[BEST OF] The Chinese Revolution: Chairman Mao, Cultural Revolution, & Communist China

Revolutionary Left Radio

Breht O'Shea

Communism, Politics, Liberalism, Society & Culture, Philosophy, News, History, Leftwing, Socialism, Marxism

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Jun 4, 2018

In this episode, Breht is joined by Yueran Zhang, a PhD candidate in Sociology at Harvard University, to discuss the Chinese Revolution and the legacy of Mao Zedong. Together, they explore the historical context of China's revolutionary transformation, socialist construction, contradictions in post-revolutionary society, and how Maoist thought continues to shape political struggles today. A nuanced and rigorous conversation grounded in historical materialism.

Here are the recommendations Yueran gave at the end of the episode:

- Mao's China and After: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Maos-China-and-After/Maurice-Meisner/9780684856353

Rise of the Red Engineers: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/rise-red-engineers-cultural-revolution-and-origins-chinas-new-class

The Cultural Revolution at the Margins: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674728790

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Please support my daddy's show by donating a couple bucks to patreon.com forward slash RevLeft Radio.
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0:18.3	Workers of the world, unite. Revolution, revolution, revolution, revolution, revolutionary left
0:37.7	Radio now
0:39.6	Oppose the system
0:41.3	Any way you know how
0:43.6	Unite the left
0:45.1	Against the capitalist lies
0:47.8	And liberate the proletariat's mind
0:51.5	Find for the working class
0:53.9	Five for equality.
0:56.0	I guess the right way.
0:58.0	Fascist ideology.
1:00.4	To tip it in and turn it up loud.
1:04.2	Revolutionary left radio starts now.
1:09.0	Welcome everybody to Revolutionary Left Radio.
1:11.6	I'm your host Anne Comrade, Brett O'Shea, and today we have on Yoran Zeng to talk about Mao in the Chinese Revolution.
1:17.6	Yorin, would you like to introduce yourself and say a little bit about your background?
1:21.6	Okay, sure. Thank you for having me. I'm Yeran and I'm a grad student in sociology at Harvard University.
1:32.1	My primary academic interest is in political and historical sociology and also Marxist theories.
1:43.2	I, in particular, study political economy and class politics in China.
	...

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