey, completely unrelated. There's been all this stuff about people bringing down the stock value of Tesla. But anyway, through all kinds of methods.

Yeah, anyway, I'm happy to be here. I feel like this is a bright light in the world, being able to commit talk about good things.

Yeah, anyway, I'm happy to be here. I feel like this is a bright light in the world, being able to commit talk about good things.

I know, and people want to hear more good things. Which of your various news shows should they listen to or watch?

I know, and people want to hear more good things. Which of your various news shows should they listen to or watch?

Oh well, I'll plug even more news. People know us from some more News. A lot of people know me and Cody from that, which is our YouTube show. But we also have our podcast Even More News, which we're now doing twice a week. Monday's we release one we record Monday morning, release Monday evening, I know, and then another one that we record Thursday's release Friday. We just needed to add an extra episode because there's so much to talk about and we couldn't get through it all.

Oh well, I'll plug even more news. People know us from some more News. A lot of people know me and Cody from that, which is our YouTube show. But we also have our podcast Even More News, which we're now doing twice a week. Monday's we release one we record Monday morning, release Monday evening, I know, and then another one that we record Thursday's release Friday. We just needed to add an extra episode because there's so much to talk about and we couldn't get through it all.

Yeah, that actually makes sense.

Yeah, that actually makes sense.

And also we now are doing video versions of them, putting on YouTube because apparently a lot of people like to listen to podcasts with their eyes. I don't know, so we're doing that.

And also we now are doing video versions of them, putting on YouTube because apparently a lot of people like to listen to podcasts with their eyes. I don't know, so we're doing that.

I don't understand it. I'm going to pretend to understand it once they make us pivot to video, but for now, I don't understand it.

I don't understand it. I'm going to pretend to understand it once they make us pivot to video, but for now, I don't understand it.

Yeah, it's a whole other world out there, but yeah, sure plug that. We try to We try to find bright spots out there too, but we do talk about the bad spots.

Yeah, it's a whole other world out there, but yeah, sure plug that. We try to We try to find bright spots out there too, but we do talk about the bad spots.

That makes sense. Yeah, So, Katie, have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a journalist or a writer during like an authoritarian regime?

That makes sense. Yeah, So, Katie, have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a journalist or a writer during like an authoritarian regime?

Is that every cross my mind from time to time? It sure does.

Is that every cross my mind from time to time? It sure does.

Just a fun thought experiment. This week, for no particular reason, I thought, what a fun and random time to tell the story about how people have continued cultural production and news during dictatorship. But first, I'm being reminded by my producer Sophie that I should do the rest of my introduction, like introducing Sophie. Here's my producer, Hi, Sophie.

Just a fun thought experiment. This week, for no particular reason, I thought, what a fun and random time to tell the story about how people have continued cultural production and news during dictatorship. But first, I'm being reminded by my producer Sophie that I should do the rest of my introduction, like introducing Sophie. Here's my producer, Hi, Sophie.

How are you, Hi, Magpie. Hi Katie. You're doing great, Magpie.

How are you, Hi, Magpie. Hi Katie. You're doing great, Magpie.

Thanks. Thanks. And we also have an audio engineer named Rory.

Thanks. Thanks. And we also have an audio engineer named Rory.

Hi Rory, Hey, Roy, Hi Rory.

Hi Rory, Hey, Roy, Hi Rory.

And our theme music is written for us by unwoman. And I think that's the rest of the introduction. You think I would know. I'm on episode like a one hundred and fifty. Well, actually like three hundred, because there's two of every thing.

And our theme music is written for us by unwoman. And I think that's the rest of the introduction. You think I would know. I'm on episode like a one hundred and fifty. Well, actually like three hundred, because there's two of every thing.

Yeah, anyway, congratulations, that's a lot of episodes.

Yeah, anyway, congratulations, that's a lot of episodes.

Thank you. It's it's been a wild ride. It's every now and then. I have these moments where I'm like, like my most recent like substack post is basically like it's a really weird moment to read history books for a living, but you actually read news for a living, and that's maybe even weirder.

Thank you. It's it's been a wild ride. It's every now and then. I have these moments where I'm like, like my most recent like substack post is basically like it's a really weird moment to read history books for a living, but you actually read news for a living, and that's maybe even weirder.

Also a weird thing to do for a living, especially right now.

Also a weird thing to do for a living, especially right now.

Yeah, yeahm h. So we're going to just tell a fun family story for no particular reason about continuing cultural production during dictatorship. This week's story is about samas dot, the underground publishing within the Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc countries during the Cold War. You ever you ever heard much about this stuff?

Yeah, yeahm h. So we're going to just tell a fun family story for no particular reason about continuing cultural production during dictatorship. This week's story is about samas dot, the underground publishing within the Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc countries during the Cold War. You ever you ever heard much about this stuff?

No, not at all.

No, not at all.

Actually, I like it's funny because so many people use samas dot as a I mean, I hadn't run across it a ton myself. It's one of those words where if you don't know what it means, you kind of just ignore it because you're like, I don't know what that means, and arrest the sentence makes sense that you just sort of ignore the word. Yeah, Okay, there's an irony here. I'm doing this whole episode about how people created stuff and distributed it during the dictatorship of the Soviet era. This is the single episode where I could not find a source that was not behind an academic paywall. This is the most i'vory towered. I had to talk to all of my friends with academic privileges to get access to this. Yeah, so there's a little irony there that's interesting. Yeah, the shortest version of it is, for more or less the entire time, there was a Soviet Union, there was strict censorship of the press, and the entire time there strict censorship, they were people evading that censorship through various means. By the time you get to the nineteen sixties and the nineteen seventies, there's this whole culture that springs up around samisdot or self publishing. But we'll talk about why. It's actually a really clever play on words later, in which people would distribute hand typed copies of poems, novels, and news because they couldn't even access like xerox machines. These were generally typed on carbon paper and then retyped by their recipients like chain letters.

Actually, I like it's funny because so many people use samas dot as a I mean, I hadn't run across it a ton myself. It's one of those words where if you don't know what it means, you kind of just ignore it because you're like, I don't know what that means, and arrest the sentence makes sense that you just sort of ignore the word. Yeah, Okay, there's an irony here. I'm doing this whole episode about how people created stuff and distributed it during the dictatorship of the Soviet era. This is the single episode where I could not find a source that was not behind an academic paywall. This is the most i'vory towered. I had to talk to all of my friends with academic privileges to get access to this. Yeah, so there's a little irony there that's interesting. Yeah, the shortest version of it is, for more or less the entire time, there was a Soviet Union, there was strict censorship of the press, and the entire time there strict censorship, they were people evading that censorship through various means. By the time you get to the nineteen sixties and the nineteen seventies, there's this whole culture that springs up around samisdot or self publishing. But we'll talk about why. It's actually a really clever play on words later, in which people would distribute hand typed copies of poems, novels, and news because they couldn't even access like xerox machines. These were generally typed on carbon paper and then retyped by their recipients like chain letters.

But good, that's yeah, beautiful actually, yeah. Just the idea of people receiving a hand type poem or what have you and then typing it up and paying it sending it forward, I think is really beautiful.

But good, that's yeah, beautiful actually, yeah. Just the idea of people receiving a hand type poem or what have you and then typing it up and paying it sending it forward, I think is really beautiful.

I know totally, especially with the like crime level where you're like, well, I can go to jail for the foreseeable future if they catch me with this poem about being sad about the ocean or whatever it is, because not all of it political, but it was all wildly illegal, and there was a body count attached, although by the end of it people are mostly getting time in prison in a camp that kills about ten percent of the people, but better than earlier where they're just dying. And samas dot as a culture lasted until basically nineteen eighty seven, when Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, relaxed censorship and people were finally able to publish what they wanted. That's one version of it. It's possible, and I've read two different sources that have different positions on this, that political samas dot actually continued for a few more years until the USSR actually fell completely in think nineteen ninety two. Okay, because at least some people seem to be censored still despite this like overall loosening.

I know totally, especially with the like crime level where you're like, well, I can go to jail for the foreseeable future if they catch me with this poem about being sad about the ocean or whatever it is, because not all of it political, but it was all wildly illegal, and there was a body count attached, although by the end of it people are mostly getting time in prison in a camp that kills about ten percent of the people, but better than earlier where they're just dying. And samas dot as a culture lasted until basically nineteen eighty seven, when Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, relaxed censorship and people were finally able to publish what they wanted. That's one version of it. It's possible, and I've read two different sources that have different positions on this, that political samas dot actually continued for a few more years until the USSR actually fell completely in think nineteen ninety two. Okay, because at least some people seem to be censored still despite this like overall loosening.

It might be some mixture of both.

It might be some mixture of both.

Yeah, it's like almost everyone got to start publishing, and basically the anarchosynical list didn't, is the best I can tell.

Yeah, it's like almost everyone got to start publishing, and basically the anarchosynical list didn't, is the best I can tell.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The other annoying thing about researching samas dot, which actually overall I really enjoyed, besides the whole Ivory Tower problem, is that because it was caught up in the Cold War, there's this Western narrative around it. That's basically like some good anti communists who wanted individual liberty and capitalism risked everything to spread the one real truth about what was happening. And there is a little bit of that, right, But there's not a lot a bit of that. Nor was this a like we're all desperate for novels from the West. Please, Westerners, come and save us with your superior storytelling. Some literature from the West snuck in and was distributed to samas dot. But a lot of it was about cultural production in the Soviet Union. And actually a lot of it was about getting cultural production out of the Soviet Union in really cool ways. There's like all this like spy shit where people are like using microfiche like little m hm and like fucking taking photos of all of the book manuscript pages and then like giving them to like foreign dignitaries and shit who are like smuggling them out.

The other annoying thing about researching samas dot, which actually overall I really enjoyed, besides the whole Ivory Tower problem, is that because it was caught up in the Cold War, there's this Western narrative around it. That's basically like some good anti communists who wanted individual liberty and capitalism risked everything to spread the one real truth about what was happening. And there is a little bit of that, right, But there's not a lot a bit of that. Nor was this a like we're all desperate for novels from the West. Please, Westerners, come and save us with your superior storytelling. Some literature from the West snuck in and was distributed to samas dot. But a lot of it was about cultural production in the Soviet Union. And actually a lot of it was about getting cultural production out of the Soviet Union in really cool ways. There's like all this like spy shit where people are like using microfiche like little m hm and like fucking taking photos of all of the book manuscript pages and then like giving them to like foreign dignitaries and shit who are like smuggling them out.

Oh wait, that's pretty cool.

Oh wait, that's pretty cool.

Yeah, And not all of it was even like this is how it is in the Soviet Union. Some of it was like this is my poem about how I wish I didn't have cancer or whatever, you know. Yeah, yeah, But mostly samisdat was a culture samis dot was fun and exciting. It was inherently cool because it was countercultural. A lot of it was parody, a lot of it was like artsy as fuck. Something that we've seen again and again in our episodes where we talk about resistance to authoritarian communism in particular, is that a lot of the people who are out in front challenging like Soviet era rules and things like that are artists, and they're basically challenging dictatorship through cultural production of plays and poems and songs and all of this stuff. And a lot of it was self consciously what they could called ludic playful. And the CIA has poisoned all of our brains about the USSR, to be clear, but not in the way that authoritarian leftists claim. If you've ever critiqued the USSR on social media, you end up with a lot of people who are like, but actually, you know, everything was perfect there and you only are listening to the CIA's lies or whatever. Right, And the thing is is that the CIA did lie about the Soviet Union and build this false narrative, but not in the way that people claim. The CIA worked hard in the twentieth century to make sure that every bit of dissidence in the USSR was co opted to seem like it's pro capitalism and pro Western But while there's some of that, almost everything I've seen about resistance to the USSR from within the Soviet Bloc comes from socialists, people who believe that we should all take care of each other. They just didn't want a corrupt state apparatus. They didn't want this like weird bad oligarchy instead.

Yeah, And not all of it was even like this is how it is in the Soviet Union. Some of it was like this is my poem about how I wish I didn't have cancer or whatever, you know. Yeah, yeah, But mostly samisdat was a culture samis dot was fun and exciting. It was inherently cool because it was countercultural. A lot of it was parody, a lot of it was like artsy as fuck. Something that we've seen again and again in our episodes where we talk about resistance to authoritarian communism in particular, is that a lot of the people who are out in front challenging like Soviet era rules and things like that are artists, and they're basically challenging dictatorship through cultural production of plays and poems and songs and all of this stuff. And a lot of it was self consciously what they could called ludic playful. And the CIA has poisoned all of our brains about the USSR, to be clear, but not in the way that authoritarian leftists claim. If you've ever critiqued the USSR on social media, you end up with a lot of people who are like, but actually, you know, everything was perfect there and you only are listening to the CIA's lies or whatever. Right, And the thing is is that the CIA did lie about the Soviet Union and build this false narrative, but not in the way that people claim. The CIA worked hard in the twentieth century to make sure that every bit of dissidence in the USSR was co opted to seem like it's pro capitalism and pro Western But while there's some of that, almost everything I've seen about resistance to the USSR from within the Soviet Bloc comes from socialists, people who believe that we should all take care of each other. They just didn't want a corrupt state apparatus. They didn't want this like weird bad oligarchy instead.

I know, it's so interesting how we boil things down to either you're a capitalist or you are a socialist, or it's like yeah, you know, it's like, well, yeah, I know I want this thing, but not by that person. It's like I want our food system to be overhauled, just not by our FK.

I know, it's so interesting how we boil things down to either you're a capitalist or you are a socialist, or it's like yeah, you know, it's like, well, yeah, I know I want this thing, but not by that person. It's like I want our food system to be overhauled, just not by our FK.

Yeah, totally, you know, totally. No. This is such a perfect example of it, where you're like, well, I too want more natural food in my diet. I also want to keep getting vaccines on a regular basis exactly and not have the worms eat my brain. Ideally, Yeah, that should happen after I die. It's like a general rule.

Yeah, totally, you know, totally. No. This is such a perfect example of it, where you're like, well, I too want more natural food in my diet. I also want to keep getting vaccines on a regular basis exactly and not have the worms eat my brain. Ideally, Yeah, that should happen after I die. It's like a general rule.

Yes, then I'm fine, please have at it.

Yes, then I'm fine, please have at it.

Yeah that's that's my hope for one day, but not for now. So for some weird reason. I think studying how people lived and acted and resisted under authoritarian regimes is going to be increasingly important. And Okay, this is a kind of tangent. I'm now offscript. There's this thing where like we all kind of look at what's happening right now, and it's very very easy to draw connections to Nazi Germany. Right, that is a reasonable place to look for our historical parallels. But it's not the only place, Like the world is full of dictatorships that we can look to.

Yeah that's that's my hope for one day, but not for now. So for some weird reason. I think studying how people lived and acted and resisted under authoritarian regimes is going to be increasingly important. And Okay, this is a kind of tangent. I'm now offscript. There's this thing where like we all kind of look at what's happening right now, and it's very very easy to draw connections to Nazi Germany. Right, that is a reasonable place to look for our historical parallels. But it's not the only place, Like the world is full of dictatorships that we can look to.

I know, I was just recently, like yesterday, I had this thought of, like we could compare it to so many things, maybe we should start mixing it up. Yeah, instead of just well, it's the most readily available for most people to you know, totally relate to, but.

I know, I was just recently, like yesterday, I had this thought of, like we could compare it to so many things, maybe we should start mixing it up. Yeah, instead of just well, it's the most readily available for most people to you know, totally relate to, but.

Most especially white people in America and probably just people raised in the American educational system. Yeah, know a hell of a lot more about Nazi Germany than they do about like other terrible systems, including the one that's slaved and genocided here on this very continent called the United States of America.

Most especially white people in America and probably just people raised in the American educational system. Yeah, know a hell of a lot more about Nazi Germany than they do about like other terrible systems, including the one that's slaved and genocided here on this very continent called the United States of America.

Right exactly, we know way more about that than our own history.

Right exactly, we know way more about that than our own history.

But AnyWho, and so there's all these other places that we can look and like. The thing that's interesting about the USSR and Soviet block countries, especially by the time you're talking about the sixties and seventies, is you're talking about what does resistance look like for people who like grew up inside this authoritarian system, you know, whereas when we look at the directly fascist governments, they didn't last an entire generation. They were well, Franco did, actually, so franco Is Spain is another good place that we can look to for I don't know. I think this is the thing I'm going to be doing for a little while is looking at how people resisted dictatorships for no good reasons.

But AnyWho, and so there's all these other places that we can look and like. The thing that's interesting about the USSR and Soviet block countries, especially by the time you're talking about the sixties and seventies, is you're talking about what does resistance look like for people who like grew up inside this authoritarian system, you know, whereas when we look at the directly fascist governments, they didn't last an entire generation. They were well, Franco did, actually, so franco Is Spain is another good place that we can look to for I don't know. I think this is the thing I'm going to be doing for a little while is looking at how people resisted dictatorships for no good reasons.

Again, no apparent reason. Yeah, feels like a good idea.

Again, no apparent reason. Yeah, feels like a good idea.

Yeah, I'm going to do it until.

Yeah, I'm going to do it until.

It might be how can information in there for no real reason?

It might be how can information in there for no real reason?

But maybe yeah, yeah, exactly. So what we have instead of the commune system is the capitalist system, and it asks that we interject this program with the sponsors.

But maybe yeah, yeah, exactly. So what we have instead of the commune system is the capitalist system, and it asks that we interject this program with the sponsors.

So, oh, here are those sponsors, and we're back.

So, oh, here are those sponsors, and we're back.

So the context, you should see her face, big old smile.

So the context, you should see her face, big old smile.

Yeah, Russia has a long history of people passing around manuscripts rather than finished books in order to bypass censorship, because it is worth noting it wasn't like the Bolsheviks came in and before that, like they were like happy and free under the Czar, you know, like serfdom had only been abolished in sixty seventy years earlier, and like it was a very big unevened in autocratic society. In seventeen ninety there was this book that was opposed to Serfdom, a Journey from Peter's to Moscow, and it was confiscated by the cops. So folks started passing around person to person the actual original manuscripts of it, and they're just like, so you have this like kind of lending library basically. And then in eighteen twenty five you have the Decembrist Revolts, which I think we've covered a little bit in the Nihilist episodes, but there's so many revolts during all of this time, which is where the band gets its name.

Yeah, Russia has a long history of people passing around manuscripts rather than finished books in order to bypass censorship, because it is worth noting it wasn't like the Bolsheviks came in and before that, like they were like happy and free under the Czar, you know, like serfdom had only been abolished in sixty seventy years earlier, and like it was a very big unevened in autocratic society. In seventeen ninety there was this book that was opposed to Serfdom, a Journey from Peter's to Moscow, and it was confiscated by the cops. So folks started passing around person to person the actual original manuscripts of it, and they're just like, so you have this like kind of lending library basically. And then in eighteen twenty five you have the Decembrist Revolts, which I think we've covered a little bit in the Nihilist episodes, but there's so many revolts during all of this time, which is where the band gets its name.

But I was going to ask, but I just said to me in my brain, I went and like, don't ask. That's a silly question.

But I was going to ask, but I just said to me in my brain, I went and like, don't ask. That's a silly question.

Yeah, no, it almost certainly is. I haven't even specifically looked it up, but like that's where they get their name. That's who the Decembrists are is a group of revolutionaries. Yeah.

Yeah, no, it almost certainly is. I haven't even specifically looked it up, but like that's where they get their name. That's who the Decembrists are is a group of revolutionaries. Yeah.

Cool, love that even more.

Cool, love that even more.

Yeah. And they had people passing around manuscripts, and folks started having shit published internationally, like especially like printed in England, and then smuggled into the country. Maybe most famously of all these pre Soviet Samas Dots, which don't have that name yet. That name isn't coined until either fifty eight or sixty two, probably sixty two, but I've read both. In eighteen forty eight, Doskievsky, whose name I will probably die not knowing how to pronounce properly, he got eight years in prison for passing around a letter that criticized the Orthodox Church and for trying to use a private printing press to evade censors. So it's not a not a fucking free society, Nope. But as far as I can tell, in the Czaris Times, it was largely the intelligentsia, the sort of upper middle class of academics and shit, who had access to this sort of proto samis Dot. As cool as secret handwritten publishing is, it doesn't break out of a specific social circle, and it doesn't break across class barriers and things that are mass produced have a much better chance of actually like reaching the masses. By the dawn of the twentieth century, a lot of illegal literature is being kind of mass produced. As best as I can tell, the Bolsheviks themselves, who sort of whatever we've done, like probably at least ten episodes about the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks and the anarchists and the s rs and all of that, the people who are going to have the revolution but aren't able to have it yet. Yeah, the Bolsheviks themselves relied on underground publishing before the revolution, And I've read a while ago for a different episode a ton about how different radical groups were regularly getting shit printed overseas and smuggled into the country, and often in bulk. Like I think people were like going to Switzerland and printing like a fuck ton of leaflets and pamphlets and stuff, and then like bringing them back in however they can, into Russia. But the Bolsheviks, even from the beginning, while they believe that they should be able to print whatever they want, they don't think that other people should be able to print whatever they want, Okay, including other socialists, some communists and the anarchists and all of those people. And I will compare this too, and I suspect that the Mensheviks and the SRS also probably did. But I do know that the anarchists did believe in a free press. And so even when the Bolsheviks were like in the middle of attacking the anarchists, the anarchists were like, well, we can't tell you can't print your newspapers. We can only tell you that you can't take over you know, Yeah, which I think is cool as shit. Yeah, like, yeah, in our anarchist society in Ukraine, you can print anti anarchist stuff. Why would we tell you that you can't.

Yeah. And they had people passing around manuscripts, and folks started having shit published internationally, like especially like printed in England, and then smuggled into the country. Maybe most famously of all these pre Soviet Samas Dots, which don't have that name yet. That name isn't coined until either fifty eight or sixty two, probably sixty two, but I've read both. In eighteen forty eight, Doskievsky, whose name I will probably die not knowing how to pronounce properly, he got eight years in prison for passing around a letter that criticized the Orthodox Church and for trying to use a private printing press to evade censors. So it's not a not a fucking free society, Nope. But as far as I can tell, in the Czaris Times, it was largely the intelligentsia, the sort of upper middle class of academics and shit, who had access to this sort of proto samis Dot. As cool as secret handwritten publishing is, it doesn't break out of a specific social circle, and it doesn't break across class barriers and things that are mass produced have a much better chance of actually like reaching the masses. By the dawn of the twentieth century, a lot of illegal literature is being kind of mass produced. As best as I can tell, the Bolsheviks themselves, who sort of whatever we've done, like probably at least ten episodes about the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks and the anarchists and the s rs and all of that, the people who are going to have the revolution but aren't able to have it yet. Yeah, the Bolsheviks themselves relied on underground publishing before the revolution, And I've read a while ago for a different episode a ton about how different radical groups were regularly getting shit printed overseas and smuggled into the country, and often in bulk. Like I think people were like going to Switzerland and printing like a fuck ton of leaflets and pamphlets and stuff, and then like bringing them back in however they can, into Russia. But the Bolsheviks, even from the beginning, while they believe that they should be able to print whatever they want, they don't think that other people should be able to print whatever they want, Okay, including other socialists, some communists and the anarchists and all of those people. And I will compare this too, and I suspect that the Mensheviks and the SRS also probably did. But I do know that the anarchists did believe in a free press. And so even when the Bolsheviks were like in the middle of attacking the anarchists, the anarchists were like, well, we can't tell you can't print your newspapers. We can only tell you that you can't take over you know, Yeah, which I think is cool as shit. Yeah, like, yeah, in our anarchist society in Ukraine, you can print anti anarchist stuff. Why would we tell you that you can't.

Well, right, that's the point. If you want freedom of the press, you have to include things that you don't necessarily like totally.

Well, right, that's the point. If you want freedom of the press, you have to include things that you don't necessarily like totally.

And I don't know whether they I don't know whether or not they expanded that to like the monarchists who were trying to kill them all. I don't know how far it.

And I don't know whether they I don't know whether or not they expanded that to like the monarchists who were trying to kill them all. I don't know how far it.

Went or not, but yeah, like what's the line.

Went or not, but yeah, like what's the line.

But yeah, but they probably weren't killing the poets. We'll get to them. We'll get to the Bolsheviks killing poets in a little bit. Actually, in the next paragraph. We'll get to it, oh perfect, as soon as the Bolsheviks seized power and put down the Russian Revolution. My super short version of it that's very biased by my position is that it was a pluralistic revolution of all sorts of different socialist factions, and then the Bolsheviks were like, just kidding, it's our revolution, went into a civil war to kill all of the other competing factions and put them down by force, and they instituted censorship. By the time the USSR came into being in nineteen twenty two, all literary production was state controlled and sponsored, which is like, there's an upside to this, right, if you're a professional writer, the States like, all right, well, we'll pay you to be a poet, will pay you to make books and stuff. Right if they liked you. If they didn't like you, well, depending on who's in charge that year, they'll kill you, or they'll put you in prison into a labor camp, or they'll send you to Siberia, or if you're really lucky, they just won't publish you and you'll be unemployed.

But yeah, but they probably weren't killing the poets. We'll get to them. We'll get to the Bolsheviks killing poets in a little bit. Actually, in the next paragraph. We'll get to it, oh perfect, as soon as the Bolsheviks seized power and put down the Russian Revolution. My super short version of it that's very biased by my position is that it was a pluralistic revolution of all sorts of different socialist factions, and then the Bolsheviks were like, just kidding, it's our revolution, went into a civil war to kill all of the other competing factions and put them down by force, and they instituted censorship. By the time the USSR came into being in nineteen twenty two, all literary production was state controlled and sponsored, which is like, there's an upside to this, right, if you're a professional writer, the States like, all right, well, we'll pay you to be a poet, will pay you to make books and stuff. Right if they liked you. If they didn't like you, well, depending on who's in charge that year, they'll kill you, or they'll put you in prison into a labor camp, or they'll send you to Siberia, or if you're really lucky, they just won't publish you and you'll be unemployed.

It's like a step in the right direction and concept, but not in execution when we're still utilizing the tactics from before against people that frighten you.

It's like a step in the right direction and concept, but not in execution when we're still utilizing the tactics from before against people that frighten you.

Yeah, totally. And it was not just like people who wrote anti Bolshevik stuff. It was like literally just well, we don't like that. You know. They had very specific rules about what kind of literature and what kind of art was encouraged and allowed and published. And among those that they started killing right away were poets, I guess. Okay, so it's like worth pointing out when we think about poetry nowadays, we're like, oh, poetry is really cool, or like, oh, poetry is that thing that we hate when our friends tell us that they do, because then they'll try and make us read their poetry. But we don't want to read their poetry because we don't want to tell them how we feel about it because that would hurt their feelings. You know. Yeah, before the fucking modern era, well, I guess the modern era includes all this before like TV and shit, poetry was the They were like the fucking rock stars, you know, like in England you have people like lining up around the block for the new poem that drops from Lord Byron or whatever the fuck you know. And I mean it's not because they were like inherently like smarter and cooler they totally would have watched TV if they had TV.

Yeah, totally. And it was not just like people who wrote anti Bolshevik stuff. It was like literally just well, we don't like that. You know. They had very specific rules about what kind of literature and what kind of art was encouraged and allowed and published. And among those that they started killing right away were poets, I guess. Okay, so it's like worth pointing out when we think about poetry nowadays, we're like, oh, poetry is really cool, or like, oh, poetry is that thing that we hate when our friends tell us that they do, because then they'll try and make us read their poetry. But we don't want to read their poetry because we don't want to tell them how we feel about it because that would hurt their feelings. You know. Yeah, before the fucking modern era, well, I guess the modern era includes all this before like TV and shit, poetry was the They were like the fucking rock stars, you know, like in England you have people like lining up around the block for the new poem that drops from Lord Byron or whatever the fuck you know. And I mean it's not because they were like inherently like smarter and cooler they totally would have watched TV if they had TV.

But right, that's but that was what was available.

But right, that's but that was what was available.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But also you thought differently of poetry in general.

But also you thought differently of poetry in general.

Right exactly. And so when we say they're coming for the poets, it's a different thing. It's not like, oh, this person with this kind of niche hobby where they're sort of self indulgent or whatever. I really like poetry and modern poetry. I'm not trying to talk shit, just it's seen differently. Yeah, and I don't want to read your poetry, dear listener, I'm sorry or whatever. Anyway, Okay, there was this poetry movement called the Acmeists that started in the early twentieth century I want to say the nineteen tents, but don't quote me and the Acmeists. Acme comes from the same place as like literally like roadrunner and shit, right, you know, like the Acme brand or whatever, because Acme comes from like a Greek word that sort of means like it's used to mean the best. It's like the okay, the top of a game or whatever. So the Acmists they were a response to the symbolists who came before them, and they were like, if you want to write about something, just write about it as clearly and succinctly as you can. And so this makes it sound like they're poetry is going to be all like utilitarian and kind of blocky, but it actually really isn't, at least not the poet I read for this. The poet I read for this is now one of my favorite poets. And it's just it's beautiful stuff. And I don't know enough about how to contrast it to symbolism, because I'm like, well, there's still metaphor in it, you know, right, But the Bolsheviks they're killing people. For example, they kill one of the Acmists, a poet named Nikolai Gumelev, and he was not a lefty. He was a monarchist, and he was executed in nineteen twenty one without a trial. He wasn't executed for taking action against the communist revolution, but writing poetry that they didn't like and having ideas they didn't like. Wow, So art begins to go underground, and artists learn whole new methods of distribution right away, including and I don't know if they actually use this, but they could have our sponsor, our perennial sponsor, the potato. Did you know that you can print with a potato? Did you know that you can cut a potato in half and then carve out whatever you would like and put it on an ink blot or whatever you call those things pad an ink pad. I didn't.

Right exactly. And so when we say they're coming for the poets, it's a different thing. It's not like, oh, this person with this kind of niche hobby where they're sort of self indulgent or whatever. I really like poetry and modern poetry. I'm not trying to talk shit, just it's seen differently. Yeah, and I don't want to read your poetry, dear listener, I'm sorry or whatever. Anyway, Okay, there was this poetry movement called the Acmeists that started in the early twentieth century I want to say the nineteen tents, but don't quote me and the Acmeists. Acme comes from the same place as like literally like roadrunner and shit, right, you know, like the Acme brand or whatever, because Acme comes from like a Greek word that sort of means like it's used to mean the best. It's like the okay, the top of a game or whatever. So the Acmists they were a response to the symbolists who came before them, and they were like, if you want to write about something, just write about it as clearly and succinctly as you can. And so this makes it sound like they're poetry is going to be all like utilitarian and kind of blocky, but it actually really isn't, at least not the poet I read for this. The poet I read for this is now one of my favorite poets. And it's just it's beautiful stuff. And I don't know enough about how to contrast it to symbolism, because I'm like, well, there's still metaphor in it, you know, right, But the Bolsheviks they're killing people. For example, they kill one of the Acmists, a poet named Nikolai Gumelev, and he was not a lefty. He was a monarchist, and he was executed in nineteen twenty one without a trial. He wasn't executed for taking action against the communist revolution, but writing poetry that they didn't like and having ideas they didn't like. Wow, So art begins to go underground, and artists learn whole new methods of distribution right away, including and I don't know if they actually use this, but they could have our sponsor, our perennial sponsor, the potato. Did you know that you can print with a potato? Did you know that you can cut a potato in half and then carve out whatever you would like and put it on an ink blot or whatever you call those things pad an ink pad. I didn't.

I did not know that.

I did not know that.

Actually, yeah, that's why the potato is so perfect.

Actually, yeah, that's why the potato is so perfect.

I know you can do anything with a potato.

I know you can do anything with a potato.

I've got some potatoes in the fridge, leftovers tonight.

I've got some potatoes in the fridge, leftovers tonight.

I want potatoes now, our French fries after this. Anyway, besides potatoes, apparently there's some other ads for some weird reason, and here they are, and we're back back. We're so back. So artists start learning whole new methods of distribution, including why I literally have no evidence that they did potato woodcuts. They probably didn't. It would not have been the most effective means. But take, for example, the acmeust poet Anna Akmatova, who has been heralded as one of the country's great poets before and during the revolution. And she's the main poet who I read during that. Yeah, no, she's fucking amazing. Her poetry is like puts a little rip into your soul. But then it's like but it's okay. It's okay, like pets the wound.

I want potatoes now, our French fries after this. Anyway, besides potatoes, apparently there's some other ads for some weird reason, and here they are, and we're back back. We're so back. So artists start learning whole new methods of distribution, including why I literally have no evidence that they did potato woodcuts. They probably didn't. It would not have been the most effective means. But take, for example, the acmeust poet Anna Akmatova, who has been heralded as one of the country's great poets before and during the revolution. And she's the main poet who I read during that. Yeah, no, she's fucking amazing. Her poetry is like puts a little rip into your soul. But then it's like but it's okay. It's okay, like pets the wound.

You know, it's like that's kind of poetry.

You know, it's like that's kind of poetry.

Yeah, she was not a monarch. You can't say like the acmeus had the following political tendency, at least that I've found, because I've read about three of them, and one of them was lefty him, one of them was a political and one of them was a socialist. She was the non political one. She didn't seem to stop the communists and I don't know whatever, Yeah, just trying to write poetry. Later, the communists worked hard to sort of claim she was a good Soviet patriot. She wasn't that either. She was just a poet. When all of her friends started emigrating during the revolution and after the Bolshevik stole the Revolution in particular, and started like doing things like killing poets, she refused to leave, which is probably a familiar thought to everyone living in this country right now is marginalized in a way that might make them vulnerable. She would say shit like a poet can only write in the country she's from, which I don't think that's true, but you're allowed to decide that for yourself.

Yeah, she was not a monarch. You can't say like the acmeus had the following political tendency, at least that I've found, because I've read about three of them, and one of them was lefty him, one of them was a political and one of them was a socialist. She was the non political one. She didn't seem to stop the communists and I don't know whatever, Yeah, just trying to write poetry. Later, the communists worked hard to sort of claim she was a good Soviet patriot. She wasn't that either. She was just a poet. When all of her friends started emigrating during the revolution and after the Bolshevik stole the Revolution in particular, and started like doing things like killing poets, she refused to leave, which is probably a familiar thought to everyone living in this country right now is marginalized in a way that might make them vulnerable. She would say shit like a poet can only write in the country she's from, which I don't think that's true, but you're allowed to decide that for yourself.

That was her truth. Anyway.

That was her truth. Anyway.

Yeah, since she's already kind of a big deal poet. When the Bolsheviks capture all the big rich villas and shit from all the rich people, they offer all the big deal artists people places to stay in those palaces, so she gets to live kind of one of my dreams, which is to live collectively, which is like you and all your friends take over some rich person's palace and then all live in a palace. But you just just like eighty of you or whatever.

Yeah, since she's already kind of a big deal poet. When the Bolsheviks capture all the big rich villas and shit from all the rich people, they offer all the big deal artists people places to stay in those palaces, so she gets to live kind of one of my dreams, which is to live collectively, which is like you and all your friends take over some rich person's palace and then all live in a palace. But you just just like eighty of you or whatever.

You know, Yeah, that is the dream.

You know, Yeah, that is the dream.

But they're like, okay, you can move here. But then they're like, but we don't actually like your poetry. It's not the right kind of poetry, so they refuse to publish her. She's not towing the party line. She's not really writing politically, near as I can tell. Later she's going to write politically and response to what happens to her. But she used to be married to Gumalev, the monarchist that they'd executed, but she'd actually divorced him, but she divorced him well before the revolution started, and so they weren't married when he died. But she does have a kid with him. She has a kid named Lev Gumalev and pretty much because Lev was the kid of someone that they'd executed without a trial, they throw him.

But they're like, okay, you can move here. But then they're like, but we don't actually like your poetry. It's not the right kind of poetry, so they refuse to publish her. She's not towing the party line. She's not really writing politically, near as I can tell. Later she's going to write politically and response to what happens to her. But she used to be married to Gumalev, the monarchist that they'd executed, but she'd actually divorced him, but she divorced him well before the revolution started, and so they weren't married when he died. But she does have a kid with him. She has a kid named Lev Gumalev and pretty much because Lev was the kid of someone that they'd executed without a trial, they throw him.

Into jail ah Man.

Into jail ah Man.

So Anna starts hanging out outside the jail every day. She starts writing a poem about it, about her time hanging outside this prison. And the poem is called Requiem, and she has to write it line by line because it's not just like she's like, Oh, I'm going to write it and I can't publish it. She's like not allowed to fucking write.

So Anna starts hanging out outside the jail every day. She starts writing a poem about it, about her time hanging outside this prison. And the poem is called Requiem, and she has to write it line by line because it's not just like she's like, Oh, I'm going to write it and I can't publish it. She's like not allowed to fucking write.

It, you know, wow at all, Like not even just in your journal.

It, you know, wow at all, Like not even just in your journal.

Yeah. She writes it line by line and then burns each line in her ash tray after she finishes writing it, wow, because if the censors see it, they will throw her into prison. And so she memorizes this with her friends. She goes line by line and whispers it to her friends until they memorize it too. People did this for poetry sometimes sometimes just until Stalin dies in nineteen fifty two three. Sometimes they're doing it until the fall of the Soviet Union. You know, this poem does not get published in the USSR until nineteen eighty seven or eighty eight, wow, or eighty nine. I've read both eighty seven and eighty nine. Eighty eight didn't never.

Yeah. She writes it line by line and then burns each line in her ash tray after she finishes writing it, wow, because if the censors see it, they will throw her into prison. And so she memorizes this with her friends. She goes line by line and whispers it to her friends until they memorize it too. People did this for poetry sometimes sometimes just until Stalin dies in nineteen fifty two three. Sometimes they're doing it until the fall of the Soviet Union. You know, this poem does not get published in the USSR until nineteen eighty seven or eighty eight, wow, or eighty nine. I've read both eighty seven and eighty nine. Eighty eight didn't never.

Mind, well that's right in between.

Mind, well that's right in between.

So yeah, yeah, exactly. And the story of how she came to write this poem is right in the opening of the poem. Most of it is more proper poetry, but there's like a prose paragraph kind of section at the top, and so I'm just going to read that. During the frightening period of the Yezhov Terror, which is the name of one of the guys leading Stalin's purchase, I spent seventeen months waiting in prison cues in Leningrad. One day, somehow someone picked me out. On that occasion, there was a woman standing behind me, her lips blue with cold, who of course had never in her life heard my name. Jolted out of the torpor characteristic of all of us, she said into my ear. Everyone whispered there could anyone ever describe this? And I answered I can. It was then that something like a smile slid across what had previously been just a face. And so yeah, after spending seventeen months hanging out outside this prison waiting to find out what's going to happen to her kid, who's done literally nothing wrong. She writes this poem and it survives because her and other people memorized it. And I'm going to read some of that poem. I don't sometimes I read poetry on this show, but it's not a huge thing I do.

So yeah, yeah, exactly. And the story of how she came to write this poem is right in the opening of the poem. Most of it is more proper poetry, but there's like a prose paragraph kind of section at the top, and so I'm just going to read that. During the frightening period of the Yezhov Terror, which is the name of one of the guys leading Stalin's purchase, I spent seventeen months waiting in prison cues in Leningrad. One day, somehow someone picked me out. On that occasion, there was a woman standing behind me, her lips blue with cold, who of course had never in her life heard my name. Jolted out of the torpor characteristic of all of us, she said into my ear. Everyone whispered there could anyone ever describe this? And I answered I can. It was then that something like a smile slid across what had previously been just a face. And so yeah, after spending seventeen months hanging out outside this prison waiting to find out what's going to happen to her kid, who's done literally nothing wrong. She writes this poem and it survives because her and other people memorized it. And I'm going to read some of that poem. I don't sometimes I read poetry on this show, but it's not a huge thing I do.

We've read that other piece very well.

We've read that other piece very well.

Oh thanks, And I kind of figure like this is such an important part of the culture resistance, so I feel like reading some of it. Yeah. Also, I think some of it applies right now as we watch people getting disappeared off of the streets. Because that is happening.

Oh thanks, And I kind of figure like this is such an important part of the culture resistance, so I feel like reading some of it. Yeah. Also, I think some of it applies right now as we watch people getting disappeared off of the streets. Because that is happening.

I mean it's chilling.

I mean it's chilling.

Yeah, yeah, because we often are like, well, what if they come for us? They are already coming for people in this country.

Yeah, yeah, because we often are like, well, what if they come for us? They are already coming for people in this country.

This is just a we've been doing a fun bit about how it's for no particular reason why this is important. Obviously it's the same thing, bit different, but the same for people speaking out.

This is just a we've been doing a fun bit about how it's for no particular reason why this is important. Obviously it's the same thing, bit different, but the same for people speaking out.

Yeah, for criticizing El Salvador.

Yeah, for criticizing El Salvador.

For yeah, these people, all Salvador people trying to get into this country and their social media being checked. What are we talking about here?

For yeah, these people, all Salvador people trying to get into this country and their social media being checked. What are we talking about here?

Yeah? Anyway, it's funny because the people who are listening to this a year from now are either going to be like, who we pulled back from that cliff, or people are going to be like, oh, that was really cute that those are your biggest problems. Back now anyway, here's a piece, a bit of requiem. We are everywhere the same, listening to the scrape and turn of hateful keys, and the heavy tread of marching soldiers, waking early, as if for early mass walking through the capital, run wild, gone to seed, we'd meet the dead life, the sun lower every day, the never mistier, but hope still sings forever in the distance. It happened like this, when only the dead were smiling, glad of their release. You were taken away at dawn. I followed you, as one does when a corpse is being removed. Children were crying in the darkened house. A candle flared, illuminating the Mother of God. The cold of an icon was on your lips, a death cold sweat on your brow. I will never forget this. I will gather to wail with the wives of the murdered STRELSTI inconsolably beneath the Kremlin towers.

Yeah? Anyway, it's funny because the people who are listening to this a year from now are either going to be like, who we pulled back from that cliff, or people are going to be like, oh, that was really cute that those are your biggest problems. Back now anyway, here's a piece, a bit of requiem. We are everywhere the same, listening to the scrape and turn of hateful keys, and the heavy tread of marching soldiers, waking early, as if for early mass walking through the capital, run wild, gone to seed, we'd meet the dead life, the sun lower every day, the never mistier, but hope still sings forever in the distance. It happened like this, when only the dead were smiling, glad of their release. You were taken away at dawn. I followed you, as one does when a corpse is being removed. Children were crying in the darkened house. A candle flared, illuminating the Mother of God. The cold of an icon was on your lips, a death cold sweat on your brow. I will never forget this. I will gather to wail with the wives of the murdered STRELSTI inconsolably beneath the Kremlin towers.

Wow, that's beautiful.

Wow, that's beautiful.

Yeah, Like, I'm just like, yeah, I had heard of her before. She's one of my best friend's favorite poets, but I hadn't really sat down with her before this. Yeah the poet almost published abroad in the nineteen sixties, but yeah, published in Russia in nineteen eighty seven or nineteen eighty nine. Her Son spent years in prison. They let him out long enough to fight in World War Two in the Red Army.

Yeah, Like, I'm just like, yeah, I had heard of her before. She's one of my best friend's favorite poets, but I hadn't really sat down with her before this. Yeah the poet almost published abroad in the nineteen sixties, but yeah, published in Russia in nineteen eighty seven or nineteen eighty nine. Her Son spent years in prison. They let him out long enough to fight in World War Two in the Red Army.

Oh how nice of them, and.

Oh how nice of them, and.

Then they put him back in prison afterwards.

Then they put him back in prison afterwards.

Come on, fucking wild.

Come on, fucking wild.

I know, Okay, I did the one thing, lev her Son. He's a bastard. Like when he gets out, he gets out when Stalin dies, he becomes a bastard race scientist man. He builds up this whole belief system that ethnicities are like their own organisms that have their own characteristics, and like, oh no, he's a heavy influence on fucking Putin's race science. Okay, well, you know, but he hadn't done any of that before they locked him.

I know, Okay, I did the one thing, lev her Son. He's a bastard. Like when he gets out, he gets out when Stalin dies, he becomes a bastard race scientist man. He builds up this whole belief system that ethnicities are like their own organisms that have their own characteristics, and like, oh no, he's a heavy influence on fucking Putin's race science. Okay, well, you know, but he hadn't done any of that before they locked him.

Up, and maybe maybe some of that happened to him inside. I don't know.

Up, and maybe maybe some of that happened to him inside. I don't know.

Yeah, Like, yeah, it's funny because there's a couple of these moments where I'm like, look, some of the people that they locked up, we're bad people.

Yeah, Like, yeah, it's funny because there's a couple of these moments where I'm like, look, some of the people that they locked up, we're bad people.

But like, yeah, sure, but the principle of it has remains true.

But like, yeah, sure, but the principle of it has remains true.

It's like, I still got to give people trials and.

It's like, I still got to give people trials and.

Like exactly, even the shitty people.

Like exactly, even the shitty people.

Yeah. So his mom's crew of acmists. They're having a hell of a hard time under the new Bolshevik regime. One of the more prominent early victims of Bolshevik crackdown and self publishing was a Jewish socialist named Ossip Mandelstam. He's one of the acmists. He supported the revolution. I think he was with the SRS and then later the Bolsheviks. And soon after the Bolsheviks take power, they're like, all right, all art must serve the revolution and he's like, wait, what h.

Yeah. So his mom's crew of acmists. They're having a hell of a hard time under the new Bolshevik regime. One of the more prominent early victims of Bolshevik crackdown and self publishing was a Jewish socialist named Ossip Mandelstam. He's one of the acmists. He supported the revolution. I think he was with the SRS and then later the Bolsheviks. And soon after the Bolsheviks take power, they're like, all right, all art must serve the revolution and he's like, wait, what h.

That's not what I was revolutionarying for evlutionary ing.

That's not what I was revolutionarying for evlutionary ing.

Well whatever, Yeah, I like Oscar Wilde's take on this, which is, you don't have art for socialism sake, your socialism for art's sake. Yeah.

Well whatever, Yeah, I like Oscar Wilde's take on this, which is, you don't have art for socialism sake, your socialism for art's sake. Yeah.

That one always the right phrasing. Yeah, yeah, that was good.

That one always the right phrasing. Yeah, yeah, that was good.

Yeah, And unfortunately the Bolsheviks must not have heard of Oscar Wilder. They totally wouldn't have become Bolsheviks. They were like, no, we don't really like that free expression stuff. And so he starts writing politically but not actually about politics. He starts writing about the autonomy of the individual versus giving yourself over to the state, and he starts writing the personal as political in a really direct way, like literally, it becomes a revolutionary or counter revolutionary if you're a Bolshevik act to write about individual love, not even like oh, loving a person is better than loving the state, just literally being like I'm in love with this person, yeah, instead of writing about the love for your comrades. So he's struggling to get published as a poet, and he supports himself writing children's books. Throughout the nineteen twenties, you get the first culture of what will later be called Samisdak, but it's still not called that at this time, and kind of around Osip, the Jewish socialist guy, they're called underwoods because of the brand of typewriter that everyone was using is an underwood, and they would pass around their poetry and their books an original manuscript like type written form. Osip is very aware the eye of Sourn is like on him, so for I had to get a Lord of the Rings reference in here so much, that's right, Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Yeah, And unfortunately the Bolsheviks must not have heard of Oscar Wilder. They totally wouldn't have become Bolsheviks. They were like, no, we don't really like that free expression stuff. And so he starts writing politically but not actually about politics. He starts writing about the autonomy of the individual versus giving yourself over to the state, and he starts writing the personal as political in a really direct way, like literally, it becomes a revolutionary or counter revolutionary if you're a Bolshevik act to write about individual love, not even like oh, loving a person is better than loving the state, just literally being like I'm in love with this person, yeah, instead of writing about the love for your comrades. So he's struggling to get published as a poet, and he supports himself writing children's books. Throughout the nineteen twenties, you get the first culture of what will later be called Samisdak, but it's still not called that at this time, and kind of around Osip, the Jewish socialist guy, they're called underwoods because of the brand of typewriter that everyone was using is an underwood, and they would pass around their poetry and their books an original manuscript like type written form. Osip is very aware the eye of Sourn is like on him, so for I had to get a Lord of the Rings reference in here so much, that's right, Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So for a while he and his wife fuck off to Armenia basically one of his higher up. He's like, the literary scene is kind of close to power, and so like Stalin's like kind of paying attention to him, right, and he's like, I don't like that. And so one of his other friends is a little bit more in with everyone gets them basically being like, oh, yeah, we totally need someone over in Armenia while you go over there for a while. And he's like, I will.

So for a while he and his wife fuck off to Armenia basically one of his higher up. He's like, the literary scene is kind of close to power, and so like Stalin's like kind of paying attention to him, right, and he's like, I don't like that. And so one of his other friends is a little bit more in with everyone gets them basically being like, oh, yeah, we totally need someone over in Armenia while you go over there for a while. And he's like, I will.

Bid move sounds like I know, I know.

Bid move sounds like I know, I know.

Meanwhile, he has this friend named Vladimir Mayakovsky, and nineteen thirty, this poet Vladimir kills himself. And this man had been a committed Bolshevik revolutionary. He had spent years writing pro communist poetry during the revolution. He was like the soul of Soviet poetry according to everyone for a while, right until he found himself banned and censored like all other people who actually believed in art and beauty and shit like that. And so he killed himself, and in my mind as yet another victim of Stalin. From my point of view, many many of the original Bolsheviks are killed by Stalin. In the nineteen thirties. After he died, Stalin was like, oh, he was great, and he loved us and we loved him, which has just got to be a horrid fate for your legacy. Osip comes back from Armenia and he starts writing poetry that he couldn't publish because well, he just couldn't get anything published. So at this point he's like, he starts writing poetry about how he's doomed to die, that the Bolsheviks are going to kill him. That is the poetry he writes. And then in nineteen thirty three he wrote a poem that accused Stalin of murder ooh, and two of the lines from it are he rolls the executions on his tongue like berries. Oooh. He wishes he could hug them like big friends from home. He didn't even publish this, he just started spreading it mostly by word of mouth and on like one or two typewritten manuscripts, And most of his friends are like, the fuck are you doing?

Meanwhile, he has this friend named Vladimir Mayakovsky, and nineteen thirty, this poet Vladimir kills himself. And this man had been a committed Bolshevik revolutionary. He had spent years writing pro communist poetry during the revolution. He was like the soul of Soviet poetry according to everyone for a while, right until he found himself banned and censored like all other people who actually believed in art and beauty and shit like that. And so he killed himself, and in my mind as yet another victim of Stalin. From my point of view, many many of the original Bolsheviks are killed by Stalin. In the nineteen thirties. After he died, Stalin was like, oh, he was great, and he loved us and we loved him, which has just got to be a horrid fate for your legacy. Osip comes back from Armenia and he starts writing poetry that he couldn't publish because well, he just couldn't get anything published. So at this point he's like, he starts writing poetry about how he's doomed to die, that the Bolsheviks are going to kill him. That is the poetry he writes. And then in nineteen thirty three he wrote a poem that accused Stalin of murder ooh, and two of the lines from it are he rolls the executions on his tongue like berries. Oooh. He wishes he could hug them like big friends from home. He didn't even publish this, he just started spreading it mostly by word of mouth and on like one or two typewritten manuscripts, And most of his friends are like, the fuck are you doing?

And they're like, why would you even say that to me? Man?

And they're like, why would you even say that to me? Man?

Yeah, So he was arrested and tortured and exiled and then died in a prison camp of heart failure. YEP. Poets and authors kept going memorizing everything that they could, so that it could be public one day when society was free once more. One author, Marina zvechya Yeva, sold her little hand bound, hand sewn poetry journals and called it Overcoming Gutenberg. Other people called it quote writing for the desk drawer, since they knew it could never go anywhere. They were just like, I'm writing this other one for no one, But you couldn't actually keep it in a regular old desk drawer because that's what's going to be tossed by the fucking series.

Yeah, So he was arrested and tortured and exiled and then died in a prison camp of heart failure. YEP. Poets and authors kept going memorizing everything that they could, so that it could be public one day when society was free once more. One author, Marina zvechya Yeva, sold her little hand bound, hand sewn poetry journals and called it Overcoming Gutenberg. Other people called it quote writing for the desk drawer, since they knew it could never go anywhere. They were just like, I'm writing this other one for no one, But you couldn't actually keep it in a regular old desk drawer because that's what's going to be tossed by the fucking series.

I was going to say, it doesn't sound like you should leave it just laying around and needs to be hidden under some floorboards or something.

I was going to say, it doesn't sound like you should leave it just laying around and needs to be hidden under some floorboards or something.

Yeah, they are literally burying it.

Yeah, they are literally burying it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. During the peak of Stalin's terror in the nineteen thirties and forties, there weren't underwoods going around anymore. Not really. There weren't people passing manuscripts anymore. There were just whispered words and memorization like Requiem. People would have to hide the fact that they were writers at all. Many of them were writing from labor camps where they'd been sent for writing. But then in nineteen fifty three, Joseph Stalin made perhaps his great contribution to global communism. He died. The man who replaced him for about ten years was a guy named Nikita Krushev, And the overall vibe of this guy is like, hey, I'm not Stalin, which is a good vibe to have coming in after Stalin. Absolutely, this fundamental dictorial nature of the USSR doesn't go away under him, but he lessens it up quite a lot. It's not like free press, but more stuff is getting approved right, Okay, not free, but for your yeah, totally. You can't just do whatever you want willy nilly like writes stuff down and let people read it.

Yeah. During the peak of Stalin's terror in the nineteen thirties and forties, there weren't underwoods going around anymore. Not really. There weren't people passing manuscripts anymore. There were just whispered words and memorization like Requiem. People would have to hide the fact that they were writers at all. Many of them were writing from labor camps where they'd been sent for writing. But then in nineteen fifty three, Joseph Stalin made perhaps his great contribution to global communism. He died. The man who replaced him for about ten years was a guy named Nikita Krushev, And the overall vibe of this guy is like, hey, I'm not Stalin, which is a good vibe to have coming in after Stalin. Absolutely, this fundamental dictorial nature of the USSR doesn't go away under him, but he lessens it up quite a lot. It's not like free press, but more stuff is getting approved right, Okay, not free, but for your yeah, totally. You can't just do whatever you want willy nilly like writes stuff down and let people read it.

Sure, that would be wild.

Sure, that would be wild.

Yeah, but it's easier to get it approved. And so some people are able to start writing again under Krushev. Don't worry, like ten years old is going to get ousted for not being whatever. Yeah, and more stuff is allowed through, including a book by perhaps the most famous author going to talk about this week. He is not quite cool people who did cool stuff, but he's a complicated guy who did cool stuff.

Yeah, but it's easier to get it approved. And so some people are able to start writing again under Krushev. Don't worry, like ten years old is going to get ousted for not being whatever. Yeah, and more stuff is allowed through, including a book by perhaps the most famous author going to talk about this week. He is not quite cool people who did cool stuff, but he's a complicated guy who did cool stuff.

Okay, okay.

Okay, okay.

A reoccurring theme on this show.

A reoccurring theme on this show.

Uh oh, that's could be its own spinoff. I guess, I know.

Uh oh, that's could be its own spinoff. I guess, I know.

Really that's the secret subtext of half of the episodes. It's like your heroes were more complicated than you thought. Yeah, yeah, but not in a like so fuck them forever way, but you know, no, well some of them, but.

Really that's the secret subtext of half of the episodes. It's like your heroes were more complicated than you thought. Yeah, yeah, but not in a like so fuck them forever way, but you know, no, well some of them, but.

Yeah, sure, but you can understand that people are complex. In fact, we all are.

Yeah, sure, but you can understand that people are complex. In fact, we all are.

Yeah, well not me. I fortunately have been blessed by never doing anything wrong.

Yeah, well not me. I fortunately have been blessed by never doing anything wrong.

Good for you.

Good for you.

Yeah no, and uh, anyone who tries to bring it to my attention I've done something wrong is actually the one doing something wrong is really important for people who you're in the Goolag.

Yeah no, and uh, anyone who tries to bring it to my attention I've done something wrong is actually the one doing something wrong is really important for people who you're in the Goolag.

You're perfect, We've been established, and.

You're perfect, We've been established, and.

That's why I should be in charge the Narco Gulag.

That's why I should be in charge the Narco Gulag.

That's absolutely, that's right. If they criticize you, then there must be something deeply evil about them.

That's absolutely, that's right. If they criticize you, then there must be something deeply evil about them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was thinking, like, well, they're not like permanently flawed. They could just be taught again. We'll call them teaching again camps. Oh yeah, do it better this time? Is the subtitle build back Better?

I was thinking, like, well, they're not like permanently flawed. They could just be taught again. We'll call them teaching again camps. Oh yeah, do it better this time? Is the subtitle build back Better?

All right?

All right?

And that book, the more famous one and the author and the rise of Samasdak culture, which I still hasn't even been called that yet. We're going to talk about on Wednesday.

And that book, the more famous one and the author and the rise of Samasdak culture, which I still hasn't even been called that yet. We're going to talk about on Wednesday.

Ooh, Wednesday, I know, I don't know, I just wanted to add some flair. I don't know.

Ooh, Wednesday, I know, I don't know, I just wanted to add some flair. I don't know.

How are you feeling about underground publishing so far?

How are you feeling about underground publishing so far?

I think this is really rad. There's so many parallels to be brought to as we've established modern day. I think it's cool. It sounds pretty punk rock, Yeah, complicated, scary, terrifying, potentially demoralizing era where people such as these that you've outlined here are vital.

I think this is really rad. There's so many parallels to be brought to as we've established modern day. I think it's cool. It sounds pretty punk rock, Yeah, complicated, scary, terrifying, potentially demoralizing era where people such as these that you've outlined here are vital.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

One of the things that I think about on a regular basis. A long time ago, I did an episode about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and when I think about that, like closed doomed society, the things that they smuggled in. There was three things that mattered to them, which was food, arms, and the means of printing. Like, the means of printing was so important to people, and I think that's a thing that we sometimes take for granted. And obviously it would be harder to silence the free production of stuff in the modern era, but not impossible. Like, for example, did you know that every commercially available like home printer, leaves a fingerprint that can be tracked forensically.

One of the things that I think about on a regular basis. A long time ago, I did an episode about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and when I think about that, like closed doomed society, the things that they smuggled in. There was three things that mattered to them, which was food, arms, and the means of printing. Like, the means of printing was so important to people, and I think that's a thing that we sometimes take for granted. And obviously it would be harder to silence the free production of stuff in the modern era, but not impossible. Like, for example, did you know that every commercially available like home printer, leaves a fingerprint that can be tracked forensically.