Why Does Joseph Stalin Matter?

Recorded on January 25, 2018.
“Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator, creator of great power, and destroyer of tens of millions of lives …” Thus begins this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, which dives into the biography of Joseph Stalin. This episode’s guest, Stephen Kotkin, author of Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941(www.amazon.com/Stalin-Waiting..., examines the political career of Joseph Stalin in the years leading up to World War II, his domination over the Soviet Union, and the terror he inspired by the Great Purge from 1936-38.
“Why does Joseph Stalin matter?” is a key question for Kotkin, as he explains the history of the Soviet Union and Stalin's enduring impact on his country and the world. Kotkin argues that Stalin is the “gold standard for dictatorships” in regard to the amount of power he managed to obtain and wield throughout his lifetime. Stalin stands out because not only was he able to build a massive amount of military power, he managed to stay in power for three decades, much longer than any comparable dictator.
Kotkin and Robinson discuss collectivization and communism and how Stalin’s regime believed it had to eradicate capitalism within the USSR even in regions where capitalism was bringing economic success to the peasants, with the potential of destabilizing the regime. This led to the Great Purge, a campaign of political repression that resulted in the exile and execution of millions of people.
For the full transcript go to
www.hoover.org/research/why-d...
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[@jlondon158]

If I close my eyes , I can imagine that Joe Pesci is an Historical Genius.

[@bastiatintheandes4958]

Greetings from Quito, Ecuador. I will never stop being amazed by the supreme interviewing gifts of Peter Robinson. Lean, well informed, and above all, lets us live the wealth of his fantastic guests.

[@MoralistaDefinitivo]

This guy would need a 10 hour interview.

[@AgendaFiles]

www.archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@welderella]

“Political crimes for speaking the truth”.....sounds familiar.

[@jayeye4798]

Kotkin's perfect delivery of his responses are disconcerting - not because of the content, but because of his lack of mistakes, ums, ahs, and inconsistent cadence. I think he self-corrected exactly one time. This dude is a machine. He's the academic Terminator. You know he's reading the back side of his retina.

[@OSCOCAT]

I'm amazed that in this day and age, when long format theatrical documentaries are so popular, that no one has made a multi-part movie explaining what happened in Russia much in the same manner as Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon.

[@welderella]

We heard about Hitler all the time, but not so much about Stalin, in school.

[@bobjenkins4925]

Peter must be quite happy at how many young people these days are interested in this kind of content. Great stuff.

[@PresterMike]

Millennial here. I love it

[@chegadesuade]

His two books on Stalin are the most exhaustive yet engrossing biographies I've ever read, they're truly amazing.

[@HighSpeedNoDrag]

Yes indeed.

[@chuckymcchuckface8768]

I once asked a man whom I knew was an intelligen fellow and a historian what would he most like in life... "To remember everything I read" he said. Wise man I thought!

[@cybercab]

Very interesting stuff. Do they even teach this in school anymore? I suspect the answer is no.

[@doctorgman1]

Yes. Beginning a unit on Stalin tomorrow in my IB History class. High school seniors

[@hanskloss7726]

@@doctorgman1 Do they let you compare the ideology of these dark times to what some prominent politicians of today say?

[@Rasectos]

Joe Pesci is my favorite Stalin scholar.

[@lukecage9836]

Rasectos lol now all I hear is Pesci 😂.

[@shaolin89]

Haha I knew he looked like someone I had seen before. Its indeed Pesci!

[@Digiphex]

A Buick never had positraction.

[@bazzatheblue]

If this guy entered a competition to do Pesci impersonations,he'd win hands down every time.

[@Maelli535]

Yeah - and as George Carlin truly says, it's amazing how much Pesci can take care of with a simple baseball bat!

[@calculatedmasochism7058]

When Stephen Kotkin speaks, a wise man shuts up

[@garyjohnston8543]

Beautiful talk. I also love the talking pace of the guest.

[@baxter987]

This is amazing. Was he crying at some point? 20:30 Robinson appeared to pick something up. This guy speaks with emotion. I can listen to him for days

[@alekseysoldatenkov5675]

This is ABSOLUTELY fascinating. Thank you for uploading.

[@CoronaryArteryDisease.]

This is such a great explanation of a type of political thinking that is extremely dangerous and I wish more people knew about this history. It is so fascinating, I don’t know why people don’t study it more

[@southernc4919]

this should have 500,000,000 views and every university professor should see this

[@papastalin4534]

Why do I matter? You're going to Siberia

[@VertigoX26]

I've always wondered what it would be like to go to the Gulag.

[@DialecticalMaterialismRocks]

Read Grover Furr

[@vertxxgg]

STALIN was a Georgian Ortodox Seminarist he hate OTOMANS and NAZIS were controled from ISTAMBUL...to save GEORGIA and Beria's ARMENIA the Russian must stop Nazis that were in the payroll of Muslims of Jerusalem and Istambul

[@kyleshick5467]

Papa Stalin LOL

[@soyusmaximus7176]

@@garyvonneida4065 There is no truth in the news and no news in the truth!

[@trolltoll2159]

"He always brings up Stalin" - Norm Macdonald

[@squamish4244]

When does Norm Macdonald say that? I tried googling it.

[@ClaimClam]

@@squamish4244 adam egret always says stalin was the bad guy because he wants hitler to look better

[@Nathantodd2012]

Should we feel nervous when we hear government officials talk about class warfare, pitting the haves with the have nots and etc.

[@b.terenceharwick3222]

Concise and to the point. Explores the raw notion of power. Accumulation of raw power, independent of anyone else's views. Personal loyalty above all else. Of perennial significance.

[@muslimmetalman]

total pure capitalism

[@freekheijting7346]

As always, great interview giving great insights. And you are certainly reaching curious Millennials! Peter Robinson is a formidable interviewer. Going strong since decades!

[@AgendaFiles]

archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-paradoxes-of-power-audio archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@winmine0327]

Wish I could take all of this guy's classes.

[@4metoknow]

Masterful - Joe Pesci look alike/sound alike is the bomb!

[@chickenwretch]

First time I've seen Kotkin sitting quite still. Used to watching him rove on stage and into the audience. Socialism in the cities and capitalism in the countryside. A little like Americas fly-over country and progressive cities?

[@Jessica-tz3wb]

learned more about Russia in this talk than the whole history lessons in high school.

[@zachstott8354]

Would love another video with Kotkin - he's brilliant

[@jomgelborn]

Thank you for this great interview.

[@kidwidacake]

Min 13-16 gave me chills.. History repeating itself.

[@LinusPerssonsTube]

Would really like to hear an episode or series of Hardcore History with Dan Carlin featuring Stephen Kotkin; or perhaps just an Uncommon Knowledge special with a similar setup. A subject like this needs more time to unfold the necessary nuance to properly explain the mechanisms behind the events.

[@cavewebster5881]

Many, many thanks for this great content!

[@squamish4244]

The irony of Stalin's collectivization and industrialization drive is that it was only possible due to the importation of machinery and skills developed by capitalism, particularly in the United States. Stalin purchased huge amounts of physical capital from the USA in the 1930s. I don't know if the Bolsheviks would have seen it as irony, though...they might have seen it as a way to go directly from a peasant society to a communist one and skip over the capitalist stage entirely in the outline laid down by Marxism.

[@JonasBlom]

This is so great, thanks a lot. I only wish it lasted forever. Thanks for letting him explain it properly.

[@nryle]

Great Interview. Cannot wait for the next part.

[@cecilefox9136]

Absolutely fascinating history.

[@IllicitGreen]

absolutely fascinating interview and yes i am a millenial. thank u!

[@JoshuaSwan]

IllICITGRYNE I’m proud of you!

[@khrachvikkhrachvik7049]

Maybe read about how this propaganda's been completely debunked over and over again, then, millenial. :)

[@squamish4244]

Everyone knows millennials are the ruin of Western civilization, which is strange considering you haven't been around long enough to actually ruin anything.

[@just83542]

@@khrachvikkhrachvik7049 and yet you cannot provide one reference to this plentiful debunking, to help the Millenials education? For shame

[@lashachakhunashvili1399]

Excellent as always, glad to have had a chance to attend his lecture in Tbilisi back in 2015

[@androidzombie4769]

you folks should put the author's amazon link in your description.

[@PqV72MT4]

This guy is brilliant.

[@aasldkfja]

As far as the obsession with Trotsky goes and the coerced confessions, I think it just means Stalin was deeply insecure. He needed affirmation that what he was doing was sound and tortured confessions from people to pad that insecurity.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Brilliant mind, fascinating discussion

[@Reconing1]

Millennial here. Avid viewer of Hoover Institutions. Please post more content!

[@Mdigi1982]

Always great to hear from Stephen Kotkin!

[@HighSpeedNoDrag]

I am aware of the basic history Mr. Kotkin states. First time I have witnessed him. Reverent.

[@victorydaydeepstate]

I must buy this book

[@johnnantz16]

Wow, what an amazing interview. Thank you Dr. Kotkin for your incredible scholarship!

[@iknowwhatsup2880]

The term useful idiots was coined by Lenin. This is what your leaders think of you.

[@victorydaydeepstate]

This is wonderful

[@AgendaFiles]

archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-paradoxes-of-power-audio archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@MrRichiekaye]

Stephen Kotkin is the most impressive scholar and speaker I have ever listened to. (And I had Pearce Williams at Cornell and Spence at Yale.). Mastery over a vast catalog of sources, acute judicious use of them, perception into character beyond the page and clear expression of conclusions. I've watched many hours of his talks and am eager to learn from him.

[@Drumsgoon]

A few great speeches of him online

[@pendejo6466]

This guy is such a great story teller, and the interviewer asked all the right question, then let the professor finish his response.

[@AgendaFiles]

archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@frankmaitland1254]

Mr Richie Kaye you think this guy is a compelling speaker?

[@socialminds9894]

I just discovered him and I hope to find more of his work.

[@tomjohn8733]

Excellent documentary, a must read ...thank you!

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

AMAZING VIDEO LOVE YOU ❤❤❤

[@rickpur100]

Dr. Kotkin probably does a great Joe Pesci impression

[@coreyclamp]

"...someone who knows more about the life of Joseph Stalin than Joseph Stalin knew about the life of Joseph Stalin." 1) That's a bold claim, given how much truth was buried in the Soviet Union, even in post-Stalin era. 2) Don't ever speak that sentence again... It took me a half hour to uncross my eyes.

[@HighSpeedNoDrag]

True and valid comment compared to other's references to "Hollywood" thus FICTION.

[@DenverDeathrock]

I think Stalin's personality disorder issues are seen in his bizarre actions. He sees everyone as either a good friend or a bitter enemy. There's no in between. Like people with personality disorders, he's always afraid of betrayal and abandonment. He can't take criticism of any kind without feeling he's being personally attacked. There's a lack of empathy and a strong sense of objectifying people for his own ends regardless of the consequence to them. Manipulation, superficial charm when it serves his purpose, pathological lying, etc.

[@goldsher]

Jason West sociopathic, perhaps narcissistic borderline

[@michaelkrochek8823]

I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave, but the wind of History will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy. - Joseph Stalin (1943)

[@vman9591]

Source?

[@jerrystephens9143]

so thankful for this

[@shadforthw3535]

Can you imagine American teachers teaching this? No way

[@francescop1]

Millennial crew REPRESENTIN🤘

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

THANKS FOR THE VIDEO ❤❤❤❤

[@mattwernecke2342]

look forward to reading your books.

[@callmedeno]

best interviewer in the fuuuckin game

[@installwebercarburetorsona6159]

Interviewer is heavy handed in his restatements. If it's Stanford students in the audience surely such heavy handed and paternalistic statements undermine the very the very valuable and clear concise presentation by the author.

[@transkryption]

great interviews!

[@Steve-Richter]

Interesting that Trotsky survived so long. Were all of his supporters Jewish? Did Stalin see Jews as a power block? Did that motivate his actions? Why do Peter and Kotkin not discuss this?

[@lukecage9836]

BEST INTERVIEWER IN THE BUSINESS!!!

[@giorgimerabishvili8194]

Hello, is Kotkin's biography of Stalin more reliable than of Robert Service?

[@vangk30]

FASCINATNG interview!! Very revealing.

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

AMAZING VIDEO BRAVO ❤😍❤

[@Run.Ran.Run1]

I love listening to intellectual conversation in my own New Yawk accent!

[@VeraMaier]

How degenerated ... brainwash is not "intellectual conversation"

[@jancoil4886]

Well done. The professor makes the key point that ideas matter. If you take Marxism or Adam Smith seriously and put their principles into action you can get very different outcomes.

[@jgribhamnz]

Ive read robert service stuff, and stalin by montefiore (amazing!!!), but heck this guy sounds like he may have a book too top them all. Very astute analysis, great interview

[@laserprawn]

When Kotkin refers to the murder of 300 Red Army officers, he is not speaking about the Purge - these deaths occurred in the first month after the German invasion, and these officers were scapegoated and executed during the Battle of Moscow in 1941. While may officers were indeed arrested and executed during the previous years, the idea that a depleted officer corps contributed to the poor performance of the Red Army in the early days of Operation Barbarossa is mostly a story spread by Red Army apologists, to present a clean story. In fact, many commanders understood what was happening along the new German border, and before and during the start of the invasion they had warned Stalin - who told them that they were lying. The reality is that Stalin's own incompetence and paranoia had a greater effect at sabotaging the Red Army in the first month of fighting; along with, of course, the devastating operational surprise and tactical superiority achieved by the Germans (the Nazi blunder, of course, being to have underestimated Red Army strength to be 50 full divisions smaller than it was, thanks to poor intelligence).

[@stevecoscia]

Wonderful interview. Stephen Kotkin speaks with such calm and eloquent authority. Thanks for posting this video.

[@vocalbunny7427]

While I do love the closing music, it seems a bit... too cheery after that closing statement lol.

[@guitarsword1]

Remember the words of Israel’s first prime minister David Ben Gurion, “ I am a Bolshevik . “

[@Drumsgoon]

Great interview, very clear answers.

[@fatlardshowernow234]

That was great. Peter is an excellent interviewer

[@ssmusic214]

The most important point missing here that Stalin had great deal of experience in internal dealings of gang of bandits he acquired from his bank robbing years. Non of his rivals in bolshevik gang could beat him at that in their internal power struggle.

[@simplicius11]

Stalin was never accused nor sentenced for a robbery. The 'okhrana' had an agent and they knew everything, they caught most of them when they tried to exchange the stolen banknotes.

[@vitareid]

Stephen Kotkin is one of the most interesting persons I've heard. I'm transfixed.

[@AgendaFiles]

whoever added the noise-gate ruined the flow and sound quality to this video.

[@guygeorgesvoet4177]

Dear Mr. Robinson, estimated Sir, i have for you, besides the most emphatic praise for what you have already accomplished on your show, an extremely urgent and important proposal. Both Mr Victor Davis Hanson and Mr. Stephen Kotkin are members of the Hoover Institute. They are both exceptional men of proven quality and accomplishment. They are excellent debaters and expositors of complex ideas in very comprehensive schemes of thought. Yet, yet, as i am since some time now trying to get a hold on what is happening in the world and especially in the US, listening very carefully to these true luminaries (the best show in town, you said yourself about Mr. Kotkin) it so happens that i cannot help noticing an unmistakable and potentially very deep rift in their estimate of things national and international. This comes out abundantly clear when they discuss anything to do with what Trump stood and still stands for. This issue is the biggest issue on the table now, for the US itself but also for the world at large (see the 3rd Lecture on "Sphere of influence" held by Mr Kotkin in Vienna in 2017). I beseech you, dearest Sir, to put them together as soon as possible with you at your table and have them talk about these issues, each one clarifying himself in debate. Both are civilized men, of good cheer, wellintentioned, and modest men. You must have them talk with you together, please, you cannot not do this. I think such a debate could be of the most extreme importance in sanitizing the republican party's grip on things. Because the Us and the world must get beyond what the Trump phenomenon means and has still in store it seems. Only those speakers, together with you monitoring, can vastly and in one go contribute to this as no other team of public intellectuals could. PLEASE, consider my proposal and most vehement request at lenght. Many thanks and loyal greetings from Belgium

[@aTruster]

"No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven". The Almighty uses the wicked to destroy the wicked.

[@AndyMak-jq1py]

Excellent interview

[@interianesq]

I could listen to this guy all day. Gotta love Bach, too.

[@AgendaFiles]

archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@BuceGar]

Thank you for this great content. Highly intellectual and stimulating.

[@franz_stigler]

ive been looking forward to this

[@AgendaFiles]

archive.org/details/stephen-kotkin-waiting-for-hitler-audio

[@malvolio01]

I always wondered how Joe Pesci would sound as an intellectual.

[@mariaspencersalt8946]

Thank you

[@skwest]

Refreshing to hear _enormity_ used correctly (notwithstanding its awful significance) and within the proper context.

[@ricardo53100]

Kotkin is cool, calm, collected and knows his brief. He is the Cool Hand Luke of college professors.

[@terenceboris851]

Incredible talk. Is anybody else getting a little Joe Pesci vibe from Kotkin?

[@sandorfintor]

Thank You.

[@acosorimaxconto5610]

Stalin's Big Idea. Modernise the peasantry by taking them back to serfdom.

[@lukebruce5234]

more like taking them from illiteracy to outer space

[@dashercronin]

industrial serfdom vv agricultural, or, if really lucky, slavery and death in the gulags.

[@JackHaveman52]

Luke Bruce In 1980, my brother was in the Soviet Union. It was a total mess. Driving through Moscow, you had no idea what was a store. The only way you knew was when you saw a lineup. People would get into the lineup without even asking what the lineup was for because they knew it had to be some necessary daily shopping item and whatever it was you always needed it. Simple things, like toilet paper, were always in short supply. The country with the largest forests on the planet, couldn't make enough toilet paper for its own citizens. Incredibly, one of the first things to fall in short supply in Hugo Chavez's socialist state was toilet paper, as well. What a system. He was in a cab one day and it started to rain. Every vehicle stopped, including his cab. The driver grabbed a set of wind shield wipers, jumped out and snapped them into place on the windshield. Every driver of every stopped vehicle was doing the same thing. When the driver got back in the car, my brother asked what that was all about. The driver said that if you left them in place, people would steal them so you always took them off when you weren't driving. He said you had to because it might take months to replace them because wipers were in such short supply. That's the price the people paid so the Soviets could brag about their space program. Market needs dictated by the government instead of by the people who needed them. Imagine if Trump decided what groceries you were going to need next week. I'll bet you'd love that.

[@RedFlagSaid]

boring liberal BS.

[@JackHaveman52]

MrSunshine64 It's Marxist policy. That's what Stalin was essentially supporting, although he did fight hard to maintain his spot as the head of the state. The essential Marxism was still in place all through the Soviet era. That lack of essential goods is a trademark of all communist regimes, no matter the era or the country. That's a disingenuous statement.

[@Gbd279]

where's part two

[@StopFear]

You guys at Stanford, give your guests better chairs. It’s unacceptable that you give grown men those uncomfortable chairs without arm rests. Steven Kotkin also clearly has back problems. I can tell because of my own and I can immediately notice others with it.

[@gregswanepoel5710]

clear good speaker

[@dr1742]

It is sad that I am rewatching this and realizing that the same collectivism he said Stalin did with the term "kulak" is the same thing we have been doing recently here in the US with terms like "racist" and "transphobic". Turning the people against each other while drawing everyone to the obedience of the government, who pushed the agenda for that very reason. It truly is a fact that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[@alanaadams7440]

Very informative I learned a lot, Thank you

[@MultiDyre]

Really fascinating. I didn't even know that under Lenin the Russians sort of made things work by allowing the peasants to practice pseudo-capitalism. Then Stalin came along and really, uh, turned Russia into a new direction...

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

LOVE YOU ❤