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.
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
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
Joseph Matthews discusses the refugee life and times of Herschel Grynszpan, the Jewish teenager who shot a Nazi consular official in Paris in 1938; the Nazis responded by inciting Kristallnacht, a pogrom against German Jews, 77 years ago today. Sasha Lilley Interview with Joseph Matthews
Is a romantic partner a replacement for the community that people used to rely on to meet their material and emotional needs? Mitch Monsour thinks so; he points to the competitive and individualistic nature of our society, the way economic rationality gets enacted in the romantic arena, and the structural obstacles to real intimacy. For … Continued
A revolutionary socialist, fervent opponent of colonialism, staunch anti-sectarian, and maverick champion of gay liberation — the French writer and activist Daniel Guérin’s life spanned many of the key radical movements of the 20th century, with an unusual twist: he was in turn a Marxist, then an anarchist, and then synthesized the two traditions. Scholar … Continued
When the Moynihan Report was released fifty years ago, it sparked an explosive debate as well as a long-running controversy, one that persists to the present day. What did the document say about African American life, and why did William F. Buckley, Dr. King, and Michael Harrington all praise its message? Daniel Geary describes the report’s … Continued
Jason Hackworth looks at the uneasy marriage between rightwing economic libertarianism and religion.
The Pacific Islands are, well, tiny, and often go unnoticed, except by the US military. Guam was made a US 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 … Continued
Humans seem to be at war with nature — epitomized by the system of capitalism, which plunders as it grows. But what if we understood the realm of Nature as not separate from the human realm of Society? Radical scholar Jason W. Moore suggests that we need to embed our critique of capitalism within the … Continued
Uber, Airbnb, and other high-profile enterprises in the so-called sharing economy are fundamentally transforming the economic landscape. Should we welcome these changes, or are they doing more harm than good? Keally McBride examines what the rise of the sharing economy has meant for workers, for institutions, and for the digital platforms on which its participants … Continued
