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 co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.
Veterans are a prominent symbol in U.S. politics, evoking patriotism and military might. The right recruits them and they populate the police, private security, and often militia groups. But the struggles of veterans, and those currently working for the military, should be of concern for the left, argues Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early. They discuss … Continued
What happens when meditation and yoga are taught behind bars? Are the imprisoned student-practitioners prodded to view their suffering as generated solely by their thoughts and actions, or do the classes foster an awareness of the structural and systemic factors that contributed to their incarceration? Farah Godrej taught yoga and meditation in prison and interviewed … Continued
The failure to unionize the South, to organize Southern workers in the 1930s and ’40s on the basis of interracial worker solidarity, had momentous and enduring consequences for race relations and worker well-being in the U.S. as a whole. So argues Michael Goldfield, who in his new book points to the marginalization of leftists within unions … Continued
Retirement is something many of us don’t think much about, hoping we’ll have enough to live on when the time comes. But chances are, unless we’re lucky, we won’t. James Russell argues that the widespread shortfall in retirement income is the result of a bipartisan effort going back decades to move our savings away from … Continued
A 20th-anniversary edition of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, by the UCLA-based historian Robin Kelley, has just come out. Kelley spoke about his book shortly after it was published. Kelley later joined Against the Grain to talk about Aimé Césaire, one of the thinkers featured in Freedom Dreams. Robin D. G. Kelley, Freedom Dreams: … Continued
What can our fantasies about space tell us about life on earth? Fred Scharman discusses competing visions for long-term space occupancy over the last century and a half, many of them emanating from Russia and the United States even before the Cold War, and now monopolized by billionaires like Elon Musk. (Encore broadcast.) Resources: Fred … Continued
Is a world of nation-states desirable? If ultranationalism is pernicious, are some forms of nationalism beneficial? Should struggles framed in terms of national liberation be lauded and supported? Nandita Sharma emphasizes the exclusions inherent in all nationalist politics, exclusions dictated by considerations of who does and does not belong to the nation. (Encore presentation.) Nandita Sharma, Home … Continued
Neoliberalism, centrist, radical, intersectionality, the people — these are all words that are used to mark out someone’s understanding of the world. Yet many of these words are fuzzy and obscure more than they illuminate. John Patrick Leary breaks down some of the key political words of our time. Resources: John Patrick Leary, Keywords for … Continued
Who gets put into solitary confinement, and why? What roles do race, racism, and mental health diagnoses play? Terry Kupers describes what spending time in solitary does to the human psyche; he also cites recent changes in attitudes toward, and laws regulating, solitary confinement. (Encore presentation.) Bruce Arrigo and Brian Sellers, eds., The Pre-Crime Society: Crime, Culture, … Continued
Historian Lily Geismer looks at how the the Democratic Leadership Council and Clinton-era Democratic Party increased inequality, through development zones, charter schools, welfare “reform”, and microfinance. Creative commons image
