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 produced and hosted by Sasha Lilley.
The mass criminalization and incarceration of African Americans has received increasing attention in recent years, thanks to social movements. But the role of African American leaders in locking up black people is much less known. James Forman Jr., son of the Civil Rights leader, discusses the confluence of forces – including class differences within the … Continued
Born a slave, Frederick Douglass became a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. Juliet Hooker recognizes Douglass as a democratic thinker, one who looked to Latin America for instruction and inspiration. Hooker discusses Douglass’s views toward African-American emigration, the contemplated U.S. annexation of Santo Domingo, and the Haitian Revolution. Juliet Hooker, Theorizing Race in the … Continued
It was an epoch-making event, buoyed by hopes of human emancipation, that still shapes our notion of revolutionary change today. The Russian Revolution, which took place a hundred years ago, was born out of war and poverty, and profoundly altered the course of the 20th century. The writer China Miéville recreates those days of revolution, … Continued
What accounts for the dramatic rise of the financial sector in rich capitalist nations? How are lenders and associated institutions profiting off people’s use of credit cards, mortgages, and other forms of credit? Ivan Ascher sees certain parallels between the exploitation of workers in the era of factory production and the exploitation of people desperately … Continued
You show up when you weren’t called. The call wasn’t meant for you, but you show up anyway, and you join with others to disrupt the status quo and even, perhaps, bring down a regime. James Martel calls this phenomenon “misinterpellation”; he contends that it’s a principal way that radical change happens in today’s world. … Continued
The fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline led to a remarkable level of protest and solidarity, bringing together native people from all over North America, as well as their allies. It also witnessed a remarkable level of repression. Investigative journalist Will Parrish discusses leaked documents that expose the role of a private security firm TigerSwan, … Continued
According to Nicole Nguyen, national security-related agencies and companies are drawing young people into a mindset of militarism and war via their involvement in homeland security programs, which have been established in dozens of public schools in the U.S. Nguyen did ethnographic work at one such high school; she reveals what the students are taught … Continued
Alan Watts, the author, lecturer, and interpreter of Eastern thought, gave a talk called “Way Beyond the West.”
Following Trump’s unexpected firing of FBI director James Comey, there were cries from some quarters that the neutrality of the FBI must be respected and the agency not be politicized. And yet, from its origins, the FBI has been a fundamentally political entity. The documentary 1971 looks at the FBI’s campaign to destroy the left, … Continued
The history of the 20th century is the history of empire. But did it have to be? We’ll look at various episodes in U.S. war-making, through the lens of award-winning director Oliver Stone, from World War One to World War Two and the development of the atomic bomb, to Vietnam and the wars of Clinton, … Continued
