This is Jacobin Radio, I'm Suzy Weisman. Today is November 7th, celebrated as the anniversary

of the Russian Revolution, sometimes called the October Revolution. Russian 1917 still

went by the old Julian calendar, which was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, used

in the rest of Europe and the world. So the October Revolution is commemorated on November

7th. We're now separated from that revolution by more than 100 years, 104 years to be precise.

The Soviet Union, which that revolution brought into existence, disintegrated 30 years ago.

But the Russian Revolution, despite what it turned into, remains an inspiring example

of mass popular mobilization and action that brought about fundamental, social, and political

change, showing the world what was possible. All this, when our program returns, in just

a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio, I'm Suzy Weisman, and it's the 7th of November 104 years since the

Russian Revolution. And as I was saying in the introduction, it opened up a new world

and showed what was possible to humanity. And contrary to the many myths about the Russian

Revolution, that it was, it was the work of a wide and deep popular movement, not a Bolshevik

coup from above. In fact, the Russian Revolution began in the freezing winter of 1917 in Petrograd,

now called St. Petersburg, on what would be International Women's Day, women who were

ground down by long days at the factory and longer and longer lines to buy bread, which

was in short supply, because it was World War I, revolted. They left their factories

and they took to the streets. And when there was this gigantic human tide, the police called

in the army, because they couldn't push back all of the women. And when the soldiers showed

up and the soldiers were peasants in uniform, they joined the revolt. The empire collapsed

overnight. We're going to take it up from there now with this rebroadcast from four years

...