Noam Chomsky on the Middle East, Cuba, US foreign policy, and more.
Against the Grain
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.
Against the Grain – December 8, 2015
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.
Are humans separate from “nature”? We tend to think they are, say ecofeminists and others, with devastating consequences for animals, for women, and for other groups associated with the nature side of the human/nature divide. Barbara Seeber examines what the British philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft wrote about how animals and women are viewed and treated. For … Continued
Against the Grain – December 2, 2015
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.
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. For more … Continued
Geographer Matthew Huber discusses the politics of oil and how the “American Way of Life” was created in response to the crisis of capitalism in 1930s — and, in turn, generated a rightwing backlash in the 1970s.
Notions of racial hierarchy abounded in the early nineteenth century as missionaries tried to convert Native Americans, federal officials sought to seize Indian lands, and Indians in the southern US bought, sold, and owned black slaves. Barbara Krauthamer relates what happened when people of different races, agendas, and social status encountered one another in the shadow … Continued
Against the Grain – November 24, 2015
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.
The drug-using, pregnant women who Kelly Ray Knight worked with and studied in San Francisco’s Mission District lived in shabby, privately owned daily-rent hotels. Crisis, violence, memory, and hope intersected in the everyday lives of these women, who were often pressured to do sex work in order to avoid immediate eviction.
The Power of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Lobbying group, aggressive litigator, political power broker, and media campaigner: the US Chamber of Commerce is all that and more. Yet its tremendous influence does not get the attention it merits, promoting corporate interests on behalf of anonymous donor companies. Journalist Alyssa Katz reflects on the immense power of U.S. Chamber of Commerce — how … Continued