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.
The protests spurred by police killings of African Americans and other people of color has finally brought the punitive nature of the U.S. state into national view. Writer JoAnn Wypijewski argues that for at least the past half century we’ve been witnessing a particularly punishing turn by the state, often fueled by moral panics about … Continued
What if workers, not bosses, collectively made all the important decisions in and about their workplaces and production processes? Victor Wallis examines whether and how workers’ control was achieved in past periods of revolution and upheaval, including the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, and Chile under Salvador Allende. Victor Wallis, Socialist Practice: Histories and … Continued
The widespread protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd are continuing without any end in sight, despite curfew orders. Radical scholar Jordan Camp places the upheaval that’s taking place within the larger history of urban rebellions in the United States, from Watts in 1965, Detroit in 1967, Los Angeles in 1992, Ferguson in 2014, … Continued
Four takes on the African American predicament: Price Cobbs on Black rage; Juliet Hooker on whether Blacks should peacefully acquiesce; Frank Wilderson III on the African American experience of “social death”; and George Yancy on the violence of the white gaze. William Grier and Price Cobbs, Black Rage Wipf and Stock Frank Wilderson III, Afropessimism … Continued
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.
