Against the Grain – August 27, 2008
Guest host Ramsey Kanaan speaks with Joel Shalit and Craig O’Hara about the politics of punk and commercial success.
12:00 PM Pacific Time: Mondays to 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 co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.
Guest host Ramsey Kanaan speaks with Joel Shalit and Craig O’Hara about the politics of punk and commercial success.
Barbara Epstein, author of "The Minsk Ghetto 1941-1943: Jewish Resistance and Soviet Internationalism", talks with host Ramsey Kanaan about the unusual story of cooperation between Jews and non-Jews in Belorussia under Nazi occupation.
Mark Steel, author of "Vive La Revolution! A Stand-up History of the French Revolution", talks to host Ramsey Kanaan about the enduring legacy of that watershed rebellion.
Frida Kahlo biographer Hayden Herrera, who guest-curated the Kahlo exhibition now at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Alison Gass, SFMOMA curator, discuss Kahlo’s life, work, politics, and legacy.
Are the logics of war and neoliberalism compatible with the pursuit of feminist goals? Mary Hawkesworth describes what happens to women, social attitudes, and political structures during war and after demobilization.
Too many wars in the twentieth century, and in this one. Nelson Maldonado-Torres draws upon thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Aime Cesaire to argue for a project of decolonization, one that directly confronts the Western paradigm of war.
John Gulick considers what kind of challenge China poses to US hegemony on the world stage. And Ward Wilson argues that Japan’s decision to surrender in 1945 was not compelled by the bombing of Hiroshima.
According to Colin Duncan, contemporary civilization is about to collapse because of the imminence of rapid and vast climate change. The Canadian environmental historian urges the adoption of radically different methods of meeting human needs. Also, an update on oil extraction from the Alberta tar sands.
There are an estimated 218 million child workers worldwide. Peter Dorman clears up public misconceptions about the nature and consequences of child labor. Also, Erin Thompson talks about IndyKids, a free newspaper that informs children about current events from a progressive perspective.
Sociologist Alex Vitale describes the rise of punitive urban social policies amidst rising concerns over "quality of life." And Kevin Van Meter comments on the need for social movements to dialogue and thereby bolster their collective resistance.