{"podcast":{"title":"Origin Story","slug":"origin-story-5452720","podcast_index_feed_id":5452720,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/originstory","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/9e94abb2-d5e6-11ec-ad02-7b0263135b23/image/Show_Cover-Origin_Story.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podmasters","episode_count":115,"summary":"What are the real stories behind the most misunderstood and abused ideas in politics? From Conspiracy Theory to Woke to Centrism and beyond, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey dig into the astonishing secret histories of concepts you thought you knew. Want to support us in making future seasons? There are now two ways you can help out: • Patreon – Get early episodes, live Zooms, merchandise and more from just £5 per month. • Apple Podcasts – Want everything in one place with one easy payment? Subscribe to our premium feed on Apple Podcasts for ad-free shows early and bonus editions too. From Podmasters, the makers of Oh God, What Now?, American Friction and The Bunker.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720"},"episode":{"title":"Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin – Part Two – Power","slug":"lenin-trotsky-stalin-part-two-power","published_at":"2025-10-22T03:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/lenin-trotsky-stalin-part-two-power","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR4627677261.mp3?updated=1761051476","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR4627677261.mp3?updated=1761051476","summary":"• See Origin Story LIVE at The Tabernacle, London on Thur Nov 13. ⁠Buy tickets here. Welcome back to Origin Story: The Story of Socialism as we resume the story of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin in part two: Power. It’s 1917. The Bolsheviks have seized control of Russia, the world’s first socialist state, but they’re a small party in a very big country, besieged by enemies at home and abroad. No sooner has it extricated itself from the First World War than Russia is plunged into an existentially perilous civil war between the Reds and the Tsarist Whites and, well, everybody else. The war accelerates Russia's transformation into a dictatorship, with one-party rule, a secret police force and a ruthless disregard for human life. The suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921 confirms that the dictatorship of the proletariat will brook no dissent. Meanwhile in Germany, revolutionary hopes are crushed with the murder of German communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. As other communist uprisings also fail, Trotsky’s dream of world revolution fades and Stalin’s vision of “socialism in one country” prevails. As Lenin’s health collapses, a succession battle between Stalin, Trotsky and other leading Bolsheviks begins that will last for most of the decade. It ends in 1929 with Stalin triumphant, Trotsky in exile, the dead Lenin a kind of deity, and the USSR’s age of terror ready to begin. Could the progress of the revolution have been different without the brutal chaos of the Civil War or was tyranny always part of the plan? How did Stalin outwit his rivals to take over from Lenin, and how did Trotsky blow it? Why didn’t communist revolutions succeed anywhere else but Russia? How was the new regime perceived by socialists around the world? And did Rosa Luxemburg, mor…","meta_description":"• See Origin Story LIVE at The Tabernacle, London on Thur Nov 13. ⁠Buy tickets here. Welcome back to Origin Story: The Story of Socialism as we resume the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5501,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/origin-story-5452720/episodes/lenin-trotsky-stalin-part-two-power/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/lenin-trotsky-stalin-part-two-power.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}