This episode of The Dig is brought to you by our listeners who support us at patreon.com

and by Verso Books, which has loads of great left-wing titles, perfect for dig listeners like you.

One that you might like is The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick.

Quote, before I knew that I was Jewish or girl, I knew of American Communism by Vivian Gornick.

Quote,

Before I knew that I was Jewish or girl,

I knew that I was a member of the working class.

So begins Vivian Gornick's exploration of how socialists, communists,

and progressives in the 1940s and 50s

created a rich, diverse world where ordinary people felt their

lives connected to a larger human project. Now back in print after its initial publication

in 1977, and with a new introduction by the author, The Romance of American Communism is a landmark work of new journalism,

profiling American Communist Party members and fellow travelers as they joined the party,

lived within its orbit, and then left in disillusionment and disappointment as Stalin's crimes

became public.

The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick.

Out now from Verso Books.

Welcome to The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin Magazine. My name is Daniel Denver, and I'm broadcasting from Providence, Rhode Island.

Before COVID-19 hit, people in the United States thought of epidemic disease as something that happened to others,

here and elsewhere, elsewhere, particularly in Africa.

With the continent's colonial and then post-colonial political economic histories rendered invisible,

Africa often appears to the global north as spectacle. A patchwork

...