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.
Insurrection and resistance are as much a part of the history of these lands as dispossession and occupation. Native American historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz has made it her life’s work to shine a light on such history, which is so often hidden. She discusses the little known Green Corn Rebellion in 1917, as well as the … Continued
Cal Winslow reflects on the life, politics, and writings of socialist historian E.P. Thompson.
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
It’s only been a decade and a half since the height of the AIDS epidemic. Yet there’s profound amnesia about what happened during those years, in which hundreds of thousands of people died in this country, ignored by a government that only helped those with the disease after being forced through direct action. Writer Sarah … Continued
Did the targeting of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military stop when the 26-year-long civil war ended in 2009? A report authored by Anuradha Mittal reveals that traditional Tamil homelands are still under heavy military occupation, thousands of forcibly displaced Tamils remain in limbo, and official policies continue to marginalize and torment the Tamil … Continued
Jodi Dean on why communism remains a powerful ideological force.
Many of the Italians who migrated to the US in large numbers at the turn of the twentieth century were drawn to anarchism. Jennifer Guglielmo has studied Italian immigrant political culture with an emphasis on working-class women who espoused anarchism, labor militancy, and a radical, transnational feminism.
The Wire clearly wasn’t your typical police drama. Linda Williams describes the way in which the critically acclaimed television serial about the streets and institutions of Baltimore broke new ground. Among other things, Williams highlights The Wire‘s institutional focus and argues that the show rewrote what she calls the melodrama of black and white. For … Continued
Could spending be virtuous and thrift bad? Left-wing economic and cultural historian James Livingston thinks so. He suggests — taking on the 19th-century Populists, the Frankfurt School, and current economic orthodoxy along the way — that consumption is good for social justice and the environment. Livingston argues that, in place of austerity and frugality, investment … Continued
Too few resources, too many people. That’s the received wisdom in most of the environmental movement, mainstream or radical. But can that assumption withstand close scrutiny? Not according to population scholar Betsy Hartmann, who interrogates whether overpopulation is a main — or the main — cause of our ecological woes. She also discusses the far … Continued
