“When Karl Marx died, twelve people came to his funeral. Not even the police were interested,” says economist and historian Phil Magness, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute in California, who recently visited Lithuania and LFMI.

In conversation with Elena Leontieva, they explore how Marx went from an obscure thinker to an ideological icon—not because his ideas proved right, but because the Soviet Union turned him into a symbol. “The entire modern academic culture around Marxism is a product of Soviet propaganda—whether we like it or not,” Magness explains.

The conversation goes beyond history. If Marxist economics failed over a century ago, why is socialism making a comeback—this time in the form of universal basic income and promises of a life without work?

“Because utopias sell,” Magness warns. “If someone gave me $3,000 a month for free, I’d drink better wine and write fewer books. Multiply that by a million people, and you kill productivity, innovation—and the meaning of work itself.”

This episode looks at why old ideas return in new forms, and why freedom and voluntary exchange remain essential—not just for prosperity, but for human dignity.