Épisodes

  • Immigrant Detention and the “Worst of the Worst”

    Immigrant Detention and the “Worst of the Worst”
    Aug 24 2026
    The Trump administration has justified the mass incarceration and deportation of immigrants by asserting that it’s going after the most violent offenders. Scholars of law and punishment, Keramet Reiter and Joshua Page, delve into the designation of the worst of the worse — from Three Strikes laws to longterm solitary confinement to mass detention under inhumane conditions and the transfer of immigrants to foreign prisons like CECOT in El Salvador. Joshua Page and Keramet Reiter, The Uses and Abuses of the “Worst of the Worst” Dissent July 8, 2026 The post Immigrant Detention and the “Worst of the Worst” appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • Beckert on Global Capitalism

    Beckert on Global Capitalism
    Aug 25 2026
    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. (Full-length presentation.) Sven Beckert, Capitalism: A Global History Penguin Press, 2025 The post Beckert on Global Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • U.S. Capitalism, Empire, and Anti-Asian Violence

    U.S. Capitalism, Empire, and Anti-Asian Violence
    Aug 26 2026
    Recessions, trade wars, labor unrest — in moments of societal crisis in the United States, Asian-Americans have been perennially targeted, from the destruction of Chinatowns by white mobs, to the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, to attacks against Asians during Covid. Historian Scott Kurashige reflects on more than 175 years of anti-Asian violence and its connection to U.S. empire abroad and a divided working class at home. (Encore presentation.) Scott Kurashige, American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism UC Press, 2026 Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash The post U.S. Capitalism, Empire, and Anti-Asian Violence appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • Big Tech’s Worldview

    Big Tech’s Worldview
    Sep 1 2026
    Big Tech’s owners see themselves as visionaries — as singularly capable of understanding and shaping the future — in contrast to the rest of us. Adrian Daub explores the worldview of Silicon Valley’s owners. Adrian Daub, What Tech Calls Governing Stanford University Press, 2026 Photo by Igor Shalyminov on Unsplash The post Big Tech’s Worldview appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • Queen of the Muckrakers

    Queen of the Muckrakers
    Sep 2 2026
    Jessica Mitford revived muckraking journalism in the United States, shaping generations of investigative writers who followed her. She also lived a committed life on the left, despite her ultra-reactionary English upper class origins. Carla Kaplan argues that Mitford is woman for our times. Carla Kaplan, Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford Harper, 2025 The post Queen of the Muckrakers appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • The Black Labor Movement

    The Black Labor Movement
    Sep 7 2026
    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. (Encore presentation.) 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.
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    1 h
  • Unlikely World Makers

    Unlikely World Makers
    Sep 8 2026
    When we think of world makers, we’re unlikely to picture a flower. Yet flowers completely transformed our planet, giving us rain forests, altering coastlines, producing the food we eat, and enticing our pre-human ancestors to climb down from the trees. And they did that partially through reshaping the formerly adversarial relationship between plants and insects into one of mutual aid and cooperation most of the time. Biologist David George Haskell enumerates our debt to flowers. (Full-length presentation.) David George Haskell, How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries Viking, 2026 Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash The post Unlikely World Makers appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h
  • Why Do Rural Poor People Support the GOP?

    Why Do Rural Poor People Support the GOP?
    Sep 9 2026
    Why do poor, often sick, rural people vote for Republicans even after they slash funding for Medicaid and close rural hospitals? Michael Shepherd describes how conservative politicians and media have successfully built support for those cuts by claiming programs like Medicaid only help city dwellers, people of color, and immigrants. Michael E. Shepherd, Rural Pain, Republican Gain: How the Republican Party Is Killing Rural America and Why Democrats Are Blamed University of Chicago Press, 2026 Photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash The post Why Do Rural Poor People Support the GOP? appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 h