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 1, 2024 • 60min
The Scopes Monkey Trial: A Battle About Science, Religion, Truth, and Freedom of Thought
Guest: Brenda Wineapple is an award-winning author of several books including ‘The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation and her latest, Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation.
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Sep 30, 2024 • 60min
Helena Cobban on the Escalation of the War: Israel, Lebanon, & Palestine
Guest: Helena Cobban is a writer and researcher on international affairs with a special interest in the Middle East. She is the author of several books including her latest “Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters” co-authored with Rami Khouri. Her writing can be found at Globalities.org.
Book Events – Helena Cobban in the Bay Area:
October 8, 6:30 pm, Marin County, CA “An Evening with Helena Cobban”
The Palestinian-rights leader/activist Anna Rogers is hosting a house party in San Rafael, Marin County, Require an RSVP. Fill the form here.
October 10, 7 pm, Oakland, CA “Palestinian Resistance from the PLO to today.”
East Side Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd Oakland, CA
This event will be moderated by the Bay Area’s own Nora Barrows Friedman!
October 13, 2 pm, SF city center “Palestinian Resistance from the PLO to today”
Eric Quezada Room, 518 Valencia St, San Francisco
Find out more at Just World Educational.org
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Sep 26, 2024 • 60min
The Luddites & the Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
Guest: Brian Merchant is a journalist focusing on technology and the future of work. He is the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, and his latest, Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. He is also a founder of Terraform, Vice’s science fiction outlet.
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Sep 25, 2024 • 60min
The Life of Audre Lorde
Guest: Alexis Pauline Gumbs is the author of several works of poetry and of Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Animals, which won a Whiting Writers’ Award in 2022. In 2023, she won a Windham Campbell Prize for her poetry. Her latest book is Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde.
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Sep 24, 2024 • 60min
KPFA Special – The Life & Times of Pancho Villa
Guest: Paco Ignacio Taibo II He is a tireless social activist, historian, and writer. He is the author of several books including the biography of Che Guevara, ’68: The Mexican Autumn of the Tlatelolco Massacre, and his latest, Pancho: Villa: A Revolutionary Life, translated by Todd Chretien .
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Sep 23, 2024 • 60min
KPFA Special: Medea Benjamin on the U.S. Role in the Wars Around the World
Guest: Medea Benjamin is co-founder of CODEPINK and the fair trade group Global Exchange. She is the author of many books including Drone Warfare, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S. — Saudi Connection, Inside Iran, and her latest co-authored with David Swanson, NATO: What You Need To Know.
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Sep 19, 2024 • 60min
KPFA Special – A History of Nat Turner’s Slave Revolt
Guest: Gregory P. Downs is a history professor at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of several books including his latest, in collaboration with Anthony E. Kaye (1962-2017), Nat Turner, Black Prophet: A Visionary History.
Anthony E. Kaye (1962–2017) taught history at Pennsylvania State University and was the vice president of scholarly programs at the National Humanities Center. An influential scholar of Atlantic slavery and American history, he served as an associate editor of The Journal of the Civil War Era. His final book, Nat Turner, Black Prophet, was completed with the assistance of Gregory P. Downs, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis.
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Sep 18, 2024 • 60min
KPFA Special – Richard Wolff on Harris, Trump, & the Economy Part 2
Guest: Richard Wolff is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Visiting Professor at the New School in New York. He is the host of the weekly program, Economic Update and is the author of several books including Understanding Capitalism.
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Sep 17, 2024 • 60min
KPFA Special – Lobbying for Zionism: A History
Guest: Ilan Pappe is Professor of History at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine; A History of Modern Palestine; and his latest, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic.
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Sep 16, 2024 • 13min
KPFA Special – Arlie Hochschild on the Pride Paradox & the Rise of the New Right
Guest: Arlie Russell Hochschild is a Professor Emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of many books, including Strangers in Their Own Land, and her latest, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right.
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