Podcasts about kpfa

How did conservatives come to dominate so much of the media in the U.S.? Historian A.J. Bauer looks at the formative period between the advent and repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in which the right looked to the left to sharpen a criticism of the media — which ultimately helped give rise to a media ecosystem on the right, with its own commercial imperatives. A. J. Bauer, Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against the Press Columbia University Pres, 2026 The post The Making of a Rightwing Media System appeared first on KPFA.

For many decades, the idea has held sway that we humans should leave consequential decisions to a higher power: computers. And that assumption has become more deeply entrenched, the more powerful computers have become. How did our world come to be seen as an imaginary casino, with every decision to be stripped down to costs and benefits, risks and rewards? Computer scientist Benjamin Recht traces the development of mathematical optimization, game theory, statistical testing, and machine learning — the basis of AI — to understand how medicine, the economy, and governance have been outsourced to computing, concentrating enormous power in the hands of the few. Benjamin Recht, The Irrational Decision: How We Gave Computers the Power to Choose for Us Princeton University Press, 2026 Benjamin Recht's Blog Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash The post Deferring to Computers appeared first on KPFA.

UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. The post UpFront – June 23, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Headlines Remembering Ahmed Wishah, the Latest Palestinian Journalist Killed by Israel in Gaza Remembering Mona Khalil, Beloved Lebanese Sea Turtle Conservationist Killed in Israeli Airstrike DSA vs. Establishment: New York Primary Tests Growing Antiwar Split in Democratic Party “MAGA Inc.”: CorpWatch on Trump's World of Tech Titans, Crypto Czars & Prison Profiteers   Democracy Now! is a daily national independent award-winning news program, hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – June 23, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

The backlash against trans people, which has swept both the United States and the world in recent years, is not as new as it seems, according to historian Jules Gill-Peterson. She traces the emergence of trans misogynistic violence over the last two centuries, which she links to the establishment of colonialism, capitalism, and more recently neoliberalism. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Jules Gill-Peterson, A Short History of Trans Misogyny Verso, 2024 Photo credit: Norbu GYACHUNG The post Why Trans Misogyny? appeared first on KPFA.

Today on the show: A powerful new edition of the Electronic Intifada news cast with Nora Barrows Friedman. Our weekly collaboration with CodePink and PINK NOTES co-host, Cynthia Papermaster. Code pink announces its Campaign targeting “War Crusader” Pete Hegseth, and his War Department's $1.5 TRILLION dollar budget. An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post JUNE 18th RE-BROADCAST appeared first on KPFA.

Philip Maldari sits in for Brian Edwards-Tiekert. Philip speaks with John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, about Russia's war in Ukraine. Then, Khury Petersen-Smith, Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow and co-director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, joins the program to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East.   UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. The post UpFront – June 22, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Africa Today replays one of Malcolm X's final public speeches, delivered in Detroit on February 14, 1965, just days before his assassination. Speaking the day after his home was bombed, Malcolm reflects on racism, liberation, and the future of Black struggle in America.   A weekly news program providing information and analysis about Africa and the African Diaspora, hosted by Walter Turner.   Photo: Marion S. Trikosko, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The post Africa Today – Malcolm X's Last Public Addresses appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Headlines “Document of Capitulation”: Spencer Ackerman & Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi on the U.S.-Iran Deal U.K. Political Crisis: PM Keir Starmer Resigns & Palestine Action “Terrorism” Sentencing of “Elbit 4” “Criminal Approach to Politics”: Trump Ally Abelardo de la Espriella Wins Colombian Presidency Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – June 22, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

My guest today is Linda Quiquivix (ki-ki-vish) a California-based geographer of Maya roots and author and illustrator of Palestine 1492: A Report Back, a political memoir and geography lesson, that places 500 years of struggles side by side with Palestine, from below and toward the common. As Quiquivix write, the book is “a report back of what I see from 500 years of struggle in words, maps, and images in the 7 cardinal directions and in the spiral that is time. Throughout, I share conclusions of what Palestinians, Zapatistas, Panthers, and Jaguars have taught me along this journey….” I devoured the book in a few sittings. As you listen to QuiQui talk about her book and more, you will get why. This program was first broadcast on Women's Magazine 25 November 2025 The post Palestine 1492 A Report Back appeared first on KPFA.

This week on CounterSpin: The way we hear about the stock market is quite different from the vision many people still hold: that businesses strive to serve people's real needs or desires, and investors are rewarded by that metric—not by convincing people that they might make a lot of money in the future, or by conspiring with powerful entities to ensure that shareholders profit, by whatever means. This longstanding confusion and conflict are being showcased right now in the unasked-for push of artificial intelligence into so many aspects of our lives, and the aggressive build-out of energy-gobbling data centers to serve it—whether communities want them or not. Now, questions are arising around whether the promises of endless growth of the AI industry actually make any sense. Is there an AI bubble? How would we know? And what happens, and to whom, when it bursts? A new project engages questions, not just about price-to-earnings ratios, and historical comparisons, but about the predictable impacts—on, for example, workers' retirement accounts—when the AI exuberance falls to earth. Dean Baker is co-founder and senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the force behind their new project, called the AI Bubble Monitor. He joins us this week on CounterSpin. Plus Janine Jackson takes a very quick look at some recent press coverage of the 2026 congressional primaries.   CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the each week's major news stories, and exposes what the mainstream media may have missed in their own coverage. Produced by the national media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting). The post CounterSpin – Dean Baker on the AI Bubble appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – June 21, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

David Sedaris, author of the new essay collection, “The Land and Its People,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Originally known for his commentaries on “This American Life” on NPR, David Sedaris has now written 14 books, all of which have become best-sellers, including the early “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and later “Calypso,” “Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls,” and collections of his diaries. He has a home in North Carolina, and lives in England. In this wide-ranging interview he discusses a wide variety of topics, including his relationship with his family, how he puts together an essay, his views on small talk and finding connections, and how growing old has affected his writing. Recorded June 9, 2026 at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera. California. Photo by Richard Wolinsky. The post David Sedaris, New Collection of Essays “The Land and Its People,” 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – June 20, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Deranged “edits” segue into a cascade of echoing glossolaliac madness, the voicing of lyric ruminations from the free-falling brains of disintegrating personalities. The post Puzzling Evidence – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Themed mixes are made live and spontaneously on the air, consisting of found sound of many kinds and from many sources, old and new, put together on the run as the continuous audio collage continues. The post Over the Edge – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

First up, cohost Mickey Huff sits down with media analyst Nolan Higdon to dig into big techs hold on higher ed – namely their aims to surveil, extract and breach. Nolan digs into a recent hacking scandal, how big tech aligns with the likes of Epstein and a dark history of eugenics, big tech propaganda and authentic resistance. Next up, Dr. Austin Kocher comes back on the program to dig into some recent news that didn't make the news vis a vis immigration, from overcrowding court hearings to expedite deportation to handpicking so-called deportation judges, the cruelty is the point. But there are some glimmers in this world full of triggers, and as always a lot of it has to do with communities fighting back.   Nolan Higdon is a political analyst, author, host of The Disinfo Detox Podcast, lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz, and Project Censored National Judge. Higdon's areas of concentration include critical AI literacy, podcasting, digital culture, news media history & propaganda, and critical media literacy. Dr. Austin Kocher is a political and legal geographer studying the theories, laws, and institutional practices behind immigration enforcement. His research focuses on the political and legal geography of immigration enforcement, examining topics such as mass immigrant surveillance, the digitization of asylum processes, and the impacts of immigration policies on vulnerable populations. He is Assistant Research Professor in the Office of Research and Creative Activity in the S.I. Newhouse of Public Communication at Syracuse University, affiliated faculty member with the Department of Geography at the Maxwell School, and an affiliated expert at the Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship. Kocher is also a Research Fellow at American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies and the Immigration Lab.   The News That Didn't Make the News. Each week, co-hosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield conduct in depth interviews with their guests and offer hard hitting commentary on the key political, social, and economic issues of the day with an emphasis on critical media literacy. The post Project Censored – Big Tech vs. Intelligence / Latest Immigration News appeared first on KPFA.

An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post Flashpoints – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

[0:08]  Robin D. G. Kelley. Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA. He is the author of seven books, including Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. [rebroadcast]. The post Robin DG Kelley on Freedom Dreams [rebroadcast] appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.   Barber Wissam Srour, 41, holds his daughter's bicycle recovered from his barbershop as he searches for belongings in the rubble of the shop, damaged in an Israeli strike, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)   Talks between Iran and the US scrapped following an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel; California policymakers briefed on conditions of state's roads and highways; San Francisco residents protest city budget and make their own proposals; This Juneteenth, we go back Tulsa, Oklahoma, remember the past, and celebrate resilience. The post US Iran Talks on Hold; Juneteenth in Tulsa – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Covering the movements, issues and people fighting for some of the most important social justice issues of our time. Hosted by Amy Gastelum, Salima Hamirani, Anita Jonhson, and Lucy Kang. Sign up for program alerts and sneak peeks from Making Contact at: http://ow.ly/1FkV30aq1z2 The post Making Contact – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Juneteenth Special: Historian Clint Smith on Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America Rhiannon Giddens on Pulitzer-Winning Opera “Omar” About Enslaved Muslim Scholar Omar ibn Said “Another Wasted Life”: Rhiannon Giddens on How Death of Kalief Browder Inspired Her Song Democracy Now! is a daily national independent award-winning news program, hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Bayview Hunters Point Naval Shipyard – May 2010 – Take notice of how close the homes are. Wikicommons – Edward Betts On today's show, San Francisco Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard is still a superfund site and still poisoning the residents.  We'll start the hour with Arieann Harrison and Malik Washington of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation and Bradley Angel of Green Action for Health and Environmental Justice.  Then the exhaustive, bombshell reporting by investigative journalist Greg Schwartz.  His latest piece in Counterpunch is entitled, “The Gaslighting of San Francisco at the Hunters Point Shipyard”. Click Here:  June 24, 2026 Call to Action for Bayview Hunters Point The post Bayview Hunters Point Superfund Site appeared first on KPFA.

A how-to and what-to-do program where skilled hosts welcome guests and callers to practice empathy, mindfulness, and effective communication. Do you want tools for connection, conflict resolution, and compassion for self and others? We explore skills, knowledge and resources to empower you to connect across differences. The post Talk-It-Out Radio – June 19, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Honoring Abdullah Ibrahim, South African jazz musician, welcoming his friend, ally Deborah Felmeth to guide us into the enormity of his great soul, his influential dedication, practice, that he may resonate in us all, with Music –  Africa – tears and laughter – Ishmael,  & “Mandenberg,” that he played at Nelson Mandela's Inauguration, and was played at Zohran Mamdani's Inauguration… CoyoteNetworkNews.com · Events, Councils, & More Visionary Activist on Patreon The post Honoring Abdullah Ibrahim appeared first on KPFA.

Stuart Schrader, author of Blue Power, on how the political heft of cops allows them to get away with murder • Angela Jones, author of Sex in Public, on how the social and political shape our sexual lives (and vice versa)     The post Cop power, sex and the social appeared first on KPFA.

Today on the show: A powerful new edition of the Electronic Intifada news cast with Nora Barrows Friedman. Our weekly collaboration with CodePink and PINK NOTES co-host, Cynthia Papermaster. Code pink announces its Campaign targeting “War Crusader” Pete Hegseth, and his War Department's $1.5 TRILLION dollar budget. An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post A Powerful New Edition of the Electronic Intifada News Cast with Nora Barrows Friedman appeared first on KPFA.

00:08 Walter Riley, longtime civil rights attorney, fixture of struggles for justice in the Bay Area, subject of the new book cao-authored byJesse Strauss: Civil Rights and Structural Attacks: Conversations with Walter Riley The post Walter Riley on Walter Riley appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.   Former President Barack Obama speaks during the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)   The Strait of Hormuz reopens as the US and Iran begin implementation of a new ceasefire, but critics question what the war achieved; Former President Barack Obama hosts a star-studded ceremony ahead of opening weekend for his Presidential Center in Chicago; Consumer Watchdog group says California is failing to address price gouging at the pump as refinery profits soar. The post Iran Peace Deal Details Revealed; Obama Presidential Center Opening Ceremony – June 18, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Headlines Trump's War on Iran Ends with a “Triumphant” Tehran and a Diminished U.S.: Vali Nasr G7 Summit Highlights Global Economic System “Captured” by Billionaires: Oxfam DOJ Takes Elon Musk's Side in NAACP Lawsuit Against xAI for Polluting Black Neighborhoods “Shoot the People”: Meet Misan Harriman, Celebrated Photographer & Outspoken Advocate for Palestine   Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – June 18, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight on Apex Express, Host Miko Lee talk story with singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen.  Hear about her new album Fossil,  her short documentary, and about her artistic inspirations. Thao's tour starts this week in North Carolina, so listen in to hear from the brilliant Thao, and then check out her website to catch a live show.   SHOW TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Opening: Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   [00:00:35] Miko Lee: Tonight on Apex Express, we talk story with singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen. Join me, your host, Miko Lee, as I talk with this multi-hyphenated artist. We get to hear about her new album, chat about her short documentary, and hear about her artistic inspirations. Thao's tour starts this week in North Carolina, so listen in to hear from the brilliant Thao, and then check out her website to catch a live show.   [00:01:05] Ayame Keane-Lee: In today's show, you'll be listening to some songs from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down's 2020 album, Temple. First off, let's listen to “Pure Cinema.”   MUSIC     [00:05:44] That was “Pure Cinema” by today's guest, Thao Nguyen. Let's get to the interview.   [00:05:50] Miko Lee: Welcome  Thao Nguyen to Apex Express.    [00:05:54] Thao Nguyen: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.    [00:05:57] Miko Lee: I love talking with creative people and you're such an amazingly talented singer and songwriter and imagination creator. I'm wanna start with the first question I ask all of my guests, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   [00:06:16] Thao Nguyen: Who are my people? Some of them include the family I was born into. I'm from Virginia. I was born and raised in Virginia. but I'm the daughter of Vietnamese refugees of war. And, I moved out to the Bay in 2006 after my first US tour. And, I'm so fortunate to have such a robust community here in the bay and all of my chosen family here.   [00:06:40] Miko Lee: And what legacy do you carry with you?    [00:06:43] Thao Nguyen: What legacy? I think the legacy I prioritize. I think, you know, [laughs] we inherit a lot and as time goes on and we get older, we realize everything is finite and you have to choose which legacies you choose to continue, and perpetuate and honor and what you have to leave by the wayside. And so the things I choose to continue and celebrate are that of a real ability to be very present and in the moment and available to joy and I think the people I come from are really good at metabolizing joy because they know the flip side of it so well.    [00:07:23] Miko Lee: Ooh, that's so interesting. Can you speak more about what it means to metabolize joy?    [00:07:30] Thao Nguyen: [Laughs] uh, an ongoing practice? I think it is to be truly present and I believe, of course gratitude goes a long way, but I to fully metabolize it is to allow yourself to feel embodied in it. And, you know, there's more somatic practice I think that to actually feel it course through your body, you are allowing it, you're honoring it as completely as possible. And, do you have to acknowledge that it's happening as it's happening? You know, I think that's having true presence with it.   [00:08:08] Miko Lee: Can you roll back with me in time and talk about your earliest childhood memories of being a singer or songwriting? What came first?    [00:08:18] Thao Nguyen: I loved music from a very early age, but I didn't have a lot of access to it, to making it, it was more as a listener. The soundscape that I grew up with, there was a series called Paris by Night, which probably you've heard of within Vietnamese diaspora, uh, community and Culture. And it was this variety show that was, created by, people who had to flee Vietnam. And originally it was in Paris and it showcased A lot of singers and performers, who had fled, either before, during, or right after the fall of Saigon. And, it was this one gathering wherein. entertainers from the different generations, from my grandmother's generation, from my parents were able to coalesce and exist together. And there was just this sampler platter of a lot of different sonic influences. And then you had the younger generation, which was reinterpreting what American pop music was at the time. So you'd have my grandmother who [sang] cải lương which was this incredibly, it's like, almost like folk operatic, very dramatic, theatrical singing with a lot of pitch bending and, which I didn't understand that I was absorbing it in such a way that I would recreate it later on in my playing, but I would go on to credit it to being from Virginia and saying it was more of like an Appalachian influence, which it was as well. But the origins, the true origins were within my soundscape before I understood what that was. You know, so you have that and then you have, an artist named Lynette who's. basically in reinterpreting, like the latest Madonna song and has a cone bra on, so everyone's existing act after act in the same, um, sorry for that ramble. Did I answer that question?    [00:10:13] Miko Lee: Yeah. Uh, I, so what was, do you remember the age or you just grew up hearing all these different kinds of sounds?    [00:10:20] Thao Nguyen: I mean, that was from before I knew what age I was, you know, that was just like, and that was such, um. For the community and within my family it was such an event every time one of these, you know, double VHS things were issued that people would be making copies, someone would drop it off at the house. You know, there, there was always one or two in circulation, but it was this. Event that you'd,    [00:10:43] Miko Lee: are these like bootleg copies?    [00:10:45] Thao Nguyen: Yeah, there's like, wow, there's bootleg. There's also, there was one book in music store in Eden Shopping Center, which was like the hub of, of the Vietnamese community in, in, uh, Northern Virginia. And so someone would buy the original and then go and bootleg it. You don't know how you ended up with what, but just like they would drop off some citrus and and Hennessy or whatever, and then the Paris By Night thing. And um,    [00:11:11] Miko Lee: I love that the combo citrus, Hennessy and some music.   [00:11:16] Thao Nguyen: Everything is a digestif, you know? And, um, so I would have that. But then of course, I, you know, I, I listened to the radio. That was what, that was my main resource and I listened to the oldie station the most, and I loved Motown. And I remember, in this I was like five or six, we had these large speakers that's sat on the floor either side of, of this cassette deck, radio unit. And I would lay down and, every time Smokey Robinson came on, “You really got a hold of me” that was like my favorite song and I would tape it and then so either I would listen to it live or I would play the cassette and I would just lay down and get as close to the speakers as I could. But at that point, I hadn't seen who Smokey Robinson was, and I imagined, because I also am a child of eighties and nineties. I imagined it was Crystal who was Roseanne's best friend from the Roseanne show. You know, I didn't know anything, but I felt all of it.    [00:12:20] Miko Lee: Wow. Yeah. I love that. So, I love that. And I was really wondering, I heard this story about you, that you actually did a rap for on Charlotte's Web when you were in elementary school.   [00:12:33] Thao Nguyen: Okay. Okay. This is a deep cut. You've done some research.    [00:12:39] Miko Lee: Tell me about how that came to be. So you must have been introduced to rap pretty young to be doing that.    [00:12:44] Thao Nguyen: Oh, absolutely. This, so this was another, and this, I'm so glad you brought that up, because all of this is, every genre, every kind of music I, at this point is so vital to me, and it actually goes on to reflect the kind of music I make. And so I have an older brother who's almost eight years older, and around this same time, he's a huge hip hop fan, or that's one of the things he loves, he loves like Duran Duran and like the Fat Boys, you know? And , when I saved money, the first cassette I ever bought was Salt-n-Pepa. And I, yeah, so I was listento the Fat Boys and Queen Latifah. And I loved, I loved every, I loved to hear the flow, the different cadences and in third grade I was voted best rapper. This, and, you know, not coincidentally. This is the year I, I do the book report, the Charlotte's Web, you know, and they gave me the option. You can either write it or you can write a song or whatever. And so I wrote a rap about Charlotte's Web, but I was too shy. I had recorded it and just played it in my presentation. I didn't perform it live.    [00:13:51] Miko Lee: And how was it received?    [00:13:54] Thao Nguyen: I mean, I can still hear the roar. yeah, everyone, [laughs] I think the teachers    [00:14:01] Miko Lee: The crowd roared. The third graders roared.    [00:14:03] Thao Nguyen: Yeah. I mean, everyone's standing on their desks. It's rickety, you know, teachers are worried about child safety, it doesn't matter. They're like, Encore. I'm like, I don't have anything else. Uh, you know, uh,   [00:14:15] Miko Lee: Wait for real?   [00:14:17] Thao Nguyen: No, no. [laughs] the teachers thought it was cute. Probably the kids thought it was funny. I actually don't know because I was so nervous I even pressing play. I was so nervous. I don't know if I registered what, how it was received.    [00:14:34] Miko Lee: That's so sweet. Given your eclectic music knowledge and the music that was around you at the time as a musician, now you've been described with so many different categories, country tinge, indie folk, pop, blues. How would you describe your music?  [00:14:54] Thao Nguyen: I would describe it as. What's embarrassing is I've been doing this a long time now and I've never figured out a way to describe it. I would, I, I generally just say it's, you know, it's under the umbrella of indie rock, but influenced by jazz and hip hop. And because I learned to play guitar by picking out country blues songs. And because I grew up in Virginia, there, there are these, like old time, Country blues picking patterns that I've used. I, you know, it's, yeah. So that, I've never figured out a way to say it succinctly and I continue    [00:15:29] Miko Lee: and you don't need to. That's okay.    [00:15:31] Thao Nguyen: Thank you.    [00:15:31] Miko Lee: Is there a big Vietnamese population in Virginia?    [00:15:35] Thao Nguyen: Yeah, I, I think there is a very healthy population there. And it was one of the first places that people were settling when they were being resettled. And my parents met, in a refugee camp in Guam. And then they were sent to Arkansas. And then from there sponsored out to North Carolina. And then from there of a few friends that they had made, had found work with Metro, which is the public transportation train system in DC and found my dad work there. So that's why people resettle, that's why we ended up in Virginia.    [00:16:16] Miko Lee: So Thao & The Get Down Stay Down you released five studio albums and now you're working primarily as a solo artist. Right?    [00:16:25] Thao Nguyen: Yes. Yeah. I will say I still work record and perform with a band. And a lot of the people who worked and performed with me in that iteration are still with me. it was more I wanted to, just use my name and move beyond what the get down stay down was, which I was never really sure. With things that you choose when you're 22. As time goes, you know, it starts to, and you're lucky if you can kind of shed things and not, not stay beholden too much.   [00:16:57] Miko Lee: Ah, what have you learned to shed?   [00:17:02] Thao Nguyen: Oh my gosh. Thankfully a great deal and it's an ongoing exercise, but. I used to be so much heavier with the weight of what I thought a serious artist was what I thought a serious songwriter should be, who I thought, where I thought my, you know, different benchmarks of what success were. What I should be making versus what people wanted to hear versus what I wanted to hear. I actually never I wasn't always all the way sure about what I wanted. You know, I, I think a lot of people encounter that, but I've thankfully been able to shed as much as I can. It's an ongoing practice, but I, you know, one thing it. Is that I used to think, I can't believe I've been doing this this long. And it's, not necessarily, I didn't understand what I was working towards, but only that I had not gotten there yet. And then, you know, I think pandemic and on, I've been just so and as I get older, the transition into being so sincerely grateful that I'm still here and I get to do this. this is what my job is, and however I can, and whatever I can do to sustain, being able to, to do this for my livelihood and maintain my integrity within it is the greatest gift. So as when I made that switch a a lot of things, a lot of the darkness left me.    [00:18:39] Miko Lee: Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing.   [00:18:42] Ayame Keane-Lee: Next, let's listen to Temple, the first track off of Thao's album of the same name.   MUSIC   [00:22:56] That was Temple by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. Back to her interview with Miko.   [00:23:01] Miko Lee: I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the 2017 documentary Nobody Dies, a film about a musician, her mom in Vietnam. How did that, and that's a documentary that follows you and your mom as you go to Vietnam. I'm wondering how that project came about.  [00:23:17] Thao Nguyen: Yes, I'm happy to tell you about it. in 2015 I was invited by concert promoters in conjunction with the US Embassy based in Hanoi, to come perform for the, I guess at that point it was the 25th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam, and I was able to bring my band and I was able to bring my mom, and she hadn't been back in 43 years, and she used to work for the South Vietnamese embassy and was stationed in Lao, when Saigon fell. So she actually left Vietnam in 73, assuming she would go back after her time abroad and then was never able to return. So I was able to bring her, the struggle was would she actually come, you know, and we had, I had, a bear of the time initially convincing her it would be okay. And, it was like, just begging her to come. She's like freaking out. She hangs up on me. I call back. She hangs up. You know, it was a back and forth that I'm trying to convince her of things that I'm not sure of where she's like, I'm still on a list. I'm like, no, you're not. But I don't know that, you know who, how would I know that? But I told her she wasn't on the list. Anyway, my, a friend of mine who's a filmmaker, as this all was happening, he asked if he could come along and document all of it. And he and, his DP traveled with us and it was an incredibly intense trip, and it was beautiful and I am so glad it was documented. And then somewhere along the way I had a performance and, this was all in editing. And then I ran into Don Young at CAAM Center for Asian American Media. Oh, I know what it was. It was something for Sundance and Don Young and I were just in the same shuttle going to the airport and we were talking and I told him a little bit about this and then I sent him some footage and you know, and then CAAM and PBS were gracious enough to co-produce and, Make it so it could be, you know, a a half hour documentary that aired on PBS. Um,    [00:25:21] Miko Lee: so that that was on a bus ride.    [00:25:23] Thao Nguyen: That was on an airport shuttle.    [00:25:25] Miko Lee: Airport shuttle. I love it.    [00:25:26] Thao Nguyen: Yeah [laughs].    [00:25:28] Miko Lee: So was it hard to convince your mom, I know it was hard to convince her to go to Vietnam. Was it hard to convince her also then to be on film? What was her response to that?    [00:25:37] Thao Nguyen: Well, luckily for all of us, my mom loves to be on film and is, um, a total flirt and ham and. Oh,    [00:25:48] Miko Lee: so that was a bonus. That was like a,    [00:25:49] Thao Nguyen: that was a bonus. The camera loves her. As did the film director, my friend Todd, she loved it. And she just, she comes alive and she's a true performer. And, it was really beautiful to see her in this element that I, I didn't know if I'd ever, I actually. Never thought I'd get to see her this way. You know, I grew up, both my brother and I grew up translating for her, it is sort of at every, at every level. And, we'd go out to restaurants and it's not that she, you know, it's like she would get shy and then it would just easier, it always just became easier if we just did it for her. But, so we'd order for restaurants and, and to see her. not to say that she doesn't I mean, she was a small business owner. She owned a laundromat, dry cleaners in Virginia and totally is the reason why everybody is alive, you know? But, to see her move so seamlessly and easily, I'm sorry, it's emotional in the world was this, such a gift I didn't know I'd get. And, You see her haggling with people, you know, and, and she's directing as she's pointing out. Yeah. It was just a really, no matter how long someone has been away from the place they were born, you know, to see them back there is, um, it was, yeah, it was just such a beautiful gift and I'm glad we have it on film.   [00:27:17] Miko Lee: Did you discuss that with your mom? How different that was for you to see her in a different way?    [00:27:22] Thao Nguyen: You know, not, not, um, not directly. I've written about it, but I've not, we don't have the kind of, Yeah. That, that's never come up in those ways. You know, we talk a lot. I basically, I try to call her at least, uh, almost every day, just 'cause she lives across the country. So I wanna just be sure that, you know, I'm just doing these like, casual wellness checks, but we don't often get into those more philosophical conversations. Um, but she did, you know, the, the song Temple, Which would become the lead single of the album Temple was, inspired by this moment of candor that I had never experienced before and I would never experience again. It happened one night when we were in Vietnam and she just said outta nowhere. You have to understand what freedom is and you have to understand why a million people would risk their lives at sea, and I can't. I can't teach you that. I can't help you with it. You have to know for yourself. And that's what became, the song Temple where wherein she's speaking to me about her life before, during, and after war.   [00:28:35] Miko Lee: That's so powerful. Thank you for sharing. I, I appreciate that about your music, the personal, visions and dreams and pain that you experience putting that in. Is there another song of yours that really stands out to you?    [00:28:51] Thao Nguyen: Another one. Aside from that?    [00:28:53] Miko Lee: Aside from that.    [00:28:54] Thao Nguyen: There's. You know, yes, there's a, there's definitely a few from this new album that is, that I just finished and it's releasing in September. From that same album Temple there's, the song Marrow. there's a few. That album is as much, it was, it was this, I just had this, I knew that I had to make it both about, what my Vietnamese identity is and what it is to be queer in Vietnamese and stay in the culture, which is not something that I thought I could do. So yeah, I would say both Temple and Marrow encapsulate, this effort to fully align myself in ways that I hadn't been able to.    [00:29:40] Miko Lee: And what is Marrow about?    [00:29:42] Thao Nguyen: Marrow is about what it means to fully accept yourself so that you could offer yourself to the rest of your life. You know, it's, it's like.   [00:29:54] Miko Lee: That's all.   [00:29:56] Thao Nguyen: That's all. And it's, and it was against the backdrop of getting married. but it was more about me coming to terms with not even coming to terms, like even that language is so, disparaging. It's, it was just about claiming myself and saying to my family, I need to be, you know, I, I need to be my full self and I believe I can be with you still. But you know, the lines are, It's so funny. I sing it all the time and I can't do that. The line I'm thinking of in particular is, at that point I'm apologizing to my partner at the time and saying, you know, I am basically, I couldn't claim us because of this barrier, but I'm sorry to you and I'm sorry to me, and the, you know. I have grief in my marrow. Will you marry me still? So is it, that's a roundabout way of explaining what that, what that song is.   [00:30:54] MUSIC    [00:34:24] Ayame Keane-Lee: You just listened to “Marrow” by tonight's guest, Thao Nguyen.    [00:34:28] Miko Lee: You talk about Temple and how that was based on this trip you took in 2015, right? 2016. How long does it generally take you for a song to germinate?    [00:34:41] Thao Nguyen: You know, that one, um, that's, that is an example of a, a longer, uh, gestation period because it was such an intense, because Vietnam was such an intense time. Uh, it was months, maybe it was two years before I could even think about it, honestly. And there are other things that happen. I wish things happened more instantaneously. It's very rare that a whole song will just present itself. You know, temple, that song in particular, when I started writing it, it took maybe two hours, but it took me two years to get to the point where I could    [00:35:20] Miko Lee: And it just came to you in two hours?   [00:35:22] Thao Nguyen: Yeah. It just came, just the vision. All those, the imagery, everything that I'd wanted to say. It just, I understood how. To present it. And I think I had tried in other forms over that time, but it just wasn't ready. Other songs, um, yeah, anywhere from it's, it's like the chorus or a hook or a verse will come very quickly, and then the time, the more arduous stuff is building around it to make sure that it, it, you know, it's properly bolstered. Like I, if I believe in a hook, then I'll, I'll try to build the house around it.    [00:36:02] Miko Lee: And how, what do you do? Do you just record it straight up right when you get the hook, like on a small device or what's your process?    [00:36:09] Thao Nguyen: It um, typically I'm playing an instrument, either guitar or piano or I've written, you know, sometimes I get bored, I write on other instruments, but primarily it's guitar, piano, and, um. It'll be the melodic hook only on the instrument, and then I'll put words. But yeah, it's, I, I just use voice memos and then as I'm building it, then I'll move into pro tools and, and, and record a more proper demo.    [00:36:40] Miko Lee: And do you have a set working process or you just vibe it whenever you're feeling it? And I ask because I always ask this of artists. Because I think it's so interesting, what is the discipline it takes for your art form? And I remember I interviewed Isabel Allende years ago and she said, yes, I make myself go in my studio at 8:00 AM every day. And even if I can't write, I sit there from this time to this time. So what, what is your process like? Or do you have a set process?    [00:37:05] Thao Nguyen: Yes. Absolutely. And it's taken me so many years to figure out what my set process is and to have the discipline to really, really, um, I do believe it is a daily practice and it is a daily discipline and I'm so afraid of what happens when I slip out of it because I know what happens. I've tumbled into this very dark, deep well of despair and I don't know. You, you start to question what your whole purpose is. It gets bad very quickly, right? So I'm always trying to stay on the side of not completely sliding down. Not to say it isn't very joyful and I mean this a very lucky position to be in. One of the things that's been going on for the last few years is I have multiple projects going on at once and I do have to figure out, I had an, um, the album is just finished thankfully, but I am developing a musical and I'm also writing a book. And so I have to figure out, I divvy out the days. I would like to say that I can work on all three in one day, not possible. So I have to choose, um. And it's always, the morning time is the best for generating something from nothing. And then I try not to edit or revise or question it until that afternoon or later. Actually, you don't question it within that same day. Like the main, I think the main priority for me is maintaining momentum and optimism. So I need to do whatever it is to thwart whatever part of me is trying to take it down. Um, so I'll work in the morning for a few hours and then leave it, you know, and as writers say, leave it no matter if it's songwriting or whatever, like leave it at a place where you, when you start again, you feel good about it and you know what the next step is.   [00:39:08] Miko Lee: Do you have a set time? It's like just the morning from this time to this time. And then do you say musical today? Book today. Album today. How do you do that?    [00:39:17] Thao Nguyen: Well, it depends on the deadlines.    [00:39:21] Miko Lee: Of course.    [00:39:22] Thao Nguyen: I, yeah, I, I work to the deadline. 'cause there's always, thankfully, there's always at least one happening and yeah, I. I love this by the way, because I actually, when I'm stuck, I just look up different routines for writers and artists. It's like my favorite thing to do. So I love to participate in this conversation. Um, but I wake up, I meditate, I try to do a little stretching, and then I do a walk. It depends on where I'm working. Okay? Here's the thing. If I'm working on music, I have to work at home. If I can write, then I'm gonna go to a coffee shop or the library or my friends just opened up local economy, uh, that, that, so I've been going there and because writing is so lonely and miserable that I cannot be in the house, I, I, there's no way I have to be in public. Um, and just at least feeling the energy of other life    [00:40:18] Miko Lee: With songwriting also?    [00:40:19] Thao Nguyen: With songwriting, I have to be home 'cause I'm making all this noise. So what? Yeah, with songwriting I'll be at home, but that's way less miserable 'cause I can just play guitar or piano or something and then, or I'll be in studio with my friends that I'm making the album with. Um, now that I've finished the album and I'm moving and I'm more squarely in the book writing, um, I try to do two hours. You know, not, not solid. I will try, like, for a while, um, I was doing the timer with the, you know, 25 minutes at a time. And then that wasn't, I wasn't getting enough done and then, yeah, and then more than two hours. I, I just can't, it's not sustainable. Um, for me, I feel like I get a solid hour to two. Or maybe you hit like a two page, two or three page, um, quota or something, and then just don't even look at it and then go, and then I go exercise and I need to be outside and, or go on a hike or something.    [00:41:34] Miko Lee: Okay. Tell us about this book. What is it about, what's the timeline? No pressure.    [00:41:41] Thao Nguyen: I would love to tell you what it was about, if I knew better. Um, what it was. It's, it's a collection of essays and I'm calling it, so it's, it's, uh, it'll be out on Gray Wolf, um, into, in spring of 27. And so it is due relatively soon 'cause they, it's a longer lead time. I'm calling it a community memoir, um, because it's a collection of essays from different, it's all through my lens, but it's to celebrate these characters that I grew up with in Foster Virginia, within my family, within the community that I, they're so vivid to me and. Their stories. The quieter sides, the quieter moments of what it means to live in diaspora or what I wanna capture. And also what, you know, part of it is what shaped my musical life. And, and there are all these influences and elements that I, that I just wanted to celebrate and honor and. These people that I remember, but I, I'm, we're all, you know, I'm, I'm turning 42. I'm like, I, we're close to lo I'm close to losing the Hi-Fi detail of them, you know, and, and I don't know who else, is in a position to capture it. You know, and, and also it's this amazing opportunity to talk to my mom's, brothers and sisters. You know, there are tales. There's, of course, you grow up with, I think it's really different to, I was raised, you know, in Virginia by my, primarily by my mom. My grandmother and my aunt didn't come till I was five, but the stories that I heard. Mostly were from my mom who fled in, who left in 73, and her experience is so different than my grandmother, my aunt, all of my mom's siblings who stayed, who had to stay through the fall and, and live in a different regime, you know?    And so to get to hear those stories of just like the more quotidian indignities of what is life after you've lost your. To them they've lost their country, but they're still in it. You know, like, what is it to, with what were the rice rations like? Yeah. So, 50 years on what stays with people, you know, against the backdrop of the most devastating thing that can happen is that like the rice was so broken and it was so rationed and the quality of it was so infuriating and that they and my uncle talks about just for the 50th anniversary, I went back, I had an event, um, I think at the Smithsonian, and I went and I was staying with my uncle, and so I was able to ask them questions and he remembers buying meat on the black market. But you, you'd go to this market, you'd make eye contact with the person. They, you follow them to a behind the stall. They give you this meat wrapped in newspaper. You don't even know what it is. You don't, you can't unwrap it till you get home, you know? Anyway, those are the things that I, I just am so fascinated by, and I, there's just this kind of humanity and life in them that I wanna help. Um, record and if nothing else, just so that I know that it gives me an opportunity to ask these questions. Um, there's stuff about, you know, I'm estranged from my father and I have a lot there, there are things that I, you know, it just, these essays are helping me, better understand and, and process. these open-ended. storylines that, that, have punctuated and haunted me.    [00:45:38] Miko Lee: And this is your first book, right?    [00:45:40] Thao Nguyen: It is, yes.    [00:45:42] Miko Lee: What made you decide to do a book format and also essays, I heard you say? Mm-hmm. Um, as opposed to another album or a series of songs.    [00:45:52] Thao Nguyen: Um, I've always wanted to be a writer. Bef I wanted to be a writer before I was a songwriter, before I wanted to do anything. And I think it scares me the most in my life. And, and it was time to, you know, the opportunity came up, um, very fortunately to get to write a book for Gray Wolf, which of which I'm a huge fan, you know, and, uh, it's a true honor to be affiliated with them. And. Uh, I wanted to do it because it's a lifelong goal and dream, that actually is way scarier to me than making music and performing music. So I, I kind of just needed to see that I, I needed to try.    [00:46:38] Miko Lee: And why an essay format?    [00:46:40] Thao Nguyen: Um, I think that's what naturally. For this, for the first go, it, it, it is what naturally I'm drawn to and what happens most easily. Uh, and I think they're similar to songs in that way. And I, I am very much as a writer, as a songwriter or any or prose writer, I want to try and just capture the, a moment and a feeling and I. Um, that's my main prerogative and my main compulsion when I write. And so for this first go, I'm hoping that there will be more, but this, yeah. Is, is just the, the easiest way to package it.    [00:47:28] Miko Lee: I'm absolutely looking forward to reading it. Now share about a musical. Tell me more    [00:47:34] Thao Nguyen: Musical. I don't know how much I can say besides, uh, it's not been announced yet, but I do, I have been in, I do spend a lot of time in New York, um, and it's an adaptation. Um, I. I shouldn't have. I, I just wanted to mention that it was happening, but I know now that I sh I can't actually say.    [00:47:56] Miko Lee: Okay. That's okay. It's secret, So how can our audiences find out more about you and your work? We'll put a link to your website absolutely. On their webs, on our, program page. But are there other ways that folks can find out more and keep up to date with what you're doing?   [00:48:11] Thao Nguyen: For sure there's, um, well, all the social media, um, outlets were on there @thaogetstaydown. And um, I have a substack called THAO For The Record, which actually was just me sort of documenting my process of making this next record. Um, but that is my preferred way to be in touch in a more long form, um, less harried way. And the new album is coming out in mid to late September. And so I'm really excited about that. And we're, we are gearing up for more touring, starting the summertime.    [00:48:54] Miko Lee: Excellent. Can't wait to listen to you more and hear the new, piece. And thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express.    [00:49:02] Thao Nguyen: Thank you so much for having me. It was such a joy to speak with you.   [00:49:05] Ayame Keane-Lee: The last song we're playing tonight is also the last on the album Temple. It's called “I've Got Something.”   MUSIC [00:53:51] That was “I've Got Something” by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. [00:53:55] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for listening tonight. Remember to reconnect to your ancestral technologies and hold in the power of tenderness. Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our guests tonight. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by me Miko Lee, and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night.            The post APEX Express – 6.18.26 Talk Story with Thao Nguyen appeared first on KPFA.

The rise and fall of unemployment, our dependence on the market for our livelihoods — such things are taken as a given. But economist Clara Mattei suggests we need to recognize them as being fundamentally political phenomena, not the product of natural laws outside of our control. She argues that a reconsideration of our capitalist economy is long overdue. Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention Simon & Schuster, 2026 Forum for Real Economic Emancipation Photo by Julio Lopez on Unsplash The post Rethinking Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

Today on the show: Farmworker Communities Call for Pesticide Protections for California School Children and Urge growers to stop the use of highly hazardous pesticides near public schools in California. Richard Silverstein on Israel, as Netanyahu's grand plan to topple the Islamic Republic and replace it with a defanged dictator has failed miserably. And an update on US destabilization/starvation policy in Cuba proceeds apace. Gloria La Riva reports from the International Action Center. An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post Farmworker Communities Call for Pesticide Protections for California School Children appeared first on KPFA.

On this episode, we are joined by Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis civil rights attorney, founder of the Racial Justice Network, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP. Later in the hour we speak with Assemblymember Alex Lee, Democrat representing Silicon Valley's 24th Assembly District on the California Budget.  Finally, we speak with Dylan Gyauch-Lewis is a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project about her article https://prospect.org/2026/06/12/new-documents-detail-nine-figure-silicon-valley-funded-abundance-movement/  The post Nekima Levy Armstrong on Minneapolis “Antifa” Charges appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.   U.S. President Donald Trump, center, speaks as he is flanked by, from left, U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a media conference at the end of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)   President Donald Trump defends his deal to end war in Iran with world leaders as the G7 summit comes to a close; Federal reserve rates stay the same and may hike despite Trump's promise to lower it; Protests continue in Gilroy over construction of an ICE detention center and begin over the construction of an AI data Center; Package of gun control laws passed in Virginia; Fresno County's Board of Supervisors voted to declare June “Traditional Nuclear Family Month”; Pride night for the San Francisco Giants becomes part of national culture war on LGBTQ+ community; New weather models forecast what could be the most extreme El Nino weather events on record. The post Deal to End War in Iran at G7; Pride Month Meets Resistance in CA – June 17, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Headlines “The Point Is to Spread Fear”: DOJ Charges 15 with Conspiracy for Anti-ICE Protests in Minnesota Has Trump Had Enough of Netanyahu? Israel Defies U.S., Vows to Continue War in Lebanon “Journacide: The War on Truth.” New Film Investigates Israel's Killing of Reporters in Lebanon   Democracy Now! is a daily national independent award-winning news program, hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.     The post Democracy Now! – June 17, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Education Today is a radio show hosted by Kitty Kelly Epstein and Jaron Epstein that airs every week at 2:30. The post Education Today – June 17, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On Today's show, we bring fresh analysis on the wars in the Middle East, the stalled cease fire and negotiations between the US and Iran, and the collapsing ceasefire in Israel-Lebanon.  Samer Araabi isthe Associate Director of Political Education and Research at the Center for Constitutional Rights.  He is also a member of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) and co-founder of AROC Action.   Photo credit: Armed Israeli settler accompanied by soldiers threatens Palestinian farmers near a-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, 2020 on Wikimedia. —- Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Palestine Post with Samer Araabi appeared first on KPFA.

In this episode of Bay Native Circle host Janeen Antoine presents the producers of a soon to be premiered 10 part documentary series titled People of the West.  Executive producers Brad Munoa and Nico Magee,  both Pechanga tribal members,  have pulled together with the support of the Pechanga Tribe an incredibly talented film team and native authorities to create a complete and accurate accounting of the buried history of California's indigenous peoples.  They join us here to about what the series encompasses, how it came to be, and their plans to launch the ambitious project. The Bay Native Circle weekly program presents special guests and explores today's Native issues, peoples, cultures, music & events with rotating hosts Morning Star Gali, Tony Gonzales, Eddie Madril and Janeen Antoine. The post Bay Native Circle – June 17, 2026 – People of the West Producers Brad Munoa and Nico Magee appeared first on KPFA.

It's been called a new gold rush, yet not of our external environment, but of our internal environment — of our minds and 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 Strother School of Radical Attention The Friends of Attention, Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement Crown, 2026 The post Against the Attention Economy appeared first on KPFA.

Today on the Show: Voter-protection specialist, Greg Palast, talks about Trump's latest  plans to hijack your vote. Professor Robert Buzzanco on Trump's cashing in on war and peace talks with Iran. Food not Bombs founder, Keith McHenry, reads from his new Auto-Biography, “SOUP STREET”. An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post Greg Palast Talks about Trump's Latest  Plans to Hijack Your Vote appeared first on KPFA.

UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. The post UpFront – June 16, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. Ukraine, Russia and Iran dominate agenda at G7 summit. Netanyahu says Israel will keep troops in Lebanon despite U.S.-Iran cease-fire agreement and signals continued operations against Hezbollah. Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., hold primary elections today. California Legislature approves preliminary state budget, but significant differences remain between lawmakers' spending plan and proposal from Gavin Newsom. San Francisco health officials warn of new synthetic opioid pills proving more lethal than fentanyl. MUNI announces plans to crack down on fare evaders. (Léman lake, Évian-les-Bains, where the G7 summit is taking place / Cristian Bortes) The post Ukraine, Russia and Iran dominate agenda at G7 summit – June 16, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's show: Headlines Trita Parsi on What May Be in the U.S.-Iran Peace Deal & Being Threatened with Deportation “Land Grab”: Trillionaire Elon Musk Sued in South Texas to Block SpaceX's Takeover of Wildlife Refuge Hands Off the Arts: Fired Kennedy Center Artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph Speaks Out as Trump Name Removed Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – June 16, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

The Texas Republican Party has involved from a corporate libertarian institution to one in which free market capitalism and evangelical Christianity are united in authoritarianism. Political scientist Clyde Barrow warns that Texan Christofascism serves as the rightwing blueprint for the rest of the United States in the coming years. Gregory Albo and Stephen Maher, eds. Socialist Register 2026: Late-Stage Capitalism? Accumulation in the Ruins Monthly Review Press, 2025 Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash The post Texas: Vanguard of the Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

Today on the show: What role is Pakistan playing in peace talks with Iran? Also, Harvey Wasserman on the fight for solar in the face of continued nuclear madness. Linda Seeley of Mothers for Peace joins us to discuss the ongoing resistance to Diablo Canyon, located on California's coastal fault line. And satirist, radical activist, and radio host Randy Credico reflects on the expanding Trump kleptocracy in the White House. An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein. The post Flashpoints – June 15, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. The post UpFront – June 15, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

On today's Africa Today, we replay an interview between Walter Turner and Dr. Amzat Boukari-Yabara, a prominent Beninese historian, author, and political activist specializing in African history, Pan-Africanism, and geopolitics. He is widely recognized for his scholarship on anti-colonial movements and for his work as president of the Pan-African League UMOJa.   A weekly news program providing information and analysis about Africa and the African Diaspora, hosted by Walter Turner. The post Africa Today – June 15, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. The United States and Iran reach a deal to end the war, though key questions remain. UN humanitarian forum warns erosion of global cooperation, funding threatens crisis response worldwide. Kyiv monastery damaged in Russian strike that kills at least 10, Ukraine says; Russia denies responsibility. UN report warns drone attacks in Sudan kill at least 1,000 civilians amid rising human rights concerns. Senate committee advances wildfire bill with provision to repeal “Roadless Rule” protections on national forests. California Governor Gavin Newsom alleges Trump DOJ is investigating him, accuses Trump of weaponizing the justice system. U.C. Merced researchers use Sierra Nevada and Central Valley as living laboratory to study climate change impacts. The post The United States and Iran reach a deal to end the war, though key questions remain – June 15, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the each week's major news stories, and exposes what the mainstream media may have missed in their own coverage. Produced by the national media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting). The post CounterSpin – June 14, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.