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.
Political decolonization was one of the signal events of the twentieth century, but according to Michael Denning, it was prefigured by the decolonization of the ear. The cultural historian discusses the moment in the late 1920s when insurgent sounds swept the globe, spurring resistance to empire, and shaping the place of music in our lives … Continued
The South African playwright Athol Fugard is famous for his plays about the racial dynamics inaugurated and propagated by the apartheid regime. L. Peter Callender, who stars in Aurora Theatre’s current production of Fugard’s “’Master Harold’ . . . and the Boys,” talks about Fugard’s plays and also about his own efforts to get African … Continued
If you’re like most Americans, you probably feel overworked and underpaid. Americans, on average, labor 300 hours more per year than their counterparts in Northern Europe. And even workers in Europe, with some notable exceptions, have not seen substantial reductions in their hours for decades, despite increasing labor productivity. So what’s going on? Sociologist Christoph … Continued
Meditation may appear to be an intensely individualistic, private activity, but Dean Mathiowetz believes it has significant political potential. He contends that mindfulness meditation fosters what he calls democratic citizenship, in part because of its non-instrumental, “good for nothing” aspect. Dean Mathiowetz, “‘Meditation is Good for Nothing’: Leisure as a Democratic Practice” New Political Science … Continued
We rely on automation in all aspects of our lives, from our jobs to our leisure activities. It’s meant to save us time and labor and free us for other pursuits. But does automation make our lives better? Writer Nicholas Carr reflects on the darker side of automation, from mechanized warfare to deskilling on the … Continued
The Pacific Islands are tiny and often go unnoticed, except by the U.S. military. Guam was made a U.S. territory in 1898, and what’s happened to its indigenous Chamorro population and its environment is a case study in how militarism and colonialism operate. Craig Santos Perez writes about Guam, its people, and their ongoing struggle for … Continued
How should we think about nature and our own lives in the ruins created by capitalism? Anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing reflects on how the matsutake mushroom — which thrives in forests degraded by commercial logging — helps us understand the precarity of life under capitalism and the possibilities for life beyond it. Resources: Anna Lowenhaupt … Continued
Peter Cannavò, drawing from Hannah Arendt’s insights into humans’ relationship with nature and the built environment, examines the politics of place in an era of rampant commodification and urban/suburban sprawl. Cannavo points to an overemphasis on development to the detriment of preservation. Cannavò and Lane, eds., Engaging Nature: Environmentalism and the Political Theory Canon MIT … Continued
The right is in great disarray these days, propelled by the unexpected popularity of presidential candidate Donald Trump. But its successes have been remarkable. As Doug Henwood points out, at mid-century, the right was marginal in American politics — wild-eyed Birchers wandering in the wilderness while the business class had firmly accommodated itself to the … Continued
If it’s just a matter of time before humans create self-aware, artificially intelligent machines and robots, then what can Buddhist thought offer to that enterprise? James Hughes thinks Buddhist psychology and cosmology can and should inform the creation and design of AI beings. For one thing, Hughes doesn’t believe it’s ethical to create self-aware machine minds … Continued
