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07.28.25 - 4:00pm

The People’s Court: Exposing Katrina’s Unpunished Crimes Featuring ACLU Attorney King Downing In this historic 2007 session of the People’s Court, ACLU lawyer King Downing delivers a searing indictment of the U.S. government’s role in the human rights violations following Hurricane Katrina. Survivors, advocates, and witnesses offer devastating testimony—detailing state abandonment, police brutality, mass incarceration, … Continued

Against the Grain

Medicines: Expensive, Poorly Tested, and Often Useless

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04.28.25 - 12:00pm

Blockbuster drugs are launched by the pharmaceuticals industry to great fanfare — with promises of treating intractable illness and often with a stratospheric price tag. Yet, despite the hype and cost, many of those drugs turn out to be less than useless. How is it that so many drugs that are vetted by the Food … Continued

Against the Grain

Manipulating Alzheimer’s Research

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02.03.25 - 12:00pm

Billions of dollars have been spent on Alzheimer’s research over many decades, yet no effective treatment exists. Investigative journalist Charles Piller has revealed one reason for the impasse: pivotal scientific research into Alzheimer’s disease — affirming the hypothesis that it’s caused by sticky amyloid plaques in the brain — was based on manipulated images. Resources: … Continued

Against the Grain

The Plight of Home Health Care Workers

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01.31.22 - 12:00pm

Caring for the elderly and disabled is some of the most exacting and important work in any society. And in our society, such work is very poorly paid. Journalist Richard Schweid lays out how home care work came to be one of the most profitable industries in the U.S., despite the minimum wages received by … Continued

Against the Grain

Against Commodification

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09.14.21 - 12:00pm

Commodification is essential to capitalism: turning the necessities of life, including education, water, and healthcare, into products for sale. But even under capitalism there are periods when the drive to commodify is particularly intense and other periods when there is a push back against commodification. Political economist Christoph Hermann discusses the origins of the concept, … Continued

Against the Grain

Covid: the CDC, WHO, and the US

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08.31.20 - 12:00pm

There is abundant evidence that the Trump administration has grossly botched the handling of the Covid pandemic. But, unfortunately, such mismanagement is not limited to the most obvious offenders. Public health expert Michael Fine discusses the mishandling of the coronavirus, from the White House to the World Health Organization to the CDC and to the … Continued

Against the Grain

Democracy Without Journalism?

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01.14.20 - 12:00pm

The United States fancies itself an exceptional nation, and in terms of its media system, it’s right: the US has the most commercialized press of any advanced industrial country, with the least support for public media. So argues critic Victor Pickard in his study of the political economy of US journalism. He discusses the long … Continued

Against the Grain

The End of Public Education?

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11.29.17 - 12:00pm

From charter schools to enterprises like Teach for America — profiteering off of public education has surged, supported by both Democrats and Republicans. But Noliwe Rooks argues that the plundering of taxpayer-funded education has a long history, going back to the era after Reconstruction. Rooks discusses that history — and whether we’re now seeing the … Continued

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Fund Drive Special: Voices from the Katrina Tribunal: Romell Madison, and King Downing

Medicines: Expensive, Poorly Tested, and Often Useless

Manipulating Alzheimer’s Research

The Plight of Home Health Care Workers

Against Commodification

Covid: the CDC, WHO, and the US

The End of Public Education?

KPFA Public Meetings