KPFA - Against the Grain
KPFA
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 8, 2025 • 10min
Fund Drive Special: The Life and Politics of Jessica Mitford
Jessica Mitford was a muckracking journalist and memoirist, radical activist and wit. Born to an English aristocratic family, she became a Communist and eloped with Winston Churchill’s nephew to fight in the Spanish Civil war. Two of her sisters were infamous fascists and friends with Hitler. Jessica, known as Decca, moved to the United States, became a civil rights activist in Oakland, and helped transform American journalism from of the depths of the McCarthy era. Peter Sussman, editor of a collection of Mitford’s letters, and the late radical journalist Conn Hallinan discuss Jessica Mitford’s singular life and contributions.
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Oct 7, 2025 • 2min
Fund Drive Special: Animal Minds and Life
Brandon Keim discusses his book “Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World.”
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Oct 6, 2025 • 2min
Fund Drive Special: Critiquing Capitalism
Since the global financial crisis, and even more over the last five years, capitalism’s popularity has fallen, while the fortunes of the capitalist class have risen steeply. Polls show that a majority of people under forty, of any political affiliation, view democratic socialism positively and capitalism negatively. Even a majority of Republican voters believe that our economic system favors corporations and the wealthy. Journalist John Cassidy discusses capitalism through the eyes of its critics.
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Oct 1, 2025 • 10min
Fund Drive Special: What It Takes to Heal
Prentis Hemphill discusses their book “What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World.”
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Sep 30, 2025 • 21min
Fund Drive Special: The Life and Politics of Jessica Mitford
Jessica Mitford was a muckracking journalist and memoirist, radical activist and wit. Born to an English aristocratic family, she became a Communist and eloped with Winston Churchill’s nephew to fight in the Spanish Civil war. Two of her sisters were infamous fascists and friends with Hitler. Jessica, known as Decca, moved to the United States, became a civil rights activist in Oakland, and helped transform American journalism from of the depths of the McCarthy era. Peter Sussman, editor of a collection of Mitford’s letters, and the late radical journalist Conn Hallinan discuss Jessica Mitford’s singular life and contributions.
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Sep 29, 2025 • 14min
Fund Drive Special: Emerson and the Stoics
Mark Matousek discusses his book “Emerson, the Stoics, and Me: Timeless Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life.”
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Sep 24, 2025 • 60min
Fund Drive Special: The Biological Inadequacy of the Sex Binary
The right insists — and has tried to legislate — that male and female are hardwired opposites, with no overlap or variation. But as biological anthropologist Agustín Fuentes illustrates, science tells a different story. He shows how sex isn’t either/or and discusses the complicated intersection of biology and culture, which are often termed sex and gender.
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Sep 23, 2025 • 1min
Fund Drive Special: Animal Minds and Life
Brandon Keim discusses his book “Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World.”
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Sep 22, 2025 • 60min
Capitalism and Insect-Borne Diseases
Over the last half century, diseases carried by insects — such as malaria and dengue, Zika and Lyme disease — have greatly increased. Sociologists Brent Kaup and Kelly Austin argue that the surge in vector-borne disease has been fueled by neoliberal capitalism, at times in unexpected ways, such as through loosened financial regulations governing mortgages and health insurance, as well as the gutting of health care.
Brent Z. Kaup and Kelly F. Austin, The Pathogens of Finance: How Capitalism Breeds Vector-Borne Disease UC Press, 2025
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Sep 17, 2025 • 60min
Landlord Tech
Facial recognition cameras, tenant screening platforms, digital property management—many landlords use sophisticated technology to monitor and screen tenants. Erin McElroy weighs the impact of so-called proptech on prospective renters, on tenants’ lives and well-being, and on people’s ability to respond to and organize against landlord abuse. McElroy also talks about what they call Silicon Valley imperialism.
Neda Atanasoski and Nassim Parvin, editors, Technocreep and the Politics of Things Not Seen Duke University Press, 2025
Erin McElroy, Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies and Frictions in Postsocialist Times Duke University Press, 2024
(Image on main page by Hugh D’Andrade/EFF.)
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