The Worker Bees of the Comintern

The Communist International was not only a revolutionary organization, but also an employer. Brigitte Studer's global history of the Comintern, “Travelers of World Revolution,” was just published in English by Verso Books.

The Communist Women’s International, in English for the First Time

An Interview with historians Daria Dyakovona and Mike Taber about their new book with documents from the Communist Women’s International

Does the Revolution Eat Its Children?

An interview with historian Doug Greene about his new book on Stalinism, The Dialectics of Saturn.

The Birth of the Homosexual Movement and Socialism in Germany

In this article, we look back at the birth of the homosexual movement in Germany, its ties to socialism, and the lessons of this alliance — in its victories and defeats.

The Institute for Sexual Science: Berlin’s Forgotten Centre for Trans Activism

In the 1920s, a fancy Berlin villa was home to a gay Jewish doctor who facilitated the very first gender-affirming surgeries. In the same building, communist leaders held secret meetings with anti-colonial guerrilla fighters. The Institute for Sexual Science was like something out of a Fox News fever dream.

75 Years of Nakba: The Catastrophe Is Ongoing

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic. Yet the displacement and dispossession of Palestinian people from their homeland began even before the creation of the Zionist State of Israel in 1948, and continues to this day.

May Day Memories of a Czech Communist Imprisoned by Nazis during WWII

Journalist and communist Julius Fucik wrote an account of his time imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo on cigarette papers and pencils smuggled into the Prague prison where he was held and ultimately executed for resisting Nazi occupation. The following is an excerpt of his recollections of May Day, International Workers Day, and the comrades who kept the hope of workers revolution and liberation alive from within the prison

#AllThatsLeftPod: A History of the U.S. Revolutionary Left and Trotskyism

In this episode of the podcast, we're joined by historian Bryan Palmer to discuss the origins of the U.S. revolutionary left and Trotskyism, James P. Cannon, and socialists' role in class struggle in the 1920s and 30s.

Militarism, Imperialism, and Self-Determination: Marxist Debates on the War

During World War I, the Marxist movement had a rich debate on the questions of militarism, imperialism, and self-determination. Those discussions help inform some of the current issues around the war in Ukraine.