So far, I've only watched a bunch of documentaries and read a bunch of articles. I've read and do continue to read extensively about Nazi Germany and totalitarianism there and seem to understand it it seems, though it never ends.
I'd like to know about the Soviet Union, preferably before and during Stalin's era as leader of the Soviet Union. It should depict cultural life in the Soviet Union, and how communism changed that. Also, economic policies implemented by the regime. Importantly, it should be objective, no whitewashing. I could well be "books".
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia by Orlando Figes
Truly one of the most phenomenal books I've ever read. It's a people's history, tracing the experiences of families through diaries and other first person narratives, with other available documentation and historical events for context. The fastest 788 pages you will ever read.
I wrote about different books on Soviet society here.
In particular I'll highlight Everyday Stalinism by Sheila Fitzpatrick; I think that is in line with what you are looking for.
If you're looking for something much shorter, I would also recommend Sofia Petrovna by Lydia Chukovskaya. While not nonfiction, it is a contemporary fictional account of the great purge written nearing the end of that period. It gives a good idea of what a "normal" soviet citizen might have experienced during this period re: reporting on each other, paranoia, and mass disappearances.
Otherwise, some nonfiction selections
Everyday Stalinism - Sheila Fitzpatrick Re: urban industrialization and life under Stalin Counterpart to - Stalin's peasants (same author)
The Stalin Cult - Jan Plamper re: cult of personality and presentation
If you really are interested in command economy...
The Policial Economy of Stalinism - Paul Gregory Not a terrible read, but can be slightly dry (as title might imply :))
As far as economic policy goes, I would recommend R. W. Davies' From Tsarism to the New Economic Policy and Sheila Fitzpatrick's Russia in the Era of NEP for economic history of the pre-Stalinist period. For the Stalinist period, there's a lot of stuff out there, but the classic text is probably Robert C. Tucker's Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above. Stephen Kotkin's Stalin, Volume II: Waiting for Hitler is also worth reading. The books by Fitzpatrick and Gregory recommended by other commenters are also good. Davies' and Stephen Wheatcroft's book The Years of Hunger is a good examination of Soviet agricultural policy and the consequences of collectivization that I would also recommend, although it's a fairly technical work. Finally, I'd recommend John Scott's Behind the Urals, which was written by an American who was working in the city of Magnitogorsk during the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union under Stalin and provides an interesting contemporary perspective. It was assigned in one of my undergrad courses on the Russian Revolution and early Soviet era and I got a lot out of it.
I'm admittedly not well versed in the cultural and social history of the USSR; I've heard Orlando Figes' The Whisperers is good, but I haven't read it. I see that another commenter has recommended it, so that's probably a good endorsement.