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 birth control pill has been called revolutionary; it’s been associated with a revolution in contraception, with the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and with what’s called the therapeutic revolution of the mid-20th century. Elizabeth Watkins discusses the pill’s development and impact in the arenas of medical practice, women’s liberation, popular perception, and pharmaceutical marketing. … Continued
Creative destruction is the hallmark of capitalism, as the economist Joseph Schumpeter argued. But the destructive side is often overlooked. Francesca Ammon discusses the enormous wave of demolition that accompanied the postwar boom — transforming the rural, urban and suburban landscape, and displacing the residents of scores of communities around the United States. Resources: Francesca … Continued
Highlights of some of the best commentary presented on Against the Grain in 2016, featuring Erik Olin Wright on unconditional basic income; Juliet Hooker on Black protest politics; Emanuele Saccarelli on revolutionary struggle; and Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt on culture in Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
In the popular imagination, U.S. anarchism ended with the deportation of Emma Goldman in 1919, only to re-emerge recently with the masked Black Bloc. But according to scholar Andrew Cornell, anarchism survived and thrived in mid-century America, deeply influencing bohemia, Civil Rights, and the New Left. Resources: Andrew Cornell, Unruly Equality: U.S. Anarchism in the … Continued
Anti-union activists of the Progressive Era propagated a number of arguments that still resonate around the U.S. today. In his book Reform or Repression, Chad Pearson describes this influential group of employers, activists, and their allies. The story of one Southern activist, N.F. Thompson, reveals connections between racial violence and anti-union activism.
Bernie Sanders, the self-styled democratic socialist from Vermont, catalyzed the discontent of many Americans with economic inequality and injustice — and with the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which has presided over neoliberalism. However, Jeffrey St. Clair argues, Sanders not only butted up against the formidable Clinton machine, but was hobbled by his own political … Continued
At this year’s annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, three prominent scholar-activists spoke about power and resistance. Walden Bello addressed the structural power of banks and, more generally, finance capital. Kimberlé Crenshaw pointed to the targeting by police of Black women. And Mariame Kaba described police torture in Chicago, and a successful push for … Continued
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
Excerpts of the Pacifica Radio Archives’ Allan Watts Collection and the documentary “Why Not Now?”
A radio and web media project whose aim is to provide in-depth analysis and commentary on a variety of matters — political, economic, social and cultural — important to progressive and radical thinking and activism.
