Penn professor Paul Goldin discusses the Chinese philosophical text “Lao-Tzu,” also known as the “Tao Te Ching,” which has inspired and intrigued readers for more than two millennia.
Against the Grain
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 produced and hosted by Sasha Lilley.
Fund Drive Special: Chomsky on Wealth and Power
Over the past half century, the US economy has undergone a profound change: wealth has been concentrated in the hands of a few, inequality has skyrocketed, and insecurity has reigned. And yet it’s a story mainly downplayed by mainstream pundits and the media. Noam Chomsky, arguably the most important public intellectual in the world, says … Continued
Conversations with William Irvine about his book “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” and with Mark Vernon, author of “Plato’s Podcasts: The Ancients’ Guide to Modern Living.” (Image by Joshua Woroniecki via Unsplash.)
Many are the names forgotten to history, of people who fought to transform our world for the better. One of them was Benjamin Lay, a trailblazing figure who opposed slavery and devoted his life to forcing his fellow Quakers to end their complicity in the enslavement of others. Historian Marcus Rediker seeks to rescue a … Continued
Structural racism may be the dominant intellectual framework for understanding race and racism, but it’s not the only one. Greta Snyder prefers what she calls a complex systems framework. She contends that an approach rooted in complex systems thinking may motivate more action and activism to combat racism. Greta Fowler Snyder, “Absolving Responsibility and Dampening … Continued
The fortunes of DDT, the synthetic pesticide which infamously devastated bird populations in the United States, rose and fell during the 20th century, and rose again in the 21st century, driven by a campaign by Big Tobacco to sew uncertainty about what can be known. Historian of medicine Elena Conis discusses the trajectory and afterlife … Continued
What would — what should — getting beyond capitalism look like? Many scholars and activists have advanced strategies for moving toward a postcapitalist future. Some have focused on extending practices of “commoning”; some have advocated full automation; others have emphasized asset redistribution. Greg Albo considers and critiques strategies promoted by Erik Olin Wright, Sylvia Federici, Michael Hardt, … Continued
We spend much of our lives at work and, especially in this country, our identities are often closely tied to our jobs. And yet work, along with being exploitative and demeaning, is often meaningless as well. Journalist and playwright Barbara Garson set out fifty years ago to understand how Americans viewed and tried to shape … Continued
How best to understand the violence and discrimination directed against queer and trans people of color? Eric A. Stanley considers these phenomena through multiple lens. He brings up chattel slavery, commodification, biocapital, pharmaceutical industry practices, LGBT activism, and what he calls cellular labor to elucidate the nature and consequences of racialized anti-trans/queer violence. Eric Stanley, Atmospheres of … Continued
Rising rents, rising food prices, rising gas prices — the price of basic necessities has been going dramatically up. Pundits are wringing their hands, worrying about a return to the tumultuous 1970s, while the Federal Reserve has begun a series of interest rate hikes designed to slow the economy down, and potentially put people out … Continued