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UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. UpFront PM is the afternoon edition of UpFront. Pitch us at upfront@kpfa.org.
Theme Music: Turn It Up by Digital Primitives, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Homeless people who live underneath East Bay freeways have had their only possessions taken and thrown away. By who? Crews of Caltrans workers in an effort of “cleaning up” the streets. We speak to some of the homeless campers who have had their belongings confiscated by Caltrans along with homelessness advocates and a Caltrans representative. Then, … Continued
Radio is the world’s oldest broadcast medium. It’s had a major impact on our politics: without it, the New Deal might not have happened. It’s still the world’s most-used mass communications medium. But, if you go by headlines, it’s been on the brink of death . . . for about 60 years. We speak to … Continued
It’s been more than a year since a rotting balcony on a new building collapsed, killing six in Berkeley. Turned out the building had a history of being sued for faulty construction, but had been able to keep it secret. And the state legislature *still* hasn’t passed legislation to change that situation — we speak … Continued
This week opened with 50 members of the Republican foreign policy elite declaring their opposition to Donald Trump. Combine that with the fact that he’s against trade deals, unkind to NATO, and bashing Hillary Clinton over her vote for the Iraq War — and he practically looks like a raging lefty. So: What exactly is his … Continued
Officials in Brazil have started kicking out Olympic ticket-holders for having signs of clothing protesting the actions of acting President Michel Temer — we’re going to do a quick primer on politics in Brazil, then explore this history of protest at the Olympic games. Guests: Maria Luisa Mendonca, professor in the International Relations Department at … Continued
Five years ago, revolution was spreading across the Arab World. In different countries, it followed different courses: civil uprisings brought down Governments fell in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen. In Libya, it took armed insurrection and foreign intervention. In Bahrain, a government succeeded in suppressing mass protests. In Syria, protests triggered repression, which triggered armed insurgency, which … Continued
In this episode of UpFront we hear recordings from a film on the genesis of capitalism, tracing it’s history through an exploration of the life Adam Smith, and the many historic moments that built up to The Wealth of Nations. “Adam Smith: The Birth of the Free Market,” is part of a six-part series on the history of … Continued
Which democratic president contributed to the resurgence of the KKK? We dive deep into presidential history with excerpts from James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me. Support KPFA during our Summer 2016 fund drive, and receive Lies My Teacher Told Me as a gift, by donating here.
Ever wonder about the lives and perspectives that were left out of your history textbooks? Howard Zinn uncovers these histories in his A People’s History of the United States. We play excerpts. You can receive A People’s History of the United States, among many other gifts, by donating to KPFA here.
We play excerpts of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates read by the author himself. The book, written as a series of letters to his teenage son, grapples with the dark history of America, and what it means to inhabit a black body in present day America. You can receive Between the World and … Continued
