12:00 PM Pacific Time: Mondays - Wednesdays
Acclaimed program of ideas, in-depth analysis, and commentary on a variety of matters—political, economic, social, and cultural—important to progressive and radical thinking and activism. Against the Grain is co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.
When you think of dictatorship, what comes to mind? Probably a repressive state controlling what we can say and do. But acclaimed political philosopher Elizabeth Anderson argues that the word describes the workplace. She discusses how we give up most of our rights when we take a job. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Elizabeth Anderson, Private Government: … Continued
When, after the U.S. entered World War I, Emma Goldman continued to speak out – this time against the draft – the authorities threw her in prison. The influential anarchist and agitator was deported two years later. Candace Falk, who directs the Emma Goldman Papers Project, is working on the fourth and final volume in … Continued
We’re often told that the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians rises out of a unique historical situation. But the dispossession of the Palestinians, rather than being exceptional, has strong echoes in other historical dispossessions. Gary Fields discusses the enclosure of the lands of the English peasantry, Native Americans, and the inhabitants of historic … Continued
What did anarchism and Marxism look like in the nineteenth century, and in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution? Were Marxists and anarchists always at loggerheads? And how did the Bolshevik Revolution affect the dynamics and development of these two great idea systems? Anthony D’Agostino weighs in on these and other questions. Anthony … Continued
Open any world history book and you’ll read that the Neolithic Revolution was the key turning point in human history, when hunter gatherers gave up roaming in small egalitarian tribes and settled down to farm. Out of that, civilization was born, with all the benefits and ills connected to it: the rise of cities, the … Continued
Was the post-9/11 use of torture by U.S. personnel unprecedented, as many have claimed? Alexa Koenig reveals that in the early decades of the twentieth century, police in the U.S. routinely employed torture during interrogations. Koenig draws parallels between those abuses, which were part of a cluster of practices known as “the third degree,” and … Continued
The U.S. was left the world’s sole superpower after the demise of the Soviet Union. Yet the U.S. spends a mind-boggling amount on weapons and we’re constantly warned, including in the liberal media, that there are dangerous governments out there in need of containment, Russia being first among them. John Marciano discusses the lessons of … Continued
As threats to the environment grow in number and severity, we tend to view conservation as an urgent imperative and an unmitigated good. But, as Anuradha Mittal has discovered, what’s being done to the indigenous Maasai people in Tanzania in the name of conservation is horrific. Mittal describes how foreign conservation and tourism companies, often … Continued
While New York City may be the capital of wealth in America, the celebrated metropolis has been a locus of rebellion. From the revolt of the Native American Munsee against the Dutch, to slave uprisings, class and race riots, Stonewall, protests against the Republican National Convention, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, and much … Continued
How vulnerable are cities to the weather extremes unleashed by climate change? To what extent do rising sea levels and the “heat-island effect” threaten urban areas? Ashley Dawson contends that while contemporary urban life is increasingly fragile and risky, grassroots efforts to protect communities while addressing social inequities deserve our attention. Ashley Dawson, Extreme Cities: … Continued
