People's History of Ideas Podcast
History

People's History of Ideas Podcast

by Matthew Rothwell

In this podcast, Matthew Rothwell, author of Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America, explores the global history of ideas related to rebellion and revolution. The main focus of this podcast for the near future will be on the history of the Chinese Revolution, going all the way back to its roots in the initial Chinese reactions to British imperialism during the Opium War of 1839-1842, and then following the development of the revolution and many of the ideas that were products of the revolution through to their transnational diffusion in the late 20th century.

101 episodes
EN-US language
All Episodes
1
A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire (January 1930) (Part Two)
30:53 Mar 21, 2026
2
A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire (January 1930) (Part One)
22:44 Mar 14, 2026
3
How Brainwashing was Good and Maoist Propaganda was True: An Interview with leading China scholar Aminda Smith
58:12 Mar 7, 2026
4
Chen Duxiu Update (or, the Devil Makes Work for Idle Hands) (1929)
31:21 Dec 11, 2025
5
Did the German Communists Really Say “After Hitler, Our Turn?” Exploring the Historical Evidence
19:11 Nov 21, 2025
6
Revolution in the ‘20s, Go For It: The ‘Third Period’ Comes to China
26:35 Oct 31, 2025
7
The Chinese Communist Party Interventions in the 1929 Sino-Soviet War
23:26 Oct 10, 2025
8
The 1929 Sino-Soviet War Concludes
21:30 Jun 28, 2025
9
The 1929 Sino-Soviet War Begins
21:56 May 14, 2025
10
The Chinese Eastern Railway: Background to the 1929 Sino-Soviet War
20:25 Apr 9, 2025
11
“On the Problem of Party Organization” (The Gutian Resolution—Part Three)
25:46 Jan 25, 2025
12
“The Problem of Correcting Erroneous and Nonproletarian Ideological Tendencies in the Party” (The Gutian Resolution—Part Two)
31:43 Jan 18, 2025
13
The Gutian Resolution (End of 1929) (Part One)
25:53 Jan 10, 2025
14
Two Letters and “On Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party” (November to December 1929)
30:22 Dec 28, 2024
15
The Battle for Shanghang (mid-September 1929)
20:00 Dec 21, 2024
16
The Politburo in Shanghai Discusses the Line Struggle in the Red Army and Issues the September Instruction
21:54 Dec 14, 2024
17
Mao gets Kicked from Party Leadership, and Organizes a Land Reform in Western Fujian
24:15 Dec 7, 2024
18
Mao’s 14 June 1929 Letter to Lin Biao
33:32 Nov 30, 2024
19
The Line Struggle Between Mao Zedong and Zhu De (May to June 1929)
36:22 Nov 23, 2024
20
The Red Army Victorious: The Conquest of Several Counties in Jiangxi and Fujian in the Spring of 1929
29:46 Jun 26, 2024
21
Mao Tells Zhou Enlai about Guerrilla Warfare
24:14 May 1, 2024
22
The Party Center Attempts to Assert Control over the Red Army and Orders Mao and Zhu to Report to Shanghai
22:24 Apr 4, 2024
23
Mao’s March 20 Letter to the Central Committee, and the 5th Red Army’s Retreat from the Jinggangshan (January to April 1929)
25:08 Mar 10, 2024
24
On the Experience of the National Bourgeoisie in the New Democratic Revolution
26:43 Feb 4, 2024
25
A New Communist Order in Changting (March 1929)
34:07 Jan 13, 2024
26
Leaving Donggu, Taking Changting (February to March 1929)
22:50 Dec 7, 2023
27
From Dabodi to Donggu: The Retreat from the Jinggangshan Continues (February 1929)
20:48 Oct 19, 2023
28
Running for Their Lives: The Retreat from the Jinggangshan (January to February 1929)
22:00 Oct 12, 2023
29
Frameworks for Thinking about Tragic Historical Shortcomings of the Socialist Experience
28:28 Oct 4, 2023
30
The End of the Sixth Congress
33:04 Sep 28, 2023
31
Clashing Communists and Comintern Guidance: The 6th Congress Gets off to a Rocky Start
21:22 Sep 21, 2023
32
Bukharin on the Nature of the Chinese Revolution in 1928
38:08 Sep 14, 2023
33
Bukharin on the Theory of the Productive Forces (and Mao’s counterpoint on New Democratic Revolution)
24:51 May 27, 2023
34
The ‘Third Period’ of the World Revolution: Bukharin’s Speech at the Sixth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (June 1928)
25:18 May 20, 2023
35
Preparations for the Sixth Party Congress (April to May 1928)
21:43 May 13, 2023
36
The Bailu Conference: Suppressing Orders from the Party Congress and Preparing to Leave the Jinggangshan (January 1929)
24:01 Feb 16, 2023
37
The Base Area under Economic Blockade and Unification with the Fifth Red Army (End of 1928)
29:25 Feb 2, 2023
38
Vagrants, Mercenaries, and Rich Peasants (November 1928)
41:10 Nov 27, 2022
39
Transforming, Building, and Purging the Party (September to November 1928)
25:00 Oct 31, 2022
40
Opportunism and Self-Criticism: The Jinggangshan Party Congress Resolution of October 1928
29:26 Oct 20, 2022
41
“Why Is It that Red Political Power Can Exist in China?” (October 1928)
41:13 Sep 15, 2022
42
The August Defeat (Part 2): The Communists Strike Back (August to November 1928)
24:08 Jul 31, 2022
43
The August Defeat (Part 1)
21:54 Jul 24, 2022
44
The Yongxin Joint Conference and Mao’s July 4, 1928 Report to the Hunan Provincial Committee
27:30 Jul 17, 2022
45
Clandestine Transcripts of Revolutionary Globalization: The Shining Paths of Late Cultural Revolution Maoism
44:40 Apr 28, 2022
46
Nuclear War and Communist Revolution
30:10 Mar 7, 2022
47
The Beginning of the Midyear Crisis (June 1928)
26:24 Feb 27, 2022
48
Land Revolution and Communist Party Growth: The High Tide of the Jinggangshan Base Area (Summer 1928)
30:47 Feb 10, 2022
49
Beating Back Suppression Campaigns and Expanding the Jinggangshan Base Area (May to June 1928)
26:00 Feb 3, 2022
50
The Jinggangshan Junction of Forces: Mao Zedong and Zhu De Unite (April to May 1928)
29:34 Jan 27, 2022
Select an episode
0:00 0:00