It’s now been a century and a half since the birth of Rosa Luxemburg — the anniversary fell on March 5 this year. The great Polish-born revolutionary has been a reference point and an inspirational figure for generations of socialists. But some people might wonder if her key political ideas, developed in the early twentieth century, have stood the test of time.

Lea Ypi’s answer to that question is an emphatic “yes.” Lea is a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics. Her book Free: Coming of Age at the End of History, about the experience of growing up in Communist Albania, will be published this autumn, along with her study of Immanuel Kant.

This is an edited transcript from an episode of Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the episode here.