# The New Left – Part Two – Children of the Revolution

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/the-new-left-part-two-children-of-the-revolution
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/the-new-left-part-two-children-of-the-revolution.md
Podcast: [Origin Story](https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720)
Published: 2025-12-06T04:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR8956683126.mp3?updated=1764962226
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR8956683126.mp3?updated=1764962226
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/origin-story-5452720/episodes/the-new-left-part-two-children-of-the-revolution
Duration seconds: 4366

## Resource

Welcome to the second episode of the week as we conclude the story of the New Left. In part one, we explained the various groups and thinkersthat fed into the New Left’s attempts to reimagine socialism during the 1960s. It all comes to a head in 1968 with a chain reaction of youth-driven street protests and occupations: Paris, London, New York, Rome, Mexico City, Tokyo. It’s 1848 all over again, only this time its global and its televised, turning leading activists into overnight celebrities. Everywhere, though, these rebellions end in defeat and fragmentation. In its wake, figures as prominent as John Lennon convince themselves that revolution is imminent even as it becomes vanishingly improbable. The New Left splinters in the 1970s. Some “68ers” enter mainstream politics. Others turn to terrorism. A few plunge into the factional jungle of Maoist and Trotskyist sects. But many more redirect their idealism towards new liberation movements: second-wave feminism, gay rights, racial justice, Third World solidarity. We explain how the theories of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci became a lodestar for the left decades after his death — a new approach to changing society. The New Left may have failed to mount a political revolt but it succeeded in redrawing the parameters of socialism beyond class struggle. The left of today is its legacy. Why did the thrilling upheavals of 1968 fall so short? What led so many people to expect a revolution? How did Gramsci become the most important socialist thinker of the modern era? Was toxic disunity inevitable? And how did the New Left ultimately succeed, despite backlashes, setbacks and self-imposed wounds, in changing the world? • Use code ORIGINSTORY at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: ⁠⁠https://in…

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## Transcript

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