Against the Grain – February 21, 2011
Don Lattin discusses his book “The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America.”

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.
Don Lattin discusses his book “The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America.”
Is it humans who have domesticated plants, or is it the other way around? Michael Pollan took up that question in his book “The Botany of Desire.” The film based on that book explores the natural history of four plants: the apple, the tulip, cannabis, and the potato.
Radical economist Richard Wolff talks about the economic/financial crisis, critiques the government’s response, and identifies strategies that should have been — and should be — pursued.
C.S. Soong presents an audio retrospective of KPFA’s coverage of Egypt’s eighteeen days of revolution, culminating in President Mubarak’s resignation. The special-edition compilation is called “KPFA Presents: Days of Revolution, Day of Triumph in Egypt.”
University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster discusses his book “Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture.”
In two new monologues, Mike Daisey examines what money does to human relations and reveals the human cost of our love affair with electronic gadgetry. And Stephanie Rearick describes a system of alternative currency called TimeBanking.
Can potentially violent students, like Jared Loughner and the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, be identified and caught before they kill? Benjamin Reiss objects to what he sees as the intrusion of psychiatric risk assessment and intervention into the classroom.
Several guests weigh in on the protests in Egypt, US government interests, and the continuing crackdown on internet activism.
Private foundations, including Bill Gates’s, are pouring billions of dollars into efforts to remake our public schools. Joanne Barkan finds these market-based initiatives and their wide-ranging impacts deeply disturbing.