In late 1922, Lenin wrote a secret speech censuring General Secretary Stalin, to be read the following spring at the Twelfth Party Congress. But on March 9, 1923, Lenin suffered a debilitating stroke, and the speech was never given. Featuring Orlando Figes, of Cambridge University; Boris Starkov, of St. Petersburg Academy of Economics; and Yuri Amiantov, chief archivist of the Communist Party, this program focuses on the sequence of events surrounding the twist of fate that left Lenin speechless and presented Stalin with the opportunity to ruthlessly maneuver his way into supreme power. (25 minutes)