KPFA - Against the Grain

Sugar may seem like a natural, almost eternal substance, cultivated over thousands of years. But it was remade by capitalism and turned into a homogenized commodity. Enslaved labor was central to sugar production on vast plantations, which would then be discarded as sugar laid waste to both the lands and human bodies. And, as historian of science David Singerman illustrates, scientific techniques were utilized to standardize sugar, while attempting to replace the knowledge of the workers who labored in its refineries. David Singerman, Unrefined: How Capitalism Reinvented Sugar University of Chicago Press, 2025 Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash The post Sugar and Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

Fiction that imagines alternate futures is often associated with the left — with writers like Octavia Butler and Ursula LeGuin. But the tropes of science fiction are well-suited to the right and, as Jordan Carroll illustrates, far right authors and aficionados have populated the ranks of speculative fiction since its inception, like ardent science fiction fan and neo-Nazi party founder James Madole. Carroll discusses the right's ongoing fight to claim the future. Jordan S. Carroll, Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right University of Minnesota Press, 2024 Photo by Robynne O on Unsplash The post Science Fiction and the Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

The power the police wield on the streets of this country is plain to see. Less visible, but no less formidable, is the immense political power and influence that the police exercise. Historian Stuart Schrader describes how police unions amassed enormous power over the last fifty years. Stuart Schrader, Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves Basic Books, 2026 The post The Political Power of the Police appeared first on KPFA.

The left has a long history of predicting the decline of US capitalism and empire. Some argue that Trump is a symptom of that decline — a strongman chosen by capital to set things right — and that the ill health of U.S. capitalism is paralleled by the decline of the dollar. Political economist Stephen Maher counters that U.S. capitalism is robust — to the detriment of most of us. Gregory Albo and Stephen Maher, eds. Socialist Register 2026: Late-Stage Capitalism? Accumulation in the Ruins Monthly Review Press, 2025 The post The Decline of U.S. Capitalism? appeared first on KPFA.

Jews and the left have been closely associated with each other for well over a century, both in Europe where the Nazis genocidally linked one with the other, and in the United States. Scholar Benjamin Balthaser considers the history of American Jews and the left, including in opposition to Jewish nationalism, arguing that the recent florescence of Jewish anti-Zionism is a return to a much longer tradition. (Encore presentation.) Benjamin Balthaser, Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left Verso, 2025 Photo credit: Bruce Emmerling The post American Jews and the Left appeared first on KPFA.

We often are told there is no other way to organize society — that by our very natures, we're destined to dominate each other. But are such assumptions merited? Primatologist Agustin Fuentes pulls apart the supposedly evolutionary case that humans are hardwired for war. And the late anthropologist David Graeber discusses the active cultivation of pessimism about our ability to organize society in a more egalitarian way. To celebrate KPFA Radio's 77th birthday, please donate to Against the Grain and KPFA!  Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash The post Fuentes on Aggression; Graeber on Egalitarianism appeared first on KPFA.

It's widely recognized that vast amounts of wealth are now concentrated in the hands of the very few. But less well understood, scholar Ray Madoff argues, is how the U.S. tax code played a key role in that process. She delineates how progressive taxation and the estate tax — designed to tax the inherited wealth of the rich — have been eviscerated. And she also argues that philanthropy, perversely, has increased the wealth of the 1%. Ray D. Madoff, The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy University of Chicago Press, 2025 Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash The post (Not) Taxing the Rich appeared first on KPFA.

Trump has not only threatened Iran's civilian infrastructure, but the U.S. and Israel have systematically targeted it since the start of their attack. Historian Golnar Nikpour reflects on the human costs of the war.  And she discusses the Iranian state and prison system since the early 20th century and places recent mass protests — the largest in Iranian history — in the context of cycles of protest and repression in modern Iran. Golnar Nikpour, The Incarcerated Modern: Prisons and Public Life in Iran Stanford University Press, 2024 Photo credit: Saeed Karimi The post Infrastructures of War and Repression in Iran appeared first on KPFA.

Many in our society are struggling to provide care for their families or communities. Often they don't have time to do it and can't afford to pay for it. The right realizes this and has tried to woo women with a glorified vision of domestic life. Economist Nancy Folbre discusses the early fight for the recognition of unpaid care work as real work, while the economics profession has mainly ignored it, despite its crucial importance for capitalism. Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First UC Press, 2026 Photo by Jill Brand on Unsplash The post Counting Care Work appeared first on KPFA.

Capitalism has generated vast amounts of wealth by spreading around the world. But as Timothy Mitchell argues, profits are made not just across space but also time, by stealing from future generations, including through military spending. The political theorist and historian of the Middle East reflects on the ways that capitalism consumes the future. Timothy Mitchell, The Alibi of Capital: How We Broke the Earth to Steal the Future on the Promise of a Better Tomorrow Verso, 2026 Photo by Curioso Photography on Unsplash The post Consuming the Future appeared first on KPFA.

What has the far right learned from the Frankfurt School? And what can we learn from Frankfurt School thinkers like Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse to understand the appeal of the right? Paul Fleming sheds light on the fixation of conservatives like Christopher Rufo — who has set about remaking higher education — with cultural Marxism. He also discusses Adorno's insights into the attraction of authoritarian leaders. Theodore Adorno, “Anti-Semitism and Fascist Propaganda” New German Critique The post The Frankfurt School, Authoritarianism, and the U.S. Right appeared first on KPFA.

The powers of the president of the United States have grown since the Cold War, expanding under both Republicans and Democrats. And many of these presidential powers – such as those laid out in the presidential emergency action documents — are unknown to the US public. Journalist Andrew Cockburn reflects on the imperial presidency, the domestic motivations of US foreign policy, and the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as the role of money in the politics of the Democratic Party. Andrew Cockburn, Washington Is Burning: Corruption and Lies in the Age of Trump Verso, 2025 Photo by Ana Lanza on Unsplash The post Trump and the Powers of the U.S. Presidency appeared first on KPFA.

Revelations that the much-lionized United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez raped women and young girls has rightly horrified many. But Chavez has long been a controversial figure and the union that he headed was deeply divided. Radical writer and former farm worker Frank Bardacke discusses the two souls of the UFW, between the union staff and the militant rank and file. Frank Bardacke, Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers Verso, 2011 “The United Farm Workers Was More Than Cesar Chavez: Sasha Lilley Interviews Frank Bardacke,” Jacobin September 29, 2021 Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash   The post United Farm Worker Rank and File appeared first on KPFA.

The ramifications of the US attack on Iran have been a harsh reminder of the centrality of oil to the global economy – and not just for fuel and transport. Political economist Adam Hanieh reflects on the rise of crude oil in the 20th century. He argues that the blockage in the Gulf threatens to set off a more serious global crisis than seen in the 1970s. Adam Hanieh, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Verso, 2025 The post Oil and Global Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

As global warming accelerates, what would it take to reclaim our future? Malcolm Harris describes the obstacles to moving beyond fossil fuels — not just from elites, but also from below. He lays out three interlocking paths out of the climate crisis. Malcolm Harris, What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis Little, Brown and Company, 2025 The post Fighting for the Future appeared first on KPFA.

The Trump administration has been unabashed in its intention to criminalize dissent, labeling protestors “domestic terrorists.” A recent verdict against anti-ICE protestors in Texas promises to be consequential in that effort.  Scholar Thomas Zeitzoff reflects on the administration's widespread attempts to quash opposition, from targeting fundraising by liberal nonprofits, knocking on the doors of former activists, or charging people with conspiracy for communicating on Signal about protests. Thomas Zeitzoff, No Option But Sabotage: The Radical Environmental Movement and the Climate Crisis Oxford University Press, 2026 The post Criminalizing Dissent appeared first on KPFA.

It's often observed that Democratic Party paved the way for Trump's rise. Historian Lily Geismer discusses how we got here, examining the remaking of liberalism and the Democratic Party, populated by a professionally-trained, technocratic elite who did what technocrats do: tweaking the system, not fundamentally changing it. Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer (eds), Mastery and Drift: Professional-Class Liberals since the 1960s University of Chicago Press, 2025 The post The Shaping of Professional Class Liberalism appeared first on KPFA.

“Smart” devices like TVs, speakers, and thermostats. Our cars. DNA tests we might take to learn about our ancestry. Our searches online. Along with Flock cameras and other forms of big data policing contracted by local governments, we're unwittingly surveilling ourselves at every turn. Legal scholar Andrew Guthrie Ferguson describes how sensor-driven digital technology tracks our daily lives — whether we're seeking an abortion or protesting our government — and are only, at best, a warrant away from being used against us. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance NYU Press, 2026 Photo credit: r.nial.bradshaw The post Surveilling Ourselves appeared first on KPFA.

In 2024 the world, for a year, exceeded 1.5C – the line in the sand we weren't supposed to cross or risk runaway global warming. We're now in an era of overshoot, in which elites are depending upon untested technologies for managing the heating which they refused to halt. Political ecologist Wim Carton contends that there is no substitute for slashing carbon emissions and shutting down the fossil fuel industry. He discusses the perils of continuing to emit carbon dioxide with the plan of capturing it later or eventually harnessing geoengineering to cool the planet by spraying aerosols to block the sun. Wim Carton and Andreas Malm, The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It's Too Late Verso, 2025 The post Emit Now, Reverse Global Warming Later? appeared first on KPFA.

Journalist David Graham reflects on Project 2025, the blueprint that the Heritage Foundation drafted for Trump's second term, and if its goals have been achieved so far – on the environment and economy, attacking trans rights and diversity policies, and projecting military might abroad. He also discusses what may come next. David A. Graham, The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America Random House, 2025 The post Project 2025, A Year In appeared first on KPFA.

Food affects all of us — but while it's a necessity for our survival, it's also a vast, sprawling industry spanning the globe, which generates enormous profits as well as significant damage to public health and the environment. Nutritionist and molecular biologist Marion Nestle sheds light on the choices we all must navigate when we enter the grocery store. Marion Nestle, What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters North Point Press, 2025 The post Marion Nestle on Food Choices and Food Politics appeared first on KPFA.

Our modern world was born from destruction — and no more so than in North America, which historian Clifton Crais describes as the most violent place on the planet in the 18th and 19th centuries. Crais describes what he calls the Mortecene against humans and the rest of nature. Clifton Crais, The Killing Age: How Violence Made the Modern World University of Chicago Press, 2025 The post Violence and the Making of Our World appeared first on KPFA.

The global rise of the authoritarian right has confounded classification and led to contentious debates on the left. Do politicians like Modi, Bolsonaro, Orban, and Trump represent an extreme form of right-wing populism? Or are they fascists, as some claim? Historian and scholar of populism and fascism Federico Finchelstein argues that we're seeing something new — a phenomenon that blurs the lines between the two. (Encore presentation.) Federico Finchelstein, The Wannabe Fascists: A Guide to Understanding the Greatest Threat to Democracy UC Press, 2024 The post The Populist-Fascist Hybrid appeared first on KPFA.

For as long as we've known, humans have revered ancient trees. We have also destroyed them, especially since the advent of colonialism and fossil fuel capitalism. Historian Jared Farmer reflects on what trees illuminate about our past and potential future. The post Fund Drive Special: Humans and Ancient Trees appeared first on KPFA.

It's been called a new gold rush, but not of our external environment, which continues to be plundered, but of our internal environment — of our psyches. Historian of science D. Graham Burnett, one of the Friends of Attention, lays out what's at stake — and how they're organizing a movement to reclaim our attention. Please donate in support of KPFA and Against the Grain — which celebrates its 23rd birthday today! The post Fund Drive Special: Fighting the Fracking of Our Attention appeared first on KPFA.

Capitalism by its nature produces crises and, for the last century, states have responded by imposing austerity measures on the public. Economist Clara Mattei argues that austerity is actually a bludgeon to entrench elite power and repress workers' aspirations for a more egalitarian society. She discusses its origins—and that of modern economics—during the greatest existential threat to the Western capitalist order. Please donate in support of KPFA and Against the Grain. The post Fund Drive Special: Against Austerity appeared first on KPFA.

It's been called a new gold rush, but not of our external environment, which continues to be plundered, but of our internal environment — of our psyches. Historian of science D. Graham Burnett, one of the Friends of Attention, lays out what's at stake — and how they're organizing a movement to reclaim our attention. The post Fund Drive Special: Fighting the Attention Economy appeared first on KPFA.

Ancient Greece and Rome are venerated throughout our society — including by the far right. Is this a misappropriation and misuse of the ideals of Greco-Roman antiquity? Classical scholar Curtis Dozier argues that when white nationalists appeal to ancient thinkers to justify their reactionary ideas, there is surprisingly much to draw from. Please donate in support of KPFA and Against the Grain. The post Fund Drive Special: The Far Right's Fascination with Ancient Greece and Rome appeared first on KPFA.

Entomologist Douglas Tallamy discusses what we can do to stem the extinction crisis — the loss of habitat and plant and animal species — by transforming the places where we live. Please donate in support of KPFA and Against the Grain. The post Fund Drive Special: Saving and Restoring Nature in Our Gardens appeared first on KPFA.

Capitalism has transformed the world like no other force, which historian Sven Beckert calls a fundamental break in human history. Beckert traces the emergence and expansion of capitalism, arguing that we can best understand the present by coming to terms with its past. Please donate in support of KPFA and Against the Grain. The post Fund Drive Special: Global Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

A year into Trump's second term, the power and fortunes of the ultra-wealthy have only grown — following half a century of policies boosting the rich. Economist Rob Larson discusses Trump's economic agenda, the pillars of his support in tech, and the ways the 1% exercises power, including through the media. The post Fund Drive Special: The Fortunes of the Wealthy appeared first on KPFA.

Last autumn Italian workers shut down their country in opposition to the Gaza genocide. In the United States, in contrast, labor activists wanting to take a stand in solidarity with Palestinian workers are frequently chastised for trying to involve their unions in the affairs of other countries. Yet labor historian Jeff Schuhrke illustrates that U.S. unions have long been involved in Palestine — for almost a century supporting Zionism and then the state Israel. (Encore presentation.) National Labor Network for Ceasefire Jeff Schuhrke, No Neutrals There: US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle for Palestine Haymarket Books, 2025 Photo by Nikolas Gannon on Unsplash The post Zionism and U.S. Unions appeared first on KPFA.

Employers regularly check the background of potential workers for criminal records, even though claims that such checks predict their diligence or trustworthiness are dubious. Anthropologist Melissa Burch reflects on how criminal background checks became commonplace — and what vested interests maintain their ubiquity. Afterlives of Conviction Project Melissa Burch, The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, and the Struggle for Work in America Princeton University Press, 2026 The post The Long Shadow of Criminal Records appeared first on KPFA.

Did Charles Darwin influence Karl Marx? Joel Wainwright argues that Darwin significantly shaped Marx's understanding of historical change — with implications for how we meet the ecological crisis today. And he reflects on the potential role of strikes and boycotts in moving beyond capitalism. Joel Wainwright, The End: Marx, Darwin, and the Natural History of the Climate Crisis Verso, 2025 The post Darwin and Marx appeared first on KPFA.

Was the populist far right a reaction to neoliberal free market fundamentalism? Or, as historian Quinn Slobodian argues, did such rightwing currents come out of the ideas of neoliberalism itself? Slobodian reflects on neoliberal thinkers' preoccupation with racist and misogynistic ideas of human nature and intelligence, borders and gold — all in service to their war on the left. (Encore presentation.) Quinn Slobodian, Hayek's Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right Zone Books, 2025 The post The Neoliberal Roots of Rightwing Populism appeared first on KPFA.

The Trump administration uses antifascism as a term of abuse and has branded Antifa domestic terrorists. Yet antifascism has a long but often little known history in the U.S.  Journalist Christopher Mathias describes the efforts of radicals to unmask and dismantle the far right. Christopher Mathias, To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right Atria Books, 2026 The post Exposing the Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

The groundswell of opposition to Trump's deportation agenda has been astounding. But there has been a long history of immigrants opposing the U.S. state's efforts to terrorize and deport them. Historian Adam Goodman discusses the struggles mounted by immigrant workers in the 1970s, the 2006 immigrant workers general strike, and the necessity of organizing lasting movements for change. Adam Goodman, The Deportation Machine: America's Long History of Expelling Immigrants Princeton University Press, 2021 Adam Goodman, “Barring the Gates: A History of Political Exclusion and Family Separation in Cold War America,” Labor (2021) 18 (1): 54–66. The post Immigrants Fighting Back appeared first on KPFA.

At every step of the process in which communities are policed and punished, states, localities and other public entities benefit financially, along with their partners in the private sectors. Scholars Joe Soss and Joshua Page describe the multitude of ways in which the poorest people — not just individuals, but the communities around them — became a cash cow for extracting revenue for the state. Joshua Page and Joe Soss, Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice University of Chicago Press, 2025 The post Siphoning Revenue from the Poor appeared first on KPFA.

It's largely invisible to most of us, but without the industries and workers that drill or mine the world's raw materials, and the arteries of transport that bring petroleum and other resources across the seas, global capitalism would sputter to a halt. Scholar and writer Laleh Khalili has traveled on the system's massive container ships and describes in unflinching terms the inner workings of resource extraction. Laleh Khalili, Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy Verso, 2025 Photo credit: NOAA's National Ocean Service The post Extracting for Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

Conventional wisdom holds that the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and early 60s neglected the question of police violence, only to be remedied by the Black Panther Party and decades later by the Movement for Black Lives. But historian Joshua Clark Davis argues that that assumption is inaccurate. He also discusses the extensive involvement of local police departments, above and beyond the FBI's COINTELPRO, in disrupting and repressing the Civil Rights movement. Joshua Clark Davis, Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back Princeton University Press, 2025 The post Policing the Civil Rights Movement appeared first on KPFA.

Ancient Greece and Rome are venerated throughout our society — including on the far right. Is this a misappropriation and misuse of the ideals of Greco-Roman antiquity? Classical scholar Curtis Dozier argues that when white nationalists appeal to ancient thinkers to justify their reactionary ideas, there is surprisingly much to draw from. Curtis Dozier, The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate Yale University Press, 2026 The post Antiquity and the Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

The struggle for labor across the color line has often been credited to white activists. However, as sociologist Cedric de Leon argues, the black labor movement, independently organized outside of the official union movement, propelled such efforts. He discusses the black labor movement's divisions, including in the face of the state's attempt to destroy it. Cedric de Leon, Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity UC Press, 2025 The post The Black Labor Movement appeared first on KPFA.

The U.S. Constitution is an object of great political veneration in this country. Legal scholar Aziz Rana examines the contradictions within it, which have allowed for the authoritarianism of the Trump administration. (Encore presentation.) Aziz Rana, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them University of Chicago Press, 2024 The post Depending on the Constitution appeared first on KPFA.

As Congress considers a war powers vote, economist Mark Weisbrot places the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela in the context of a longstanding bipartisan campaign to undermine left-leaning governments across Latin America. He discusses the differing visions Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio have for the region, one focused on oil and the other on regime change, including in Cuba. Image credit: IbaKa Vector The post Venezuela, U.S. Power, and the Latin American Left appeared first on KPFA.

Modern art has always been a battleground — and the highly influential Museum of Modern Art has been partisan since its inception. Architectural historian Patricio Del Real discusses two differing political visions of modernism and modern architecture: one rooted in the left, and associated with figures such as Communist muralist Diego Rivera, and the other on the right, represented by the architect and fascist sympathizer Philip Johnson. He weighs in on the role of MoMa in promoting a view of modernism in Latin America, stripped of its radical politics and racial fusions, and radiating American power and hegemony. (Encore presentation.) Patricio del Real, Constructing Latin America: Architecture, Politics, and Race at the Museum of Modern Art Yale University Press, 2022 The post MoMa and Cultural Imperialism in Latin America appeared first on KPFA.

Extreme inequality defines our age. The world's wealthiest 0.001%, a mere 60,000 people, own three times more wealth that half of the world's population combined. And such inequality is increasing with time. Economist Rob Larson discusses the cloistered world of the very rich, their power and wealth, and their influence over all our lives. (Full-length presentation.) Rob Larson, Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More Haymarket Books, 2024 The post The Rule of the Billionaires appeared first on KPFA.

As influenza cases reach a twenty-five year high, a look at the complicated history of long lasting post-viral conditions. Medical anthropologist Emily Mendenhall considers how the medical establishment has frequently ignored chronic but often invisible illnesses like long Covid and long flu, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme disease. Emily Mendenhall, Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID UC Press, 2025 Photo by Helenn Melo on Unsplash The post The Afterlives of Viral Infection appeared first on KPFA.

As the United States seizes control of Venezuela, what lessons can be drawn from the movement against the US occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq? Historian Jeremy Varon reflects on how the anti-war movement grew into the millions in the face of jingoism and media complicity with the US state. Jeremy Varon, Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War: The Movement to Stop the War on Terror University of Chicago Press, 2025 The post Protesting Endless Wars appeared first on KPFA.

The United States spends over a $100 billion dollars more a year on the military than it did at the height of the Cold War. What does it get year upon year for that money? Since 2001, America's overseas war have led to nearly a million deaths. Ben Freeman discusses the intersection of interests that drive America's military spending, including the private contractors who receive half of the US military budget and the universities, Hollywood movies, and media funded by the Pentagon or their arms manufacturers. William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman, The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home Bold Type Books, 2025 Think Tank Funding Tracker The post The Trillion Dollar War Machine appeared first on KPFA.

Film brings to us — with unparalleled rawness — what feels like the intimate experience of war. But how true is that visceral feeling? And how do the tension and excitement of war on screen ultimately affect our sympathy toward each other and our humanity? David Thomson, one of the greatest film historians of our time, argues that movies — even those with antiwar intentions — perpetuate war. (Encore presentation.) Resources: David Thomson, The Fatal Alliance: A Century of War on Film Harper, 2023 The post War and Film appeared first on KPFA.

In the decade of the 2010s, more people took to the streets than in any other time in history. And yet those horizontal protests, often spread through social media, were frequently co-opted by the right — and the decade ended with the rise of authoritarianism. Journalist Vincent Bevins spoke to activists around the world about the lessons they drew from the failed mass revolts, and discusses how democratic movements regained power in Brazil from the despotic Jair Bolsonaro. (Encore presentation.) Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution Public Affairs, 2023 Vincent Bevins, “This Land Is Our Land: How Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement Emerged from Right-wing Rule Stronger Than Ever” The Nation, April 8, 2025 The post The Mass Revolts of the 2010s appeared first on KPFA.