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.
What stands in the way of the urgently needed transition to clean energy? What is energy democracy, and what role should it play in the struggle against fossil capitalism? According to Ashley Dawson, a decisive shift toward renewable energy is impossible without a collective struggle to take control of the grid. He says much can … Continued
Trusted, impartial and independent? Or largely unaccountable and part of the Establishment? Sociologist Tom Mills considers the evidence on the enormously influential British Broadcasting Corporation or BBC, which is much revered by progressives in the United States and elsewhere. Resources: Tom Mills, The BBC: Myth of a Public Service Verso, 2020
Healthcare under capitalism can involve expensive visits to trained professionals. What would a system of peer-to-peer caregiving outside the cash nexus look like? Inspired by models developed in Greek solidarity clinics, Cassie Thornton has devised a radical new approach, one that involves three people focusing on the physical, mental, and social health of a fourth … Continued
After the disaster of Donald Trump, many are hoping that Biden will usher in a new day. But when it comes to U.S. policy in Latin America, Biden represents more continuity than rupture. Historian Kevin Young discusses U.S. power and neoliberal capitalism south of the border. Resources: Kevin A. Young, “Smarter Empire” Sidecar, March 8, … Continued
How has capitalist power on the global scale evolved over the last several decades, and what are its contours today? How can forces from below challenge and overcome capitalist rule? Michael Hardt talks about what he calls Empire; he also articulates a theoretical passage from multitude to a more expansive notion of class. (Encore presentation.) Michael … Continued
White-collar professionals dominate the liberal left. They’re a convenient target of the right, which demonizes its opponents as privileged Prius-driving, latte-sipping coastal elites. But Catherine Liu argues that such professionals, as a class, impede genuinely radical social change. She posits that the class biases of the Professional Managerial Class often influence progressive politics away from … Continued
Two prominent currents within ecosocialism are ecomodernism and degrowth. David Ravensbergen, in this first-time presentation of the full-length interview, describes and assesses the ecomodernist and degrowth positions; he also weighs in on “doomer politics” and the Green New Deal. Latham, Kingsmith, von Bargen, and Block, Challenging the Right, Augmenting the Left: Recasting Leftist Imagination Fernwood … Continued
Cultural and media workers have a disproportionate impact on how other workers see themselves and the world they live in, whether it’s by selling them something or presenting them with dissenting views. As historian Shannan Clark argues, there was a time when a great many cultural workers saw consumption itself as a political act. Such … Continued
The longest and most expensive war in U.S. history is the ongoing war in Afghanistan. What impact has the nineteen-year-old conflict had on U.S. democracy? According to Benjamin Hopkins, the Afghanistan war has fundamentally damaged the social and political fabric of the U.S. Hopkins also describes what he calls frontier governmentality, the focus of his latest book. … Continued
In a society that devalues ideas, perhaps it’s not surprising that the thought processes of children receive little interest. Yet, as psychologist Susan Engel argues, children are constantly constructing ideas, often collaboratively, although this impulse is frequently dampened by the wider world. And she suggests that we ignore the mental processes of children at our … Continued
