KPFA - Against the Grain

Mar 05 2025 1000 ep. 48 mins 6.4k

KPFA - Against the Grain Podcast artwork

Acclaimed program of ideas, in-depth analysis, and commentary on a variety of matters—political, economic, social, and cultural—important to progressive and radical thinking and activism. Against the Grain is co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.

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Fund Drive Special: Psychedelic Journey

Mar 05 2025 59 mins

Christopher Bache, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies, discusses his twenty-year psychedelic journey, a journey documented in his book “LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven.” The post Fund Drive Special: Psychedelic Journey appeared first on KPFA.

Fund Drive Special: The Rule of the Billionaires

Mar 04 2025 59 mins

The rich have not been so powerful and mind-bogglingly wealthy since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. Yet their grip on society has often been shrouded in a veil of adulation, enabled by a media that celebrates them rather than holding them to account. Economist Rob Larson discusses the multimillionaire and billionaire class, how they rule, and how to fight against them. Th

Fund Drive Special: Self-Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy

Mar 03 2025 6 mins

Daniel Fryer talks about his new book “How to Cope with Almost Anything with Hypnotherapy: Simple Ideas to Enhance Your Wellbeing and Resilience.” The post Fund Drive Special: Self-Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy appeared first on KPFA.

Fund Drive Special: Democracy or Plutocracy?

Noam Chomsky reminds us that the present inequalities of wealth and power were built into the system since the very founding of the U.S. government. The post Fund Drive Special: Democracy or Plutocracy? appeared first on KPFA.

Fund Drive Special: Psychedelic Journey

Feb 25 2025 59 mins

Christopher Bache, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies, discusses his twenty-year psychedelic journey, a journey documented in his book “LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven.” The post Fund Drive Special: Psychedelic Journey appeared first on KPFA.

Fund Drive Special: The Rule of the Billionaires

Feb 24 2025 59 mins

The rich have not been so powerful and mind-bogglingly wealthy since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. Yet their grip on society has often been shrouded in a veil of adulation, enabled by a media that celebrates them rather than holding them to account. Economist Rob Larson discusses the multimillionaire and billionaire class, how they rule, and how to fight against them. Th

Fund Drive Special: Acting Amidst Crisis

Feb 19 2025 11 mins

Norma Wong discusses her book “When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse.” The post Fund Drive Special: Acting Amidst Crisis appeared first on KPFA.

Fund Drive Special: Organizing for Federal Workers & Public Services

Feb 18 2025 23 mins

History is being made right now, both by the Trump administration, attempting to slash the federal workforce and the public services it provides, and by federal workers and their supporters resisting those efforts in the offices and the streets. Federal worker Mark Smith discusses a day of action called by the newly formed Federal Unionists Network to save public services. And labo

Health and Place

Feb 17 2025 59 mins

Every year, more than 80,000 African Americans die prematurely. The medical establishment relies on genetics or dietary patterns to explain such appalling numbers. But sociologist George Lipsitz argues that black people, as well as Native Americans and Latinos, are made sick by where they live — and that the most important cause of health hazards for people of color is residentia

Remembering Michael Burawoy

Feb 12 2025 29 mins

The prominent sociologist, writer, and U.C. Berkeley professor emeritus Michael Burawoy passed away on February 3. We present excerpts from three interviews with Burawoy, about marketization and commodification (from 2016), Pierre Bourdieu and Karl Marx (2019), and W. E. B. Du Bois’s understanding of the period of Reconstruction (2023). In Memoriam: Michael Burawoy Michael Burawo