Nikolai Yezhov

Explicit content warning

03/24/20 • 53 min

A man variously known as the “Iron Hedgehog” and a “malignant Dwarf”, but also as charming, courteous, and, most importantly “a good party man,” a man who held the position of the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs - the head of the NKVD during Stalin’s Great Purge - Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov.

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Deutscher, Isaac. The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky, 1929-1940. London: Verso, 2003. "Gay in the Gulag." Libcom. https://libcom.org/history/gay-gulag Getty, J. Arch, and Oleg V. Naumov. The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. Getty, John Arch, and Oleg V. Naumov. Yezhov: The Rise of Stalin’s “Iron Fist.” New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Lewin, Moshe. The Soviet Century. London: Verso, 2005. Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. London: Hachette UK, 2010. Weston, Fred. "From Emancipation to Criminalization: Stalinist Persecution of Homosexuals from 1934." https://www.marxist.com/from-emancipation-to-criminalisation-stalinist-persecution-of-homosexuals-from-1934.htm Whyte, Harry. Letter to Joseph Stalin, May 1934. https://www.marxist.com/letter-to-stalin-can-a-homosexual-be-in-the-communist-party.htm

Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

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Previous Episode

Iowa Caucuses Special: Pete Buttigieg

With special guests Mac Folkes and Edna Bonhomme (@jacobinoire), Ben explores the life story, politics, and cultural phenomenon of Pete Buttigieg. From his resume-polishing early life to his racist record as Mayor to his recycling of stale right-wing attacks on progressive policy, we look at how longer-term trends in gay life and culture, including the split of the "mainstream" wealthy and white gay rights movement from multiracial struggle, have influenced both his politics and the broad audience they have found.

== Update, 8 March, 2020 ==

We are devastated by the recent death of Mac Folkes, one of our two guests on this episode. A legend of the scene, a devoted friend, and a fierce fighter for justice. Rest in power.

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SOURCES:

Mayor Pete editing his own wikipedia: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/pete-buttigieg-wikipedia-page-editor.html

On his early life and childhood: https://apnews.com/47fc3e167cd64488b16890c8973bb208

On his time at Harvard, including quotes from his memoir, Shortest Way Home: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/all-about-pete

Andrew Sullivan on Rhodes Scholars: https://books.google.de/books?id=cIdMpKduSmkC&pg=PA108&dq=andrew+sullivan+rhodes+scholars&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

On McKinsey, and its business model and recent scandals: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/world/africa/mckinsey-south-africa-eskom.html, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/business/mckinsey-puerto-rico.html, https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/02/mckinsey-company-capitals-willing-executioners)

On Mayor Pete's secretive record at McKinsey: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey-clients

On Mayor Pete's record on housing and environmental racism: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/mayor-pete-buttigieg-south-bend-gentrification, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/south-bend-poor-say-democrat-pete-buttigieg-left-them-behind.html

On the firing of Darryl Boykins: https://theintercept.com/2019/09/20/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police/

On the shooting of Eric Logan and protests in June 2019: https://wsbt.com/news/local/probe-of-eric-logan-shooting-could-revive-scrutiny-of-buttigieg, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/mayor-pete-buttigieg-protesters-heckled-south-bend-police

On the community/police events Mayor Pete skipped to campaign: https://theintercept.com/2020/01/23/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police-oversight-fundraisers/

On the recent protest at a campaign event in which Mayor Pete asked the protestor to 'respect the format': https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1221198787466665986/photo/1

On Mayor Pete's changing position on Medicare for All and attacks on proposals for universal social programs: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/16/buttigieg-tweet-medicare-for-all-048745, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/467478-buttigieg-i-never-believed-in-medicare-for-all-that-ends-private-insurance, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/us/politics/buttigieg-sanders-warren-free-tuition.html

An article on the campaign's treatment of staffers of color that came out too late for us to include in the episode:

Next Episode

James Buchanan

The United States of America's first gay – and worst – President. This bumbling slaveholder collaborated with the Confederacy, promoted the racist Dred Scott decision at the Supreme Court, and cohabited in Washington with a dashing Alabama Senator who, in the words of President Andrew Jackson was the "Aunt Nancy" to his "Aunt Fancy."

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Like our show? Support us, buy cute shirts, and check out past episodes at www.badgayspod.com/

Sources:

Baker, Jean H. James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857-1861. Macmillan, 2004. Balcerski, Thomas J. Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King. Oxford University Press, 2019. Buchanan, James. Inaugural Address, March 4, 1857: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/march-4-1857-inaugural-address Katz, Jonathan. Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality. University of Chicago Press, 2001. Watson, Robert P. Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal, 1789–1900. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.