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

Apr 25, 2024 • 60min
An Investigative Look Behind Trump’s Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election
Guests:
Michael Isikoff is an award-winning Washington investigative journalist and the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter’s Story; Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War (with David Corn); and Russian Roulette (also with David Corn). His latest coauthored with Daniel Klaidman is Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election
Daniel Klaidman is an award-winning journalist and author. He is the author of Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency. He is the co-author with Michael Isikoff of Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election.
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Apr 24, 2024 • 60min
The U.S. & Iraq Before The Wars
Guest: Steve Coll is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Dean Emeritus of the Columbia Journalism School. Previously he was president of the public policy institute New America, in Washington, DC. He is an editor at The Economist in London and the author of several books, including The Bin Ladens, Private Empire, Directorate S, and his latest, The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq.
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Apr 23, 2024 • 7min
The Past, Present, and Future of the Labor Movement in America
Guest: Hamilton Nolan is a veteran journalist who writes about labor and politics. He is the author of the book The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor. His work can be found at HamiltonNolan.com.
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Apr 22, 2024 • 60min
The Life & Times of Sigmund Freud
Guest: Dr Frank Tallis is a clinical psychologist and a writer. He is the author of several books including his latest, Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna, and the Discovery of the Modern Mind.
The post The Life & Times of Sigmund Freud appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 18, 2024 • 60min
The Pirates That Halted The Slave Trade
Guest: Angela C. Sutton is an Assistant research professor at Vanderbilt University, where she has taught Seapower in History, the Golden Age of Piracy, and Comparative Slavery. She is the author of Pirates of the Slave Trade: The Battle of Cape Lopez and the Birth of an American Institution.
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Apr 17, 2024 • 60min
Understanding Secretary Mayorkas’ Impeachment. Then, The Dangerous Dynamic Between Israel and Iran
Part I. Understanding Secretary Mayorkas’ Impeachment
Guest: Frank O. Bowman III is a law professor, legal historian, and former federal and state prosecutor. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, currently he is a Visiting Scholar at Colorado College.
His most recent book is High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump. His latest article is Immigration Is Not an “Invasion” under the Constitution.
Part II. The Dangerous Dynamic Between Israel and Iran
Guest: Stephen Zunes is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco where he chairs the program in Middle Eastern Studies. He is the author of “Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism”, and the co-author of “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution.” He is currently serving as 2024 Torgny Segerstedt Visiting Research Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Apr 16, 2024 • 60min
Climate Change From A to Z with Elizabeth Kolbert
Guest: Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change; The Sixth Extinction, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize, and Under the White Sky: The Nature of the Future; and her latest, H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.
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Apr 15, 2024 • 60min
Special – KPFA’s 75th Anniversary
Guest: Philip Maldari is a host and producer at KPFA Radio, currently he is the host of the Sunday Morning show.
The post Special – KPFA’s 75th Anniversary appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 11, 2024 • 60min
The Lives of Smugglers (Coyotes)
Guest: Jason De León is a professor of Anthropology and Chicana/o Studies and director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also the executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project, a research, arts, and education collective that seeks to raise awareness about migration issues globally while also assisting families of missing migrants to reunite with their loved ones. He is the author of the award-winning book The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail, and his latest, Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling.
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Apr 10, 2024 • 60min
Inflation and the Economy with Richard Wolff. Then, Haiti’s Disaster Capitalism
Part I. Inflation and the Economy
Guest: Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Visiting Professor at The New School University in New York. Richard Wolff is the founder of Democracy at Work and host of the weekly national television and radio program Economic Update that airs on KPFA.
Part II. Haiti’s Disaster Capitalism
Guest: Jake Johnston is a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., and the author of Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti.
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash
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