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.
August Wilson wrote a 10-play, decade-by-decade exploration of the African American experience in the 20th century. Sandra Shannon discusses Wilson’s life and work. Kent Gash directs a production of Wilson’s play “Seven Guitars,” set in 1948.
Ben Rawlence of Human Rights Watch has written a penetrating report about armed conflict, famine, and human rights abuses in Somalia. Also, Anna Deavere Smith talks about her new solo show “Let Me Down Easy.”
Steve Early, longtime former organizer for the Communications Workers of America, talks about the uphill battle labor faces, at Verizon and elsewhere, to hold the line in the face of anti-union actions.
In troubled times like these, the political economist and activist David McNally is encouraged and inspired by recent experiments in radical democracy and participatory decision making in places like Cochabamba, Tunisia, and Egypt.
Corey Robin, author of “Fear: The History of a Political Idea,” talks with Sasha Lilley about the ways that fear has been conceived by modern thinkers and the political uses to which it is put.
Murali Balaji, author of “The Professor and the Pupil”, talks about the friendship and political evolution of radical African American giants W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson.
Journalist Tina Gerhardt speaks with Sasha Lilley about nuclear power after Fukushima, in light of the decisions by Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and potentially Japan, to phase it out.
