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.
How would a socialist system operate, and in what ways would it be an improvement over what we have now? San Francisco State lecturer Ann Robertson addresses these questions, and discusses strategic and philosophical differences between Karl Marx and the prominent anarchist Mikhail Bakunin.
How soon should US and other foreign troops leave Iraq? In his new book Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, Anthony Arnove argues that the occupation should end immediately, and that nothing positive can result from a continued US presence in Iraq.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of one of the most important poems in US history — "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. The poem set off a storm of controversy, leading to the arrest and eventual acquittal of City Lights Books publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and was famously aired on KPFA.
C.S. talks with the maker of the documentary film "Arna’s Children," which recounts how a Jewish woman named Arna opened a theater group for Palestinian children in Jenin, and follows what happens as Arna’s students grow up to participate in the Palestinian resistance. The program also features comments by Mariam Shahin, the author of "Palestine: … Continued
It’s been called history’s most important political document and it’s the second best-selling book in the world after the Bible. It’s The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, and it’s been rediscovered in recent years by Wall Street Bankers and radical activists alike. Phil Gasper, author of an annotated new version, talks … Continued
John Vaillant talks about his book "The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed," which both recounts an extraordinary set of events in the wilds of British Columbia and tells the larger story of what humans have done to the world’s forests, and to the environment more generally.
Has the biblical myth of the promised land influenced past and present notions of progress, technology, and the market? Activist and scholar David Noble thinks it has, to our great detriment. In his book "Beyond the Promised Land: The Movement and the Myth," Noble explains the mythological foundations of the Western imagination, and why need … Continued
Can mushrooms save the world? That’s what mycologist Paul Stamets argues in a speech given at the San Francisco Green Festival, in which he highlights the ability of mushrooms to protect our health and remove toxic pollutants from the environment.
The new documentary "Class Dismissed: How Television Frames the Working Class," which features Barbara Ehrenreich, Robin DG Kelley, Pepi Leistyna and others, shines a spotlight on class in America.
