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.
While the United States is in the throes of upheaval over police murders, we take a historical look back at another time of great social ferment: a century ago, when the workers of Seattle shut that city down. The first major general strike in the United States coincided with the last widespread pandemic — the … Continued
Psychoanalyst and educator Michael B. Donner on narcissism and its roots in childhood, plus social theorist Richard Lichtman on authoritarianism’s appeal.
Is capitalism bad for your health? Gabor Maté thinks so. The acclaimed Canadian physician and Marxist discusses capitalism, stress, and chronic illness, inimitably combining profound humanism, dark wit, and extensive knowledge of science and social justice. He makes the compelling case that the psycho-social needs to be taken into account by both the medical establishment … Continued
Richard Lichtman on alienation, ideology, and so-called false consciousness under capitalism.
Cheap nature, cheap money, cheap work, cheap care, cheap food, cheap energy, and cheap lives. According to Raj Patel, those seven things are necessary for the survival of capitalism. And, he argues, they are running out. He discusses how the food system illustrates the need for those inputs and why capitalism’s days are numbered. Resources: … Continued
Rebecca Solnit on hope in hard times; David Hawkes on money as symbol; Laura Kipnis on monogamy; and the late, great Eduardo Galeano.
It’s easy to view the last 250 or even 600 years as a relentless period of ascendant capitalism, conquering everything in its wake. But the work of historian Peter Linebaugh reminds us that resistance to capitalism was present at its birth and that working class movements for a better world have profoundly shaped our histories. … Continued
Naomi Klein on what she calls “disaster capitalism,” plus Eric Holt-Giménez on capitalism’s trajectory.
Smartphones have rapidly become a necessity in the U.S., including for the working poor. During Covid, we’re using them more than ever to work — if we’re lucky enough to still have work — or to stay in touch with each other. Sociologist Nicole Aschoff argues that much of the discourse about our personal use … Continued
Intellectualism and cosmopolitanism aren’t things typically associated with working-class people and communities. But James Barrett has unearthed and investigated highly literate and often quite radical working-class cultures, cultures in which people read widely, engaged in group discussions, and in some cases traveled a great deal. (Encore presentation.) James Barrett, History from the Bottom Up and … Continued
