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.
In excerpts from a rare radio interview, French economist Thomas Piketty discusses his magisterial history of wealth inequality — which has been causing a sensation on both the left and right — arguing that barring war, revolution, and other exceptional circumstances, capitalism tends to concentrate wealth ever further.
Gilbert Achcar disapproves of the term “Arab Spring.” He thinks the uprisings that began in late 2010 are only the beginning of a long-term revolutionary process. In his new book Achcar points to underlying socioeconomic factors and conditions in his effort to locate the deep roots of the upheaval. For more details and higher-quality audio, visit … Continued
A reflection on the experience of collective action, the problems of organization, and the ways ideas from the past may help or hinder anti-capitalist movements, with members of the Free Association.
Elisée Reclus was a social geographer and anarchist who, according to John Clark, introduced a strongly ecological dimension to anarchist thinking. Clark describes the various forms of domination that the French thinker observed and detested, and discusses the process of historical investigation that Reclus believed was essential to forging societies that functioned in harmony with … Continued
Could it be that what we don’t eat is destroying our environment? Historian Tristram Stuart argues that the vast amount of food that is wasted by manufacturers, supermarkets, farmers, and consumers — up to 50 percent of food grown in this country — has massive ecological consequences, leading to the depletion of the oceans, the … Continued
A celebration of the 65th anniversary of the world’s first listener-sponsored radio station, KPFA. Richard Moore, one of KPFA’s founders, discusses the station’s anarcho-syndicalist origins.
Gillian Hart, author of “Rethinking the South African Crisis: Nationalism, Populism, Hegemony,” on what happened to South Africa, and the promise of liberation, after the end of apartheid.
For those who oppose racism, what could be wrong with multiculturalism? A fair amount, says radical critic Vijay Prashad, who argues that the institutionalization and celebration of diversity has become a substitute for antiracist activism. Prashad offers instead the notion of a radical polyculturalism. And, in a speech from the archives, historian Robin D.G. Kelley … Continued
