Ian Haney teaches in the areas of race and constitutional law. One of the nation’s leading thinkers on how racism has evolved since the civil rights era, his current research emphasizes the connection between racial divisions in society and growing wealth inequality in the United States. In Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism … Continued
The planet is getting hotter and the effects of global warming are compounding. The crisis of all ecological systems are becoming more evident. And yet so are environmental movements, which have become larger and more visible than ever. Scholar Julie Sze reflects on the history of struggles for environmental justice and the movement that we … Continued
Given the disparities between the lifespans of whites, African Americans, Native Americans and other groups, it might seem to be sensible to gear medicine along racial lines. But sociologist Leslie Hinkson argues that it represents a dangerous turn in science and healthcare. She discusses race, biology, and debt. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Nadine Ehlers and Leslie … Continued
Clarence Thomas is Donald Trump’s favorite Supreme Court justice, which might confirm the liberal view that Thomas is simply a toady of the right. But scholar Corey Robin argues that Thomas is a complex thinker and skilled rhetorician, whose ideas originate in black nationalism. Robin reflects on how Thomas’ pessimism about the intractability of racism … Continued
Within the left, debates rage over whether we should focus on race, class, or gender as the primary form of oppression today. Josh Fattal points to the writings of CLR James and Raya Dunaevskaya as a way out of the conundrum: they saw the struggles of one oppressed group acting as spores for spreading revolt … Continued
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I AM This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.
The alt-right is white nationalist, misogynist, and highly transphobic, mobilizing resentment against changing gender hierarchies and feared demographic change in America. Historian Alexandra Minna Stern discusses the appeal of the alt-right, from when it first came to national prominence in 2016, through its change of fortunes in the wake of the violent white nationalist rally … Continued
We speak with Faisal Ahmed of Medea Sirkas about the history of dance and the upcoming Boogaloo BBQ. Also later, we speak with Atlanta based artist Sa-Roc.
The US-Mexico border is often in the news. But what’s usually missing is the cost of the border, both in human terms, and in terms of the political economy of the region itself — the deep entanglement of the livelihoods of people who live in places like Douglas, Arizona with the border industrial complex. Scholar … Continued
We think of public utilities operating for the public good — it’s right there in the name. But most public utilities are investor-owned and, like corporations as a whole in this country, have enormous power to dispossess poor people through government-backed mechanisms like eminent domain. Sociologist Loka Ashwood discusses how such dispossession, along with state-sanctioned … Continued
