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.
At the Radical Imagination Festival, Ardath Whynacht asked attendees to consider what trauma-informed social justice might look like; she also contested many radicals’ emphasis on autonomy. Andrea Smith spoke about the importance of incorporating mothering into political thinking and struggle. And we remember the great Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, who died last week. For more … Continued
Why are African Americans missing from our collective imagery of the environment and environmentalism? Cultural geographer Carolyn Finney discusses both the history of African Americans and nature — as it’s defined in the United States — and the history of African American environmentalism, separating myth from fact. For more details and higher-quality audio, visit againstthegrain.org.
The effects of global warming are not just waiting for us in the future, but are here already in the form of droughts, superstorms, fires, and other types of extreme weather. Yet politicians have done little over the last twenty-five years to halt climate change. Dale Jamieson examines how and why attempts to stop global … Continued
Elaine Scarry, author of Thermonuclear Monarchy, contends that nuclear weapons and democracy are fundamentally incompatible.
Nonprofit organizations make up much of what we often think of as the left in this country — focusing on housing rights, the environment, and many other deserving issues. But is their influence benign? Could there be a connection between nonprofits and the neoliberal project of privatization and cutting back public services? Activist and sociologist … Continued
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
Frida Kahlo’s life and work are world famous — yet what has become of the Mexican artist’s radical politics? Art historian Margaret A. Lindauer argues that Kahlo’s artistic legacy has been done a disservice by those who would read the painter’s works off her personal life, instead of looking at the complex intellectual and political … Continued
Giving primacy to Reason often reflects a belief that discursive thought and scientific knowledge put humans on a trajectory of progress and improvement. Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Stirner called all of that into question. According to Joaquin Pedroso, the two iconoclasts pointed toward an anti-authoritarianism of the intellect that anarchists and others should take seriously. … Continued
It seems logical: if you don’t have enough education your economic prospects will be diminished, while those who have a lot are able to succeed in our purportedly knowledge-based economy. But what if that’s only partially accurate? John Marsh posits that economic inequality and poverty are not causally connected to differing levels of education. He … Continued
How foundational are violence and coercion to Western sovereign authority? According to Giorgio Agamben, states of emergency have become not the exception but the rule, and the individual has been reduced by state power to “bare life” to an alarming degree. Adam Kotsko explains and interprets the Italian theorist’s influential ideas. For more details and … Continued
