Against the Grain – February 11, 2009
"Are all human systems doomed to stagger along under the mounting weight of their internal logic until it crushes them?" Ronald Wright asks and addresses this question in his book "A Short History of Progress."

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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.
"Are all human systems doomed to stagger along under the mounting weight of their internal logic until it crushes them?" Ronald Wright asks and addresses this question in his book "A Short History of Progress."
In "The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don't Think for Themselves," Curtis White contends that the American imagination has become dangerously impoverished. Capitalism, according to White, has become expert at managing our creativity.
Films about Ho Chi Minh and about the Ottoman Empire and its impact on the Middle East are part of a never-before-featured set of 31 documentaries produced in conjunction with The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.
Encore broadcast of Against the Grain on economics and psychology as a means to understand the current crisis.
In their film "Secrecy," Peter Galison and Robb Moss explore the vast, invisible world of government secrecy and its implications for democracy.
Riane Eisler talks about her latest book "The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics." And Sylvia Federici connects the European witch hunts to the rise of capitalism in her book "Caliban and the Witch."
The Stoics on Happiness How to attain equanimity and peace of mind was an obsession of the ancient Stoic philosophers. The psychological techniques they championed for taming desire and achieving happiness are described in William Irvine's book "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy."
The acclaimed antiracism educator Tim Wise, author of the new book "Between Barack and a Hard Place," spoke recently about what the election of Barack Obama means for race, racism, and social justice.
Rick Wolff and Harriet Fraad describe both the economic and the psychological dimensions of the current crisis in jobs, markets, and housing.
Forests are imperiled by the activities of wood products companies like Sierra Pacific Industries, says Joshua Buswell-Charkow. The impacts on ecological systems and climate stability are enormous. Also, Aviva Imhoff describes plans to build dams in Southeast Asia.