KPFA - Against the Grain

Prentis Hemphill discusses their book “What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World.” The post Fund Drive Special: What It Takes to Heal appeared first on KPFA.

The climate crisis no longer looms in the future, but has arrived in the form of deadly heat waves, enormous floods and wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts. It’s clear that, along with fighting to slow climate change, we also need to protect ourselves and the most vulnerable around us from the devastating effects of global warming — especially as the Trump administration slashes existing safeguards. Science writer and broadcaster David Pogue discusses what we can do in an increasingly precarious world. The post Fund Drive Special: Preparing Oneself for Climate Emergencies appeared first on KPFA.

Mark Matousek discusses his book “Emerson, the Stoics, and Me: Timeless Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life.” The post Fund Drive Special: Emerson and the Stoics appeared first on KPFA.

How was it that in less than two centuries the world’s tallest trees, the majestic redwoods, were almost logged off the face of the earth? And this despite the efforts over many generations, starting in the late 19th century, to preserve them. Greg King, writer and forest activist, argues that one of the world’s first greenwashing organizations – the Save the Redwoods League, founded by white supremacists – played a key role. He details the heroic struggle against the odds to defend these unique trees. The post Fund Drive Special: Fighting for the Redwoods appeared first on KPFA.

Daniel Fryer talks about his 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.

Floods are the most destructive natural disaster and, thanks to a heating climate, the damages caused by floods are expected to worsen significantly. Flood mitigation of the past, such as levies and dams, has proved inadequate and often counterproductive by mis-allocating precious resources. Tim Palmer argues that it’s time to start relocating our built environment out of the places with a high likelihood of flooding. (Encore presentation.) Tim Palmer, Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis UC Press, 2024 Photograph credit: Mark Moran The post Mitigating Flooding appeared first on KPFA.

They fought to secure the vote for women. They used direct action, civil disobedience, and increasingly militant tactics to pursue their goals. Feyzi Ismail assesses the strategies and tactics of a group of British suffragettes with an eye toward building a more effective climate movement. Gregory Albo and Stephen Maher, eds. Socialist Register 2025: Openings and Closures: Socialist Strategy at a Crossroads The post Climate and Suffrage Struggles appeared first on KPFA.

Our lives are filled with innumerable choices, such as for the countless array of products for us to buy, assuming we can afford them. Our politics are often framed as a question of individual, not collective, choice such as the freedom to choose to have an abortion or the act of casting one’s vote in secret, away from the eyes other others. Historian Sophia Rosenfeld argues that the notion that freedom means “the freedom to choose” has been central to modern Western society, but may be coming apart. (Encore presentation.) Sophia Rosenfeld, The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life Princeton University Press, 2025 The post Is Freedom a Choice? appeared first on KPFA.

Over the course of two decades, publications of the Industrial Workers of the World featured the influential writings of a hobo, transient worker, columnist, poet, and songwriter named T-Bone Slim. Owen Clayton talks about Slim’s focus on workers’ everyday lives under capitalism, his political stances, his use of humor, and his commitment to worker organizing. Owen Clayton and Iain McIntyre, eds., The Popular Wobbly: Selected Writings of T-Bone Slim University of Minnesota Press, 2025 Owen Clayton, Vagabonds, Tramps, and Hobos: The Literature and Culture of U.S. Transiency, 1890–1940 Cambridge University Press, 2023   The post Wobbly Extraordinaire appeared first on KPFA.

The federal minimum wage languishes at $7.25 an hour and has not been raised since 2009. Given the disproportionate number of workers of color who receive the minimum wage or less, legal scholar Ruben Garcia argues that the fight for racial justice has to include raising the minimum wage. (Encore presentation.) Ruben J. Garcia, Critical Wage Theory: Why Wage Justice Is Racial Justice UC Press, 2024 Photo credit: Fibonacci Blue The post Racial Justice Through Raising the Minimum Wage appeared first on KPFA.