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.
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.
If the problem is religious polarization and inequality, isn’t the solution secular governance? Secularism, after all, promises the equality of citizens regardless of religious affiliation. Saba Mahmood argues that modern secular governance, contrary to its grand claims, has in fact exacerbated religious inequalities. It has also, she says, constrained our political imagination to a significant … Continued
Ellen Meiksins Wood upended the ways that Marxist thinkers look at class society and democracy, past and present. Her work shed new light on political theory, the origins of capitalism, and the politics of the left, among many other key themes. David McNally reflects on the pioneering political theorist and historian, who died two and … Continued
What happens when poor immigrants seek work on urban street corners? What interpersonal and structural forces affect their vulnerability to harm? Paul Apostolidis considers the plight of migrant day laborers in the U.S. in light of their own words, of the dynamics of state violence directed at Palestinians, and of the nature of precarious bodily existence … Continued
Fear dominates our society. Fear of crime, fear of the poor, fear of foreign terrorists, to which we might add fear of our government and fear of our bosses. For some liberal thinkers, fear serves a purpose. It’s supposed to pull us all together so we can find some kind of social solidarity in an … Continued
Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria, killing thousands of people and displacing perhaps two million. Michael Watts explains the emergence and trajectory of Boko Haram; he also discusses the origins of MEND, a separate homegrown insurgency that’s taken shape in the oil-rich but poverty-ridden Niger Delta.
What does it take to form a culture of radical struggle from the bottom up? And what does it take to disarm it? The working class in the UK has been the fount of an enormous amount of innovative culture and art over the last half-century, from rock to punk to folk. Acclaimed radical singer-songwriter … Continued
When, in response to police violence, Black Lives Matter and other protesters get unruly or violent, they are condemned for not following the lead of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Juliet Hooker considers whether it’s fair to expect Blacks, who she says have been perpetual losers in U.S. democracy, to peacefully acquiesce, to behave like … Continued
Some food justice activists set up gardens in low-income communities. Margaret Ramírez studied a pair of food organizations in Seattle, including one led by Rev. Robert Jeffrey. Ramírez describes how the racial makeup of the staffers, the legacy of plantation slavery, and the gentrifying momentum created by “white spaces” affected what the two groups were able … Continued
Americans are struggling economically and personal finance gurus think that’s our fault. If we could just save money from small indulgences — like lattes — and sock it away in the stock market, we could end up millionaires. So claim the likes of Suze Orman and Robert Kiyosaki. But, according to journalist Helaine Olen, such … Continued
