The Soviets Abroad

Throughout its existence, the Soviet Union played the role of both liberator and oppressor.

Red Diaper Babies

In America, school is preparation for “real” life. In the early Soviet Union, school was filled with life.

The Elvis of East Germany

How a young man from Colorado became the Eastern Bloc’s biggest pop star.

Seventeen Soviet Films

The October Revolution unleashed cinematic brilliance that even decades of political censorship couldn’t extinguish.

Our Favorite Dupe

Henry Wallace was a brilliant progressive with an open mind. That’s where the trouble began.

Yacht Party Men

Not everyone hated shock therapy.

Choose Your Own Adventure

When your God that fails is Pol Pot.

Our Road to Power

The twentieth century left socialists plenty of lessons. Will we heed them?

From Red Square to Square One

What’s left of the Left in the post-socialist world?

Become a Jacobin Comrade Today

Political action can’t end with reading a magazine, but resistance needs ideas.

Fascism’s Face-Lift

Anti-communist campaigns in Eastern Europe aren’t about building a more democratic society — they’re about rehabilitating the far right.

Socialism Won’t Be Built in a Day

The Soapbox, Issue 27

Brussels, Dec. 12, 1975

NATO leaders from across the political spectrum found common cause opposing Eurocommunism.

Appalachia’s Fickle Friend

Inside the coal lobby’s campaign to win the hearts and minds of central Appalachia.

When Did It Go Wrong?

A short century filled with long disagreements.

Workers’ Paradise Lost

As Stalin advanced his vision of “socialism in one country,” prisons sprouted like a thousand flowers across the USSR.

As Long as It Catches Mice

Central planning led to modernization in poor countries — and stagnation in rich ones.

The Miracle on Ice

Without even an indoor rink, the Soviets changed hockey forever.

Why Do So Many Western Leftists Defend Robert Mugabe?

Apologetics for a kleptocratic tyrant have nothing to do with anti-imperialism.