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.
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
Anarchist rabble rouser, maverick woman doctor and abortion provider, political prisoner, and out lesbian at the turn of the 20th century — Marie Equi was a remarkable figure who has only recently been recovered from the amnesia of history. Historian Michael Helquist discusses the turbulent life and times of a pioneering radical. Resources: Michael Helquist, … Continued
What can activism that incorporates theater, performance, and pranks accomplish that other, more conventional forms of protest can’t? Larry Bogad, who has worked with the Yes Men and many other groups, has written a new book about the use of creative protest and performance art in social-movement campaigns.
We may take for granted that some regions do well economically — perhaps it’s the pleasant weather that attracts skilled workers to them — and that others do poorly. But history shows that regions rise and fall. Economic geographer Michael Storper reflects on the differing fates of regions, including the San Francisco Bay Area and … Continued
People headed for Europe are dying by the thousands in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s not just a humanitarian crisis, says Maurice Stierl; he argues that the migrants are engaged in a political struggle against European policies of deterrence and border militarization. Stierl also works on a hotline that responds to distress calls from migrant vessels.
We often hear the entreaty to consider the less fortunate, at least for a moment, including the homeless shivering in the winter months. But what do we miss when we look at the homeless through a moral lens? Craig Willse reflects on whether homelessness is actively produced by neoliberal capitalism. He discusses the sea change … Continued
Since the global financial crisis, capitalism has been seen as the culprit for so many of the world’s woes, from inequality to the destruction of the environment. Yet no other system appears to be viable. But is that in fact the case? Journalist Richard Swift assesses anarchism, state socialism, social democracy, and the left turn … Continued
The effects of climate change are here and serious, as the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has laid out in stark terms. While it may seem like uncharted waters in the modern era, our ancestors in the 1600s faced a global climate crisis in a century wracked by wars, famines, and … Continued
Anti-union activists of the Progressive Era propagated a number of arguments that still resonate throughout the U.S. today. In his new 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.
According to Sven Beckert, cotton was central to capitalism’s development, and in particular its accelerating globalization. A key part of his narrative highlights the crisis brought on by the abolition of slavery in the US, when both capitalists and governments looked to new regions and workers for the raw cotton they desperately needed.
