In what ways do media-propagated ideals of beauty affect women and girls? Whose interests do such ideals serve? Meeta Rani Jha draws from the ideas of second- and third-wave feminism in her examination of the beauty pageant phenomenon; hair-straightening and other appearance-changing practices; and antiracist challenges to the dominant white beauty standard. Also: Angela Davis … Continued
Against the Grain
12:00 PM Pacific Time: Mondays to Wednesdays
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 co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C.S. Soong.
While inaction seems to be the order of the day, at some point those in power may take measures against global warming—and the ecological and social effects of those measures may be alarming. What should the left advocate and struggle for? Environmental historian Troy Vettese discusses the idea of rewilding half the earth by replacing … Continued
Puerto Ricans in New York City
Puerto Ricans in New York City already numbered in the tens of thousands by 1930. As Lorrin Thomas indicates, the fact that they were U.S. citizens did not shield them from discrimination and harassment. Thomas describes how, over the course of the twentieth century, young Puerto Ricans came to assert a new political consciousness and … Continued
The experience of trans people has burst into the mainstream in the last decade, although the struggles of gender variant people are nothing new. Jack Halberstam talks about the politics of categorization, generational differences, radical vs. single-issue politics, and anti-trans feminism. Resources: Jack Halberstam, Trans* A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability UC Press, … Continued
Gender, Sexuality, and the Pink Tide
During the Pink Tide, left-leaning governments proliferated across much of Latin America. What was actually accomplished in the Pink Tide era? Elisabeth Jay Friedman’s new book supplies part of the answer, by examining the extent to which Pink Tide governments advanced a gender and sexual justice agenda. Elisabeth Jay Friedman, ed., Seeking Rights from the … Continued
The proponents of cultured meat — meat grown in a laboratory — argue that it not only will put an end of the suffering of animals, but could lead us into a world free of the global warming-effects of industrialized animal agriculture. Benjamin Wurgaft discusses how the hopes for cultured meat refract many competing visions … Continued
Secrecy and the U.S. Security State
Secrecy is a fundamental aspect of the U.S. security state. According to Joseph Masco, the logics and dynamics of official secrecy do more than prevent the release of information; they also have profound effects on U.S. society. What Masco calls the security/threat matrix can be traced back to the effort to withhold information about the … Continued
When we on the left talk about the plight of the Palestinians, we usually talk about land – and rightly so. The dispossession of the Palestinians of their land has been a central element of the project of Israeli settler colonialism. But often what is forgotten is the question of Palestinian labor, its fundamental role … Continued
Surreal Fiction, Social Commentary
You might not expect weighty topics like class privilege and critical theory to be addressed in stories written by a science fiction and fantasy author. But Paul Park takes up these and many other issues in his new short story collection, which features surreal developments and plot twists that play with readers’ expectations. Paul Park, … Continued
Fear Itself
Fear is a central part of American life — and has been so at least since the early Cold War, according to historian Elaine Tyler May. She argues that while there are many things that Americans should be deeply concerned about, including climate change and vast wealth inequality, we are obsessed with threats like crime, … Continued