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.
Is policing in the U.S. primarily about catching criminals, maintaining order, or brutalizing African Americans? Ben Brucato locates the origins of U.S. police in the early slave patrols, patrols whose mandate was to uphold white racial domination over Blacks. He argues that the institutions of police and of race were created in tandem. Social Justice (Photo on … Continued
In the aftermath of World War Two, as the United States consolidated its position as a global superpower, it was confronted with significant challenges from below and shifting political terrain — anti-colonial struggles around the world and civil rights struggles domestically. To handle both, the U.S state turned to the police, who were sent overseas … Continued
In arguing for the urgency of moving from anthropocentrism toward ecocentrism, Aaron S. Allen distinguishes between environmental crises and ecological change; argues against the “balance of nature” paradigm; differentiates between strong and weak forms of sustainability; and describes the role that expressive culture and the environmental liberal arts can play in driving awareness and activism. … Continued
Caring for the elderly and disabled is some of the most exacting and important work in any society. And in our society, such work is very poorly paid. Journalist Richard Schweid lays out how home care work came to be one of the most profitable industries in the U.S., despite the minimum wages received by … Continued
Railing against capitalism is one thing; coming up with an equitable alternative is another. For many years Michael Albert has been formulating and refining his vision of a just and participatory economy. That vision includes, among other things, establishing what he calls balanced job complexes and basing income on the duration, intensity, and onerousness of … Continued
Why does the United States intervene militarily around the world? Supporters might claim that the U.S. acts in the interests of national security. For critics, a likely answer would be that the country wants to exercise influence and domination over others. Journalist Andrew Cockburn, however, argues that a great number of military decisions are based … Continued
Is there such a thing as society? Was the mid-twentieth century an antisocial moment in U.S. history? Theodore Martin describes what happened to the idea of society in the wake of the New Deal and World War II, and argues that sociopolitical changes fueled the emergence of a new kind of antisocial novel, examples of … Continued
Prisons, jails, immigrant detention centers. We know them as places of unfreedom, but we don’t often think about them as places of work. Yet compulsory labor is a key part of incarceration in this country. Sociologist Erin Hatton discusses the state of coerced work in prisons, the lack of worker protections, and how work has … Continued
Who were the Jacobins? What did they believe in, what did they accomplish during the French Revolution, and how should they be judged? Micah Alpaugh discusses the Jacobin clubs’ social and political stances, the policies they enacted, and the Jacobins’ turn toward terror. Micah Alpaugh, ed., The French Revolution: A History in Documents Bloomsbury, 2021 … Continued
The experience of trans people has burst into the mainstream in the last decade, although the struggles of gender variant people are nothing new. Jack Halberstam talks about the politics of categorization, generational differences, radical vs. single-issue politics, and anti-trans feminism. (Encore presentation). Resources: Jack Halberstam, Trans* A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability … Continued
