KPFA - Letters and Politics
KPFA
Letters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 7, 2025 • 8min
Analysis of the Current Political Landscape with John Nichols
Guest: John Nichols is the executive editor of The Nation magazine. He previously served as the magazine’s national affairs correspondent and Washington correspondent. He has written, co-written, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, co-written with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.
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Oct 6, 2025 • 20min
Geomythology, Folklore, & the Environment
Guest: Adrienne Mayor is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University. She is the author of many books, including The Poison King (a finalist for the National Book Award), The Amazons, and her latest, Mythopedia: A Brief Compendium of Natural History Lore. The book is illustrated by Michele M. Angel, an award-winning watercolorist, illustrator, and graphic designer.
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Oct 2, 2025 • 1h 24min
David Henry Thoreau: the Man Who Lived in Season
Guest: Laura Dassow Walls is the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Henry David Thoreau: A Life, and her latest, The Daily Henry David Thoreau: A Year of Quotes from the Man Who Lived in Season.
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Oct 1, 2025 • 5min
The Legendary Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America
Guest: Jeff Chang is an award-winning journalist and author who has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts and music. He is the author of the books Who We Be: The Colorization of America. We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation; Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation; and his latest, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America.
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Sep 30, 2025 • 6sec
Richard Wolff on What the Government Shutdown Means
Guest: Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the New School University in New York City. Richard Wolff is the founder of Democracy at Work and host of the weekly national syndicated television and radio program Economic Update that airs weekly on KPFA. Professor Wolff is the author of several books including Understanding Capitalism.
Photo: Wikimedia
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Sep 29, 2025 • 40min
Robert Reich: His Life and Political Journey
Guest: Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three presidential administrations, Republican and Democrat, as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton. He is the author of several books including his latest Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America.
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Sep 25, 2025 • 60min
The Secret History of Neoliberalism
Guest: George Monbiot is an author, journalist, and environmental campaigner. His books include Feral, Heat, Regenesis, and his latest, Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism co-authored with Peter Hutchison.
George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison also co-produced the film Invisible Doctrine.
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Sep 24, 2025 • 31min
Empire of AI with Karen Hao
Guest: Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series. She is the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
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Sep 23, 2025 • 3min
Martin Niemöller: Then They Came For Me
Guest: Matthew D. Hockenos is the Harriet Johnson Toadvine ’56 Professor in 20th- Century History at Skidmore College. He is the author of A Church Divided: German Protestants Confront the Nazi Past, and his latest, Then They Came For Me: Martin Niemöller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis.
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Sep 22, 2025 • 31min
A History of Fascism and the Fightback
Guest: Mark Bray is a historian of Modern Europe History and human rights at Rutgers University. He is the author of several books including his national best-seller Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.
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