If you’re foolish enough to succumb to the whims of the media, you’d think Jeremy Corbyn is attempting to paint Downing Street a bright shade of Soviet red. He may want a revolution but not in the way Russia experienced in 1917. In this BBC World Service radio documentary, special guests depict the cultural influences of the Russian Revolution.
From Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago to the politics of Lenin and Trotsky, it all comes as part of the “Hope, Tragedy, Myths” exhibition at the British Library in London. What did it mean to be part of the early days of the Revolution?
And what about the subsequent decades of communism and the hostility that came with it? A range of voices from Uzbekistan, Syria, and Iceland tell their respective stories about the cultural legacy left behind.
You can listen to the documentary on the BBC Sounds website (sign-in required).