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.
Incarceration is commonly understood as detention in prisons and jails. Liat Ben-Moshe argues that the term’s meaning should be broadened to include confinement in places like psychiatric hospitals, mental institutions, and even nursing homes. She also points to the existence of what she calls the institution-industrial complex.
Adam Hochshild talks about the Spanish Civil War and about “Homage to Catalonia,” George Orwell’s account of his experiences and observations of the conflict.
Asylum seekers and migrants without papers are often taken to detention facilities purposely sited far from population centers — and sometimes on remote islands. Alison Mountz discusses US, Australian, and other national policies to disperse and isolate detainees, often hiding their location from family members and potential advocates. She also describes efforts to find and … Continued
Justin Podur on Afghanistan past and present, plus Medea Benjamin and others on the politics and morality of drone strikes.
In his books “Animal Rights” and “Animal Studies,” anthrozoologist Paul Waldau looks at animal protection activism and the push for animal rights.
Highlights of some of the best commentary and analysis presented on Against the Grain in 2013.
Microfinance constitutes an attempt to convert the shadow economy of the poor into globally circulating finance, asserts Ananya Roy. Microfinance is a microcosm of what Roy calls “bottom billion capitalism.”
