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 18, 2023 • 60min
The House Speakership Chaos & The History of Hamas
Part I. The House Speakership Chaos
Guest: John Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation Magazine.
Part II. The History of Hamas
Guest: Zaki Chehab is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of ArabsToday.net. He is the author of the book Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement.
https://kpfa.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Zaki-Chehab-on-Hamas_10.18.23.mp3
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Oct 17, 2023 • 60min
The CIA Backed Assassination of Patrice Lumumba
Guest: Stuart Reid is an executive editor at Foreign Affairs magazine and the author of The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination.
The post The CIA Backed Assassination of Patrice Lumumba appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 16, 2023 • 60min
The Palestine/Israel Conflict – The Media Coverage and the Backlash Across US
Guest: Hatem Bazian is a professor of Islamic law and theology at Zaytuna College. He is also a lecturer in the departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Most lately, he is the author of Erasing The Human: Collapse of The Postcolonial World and Refugee Immigration Crisis.
The post The Palestine/Israel Conflict – The Media Coverage and the Backlash Across US appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 12, 2023 • 60min
A History of the AR-15
Guest: Zusha Elinson is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, where he covers America’s gun culture and industry. He is the co-author with journalist Cameron McWhirter of the new book American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15.
The post A History of the AR-15 appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 11, 2023 • 60min
The Palestine / Israel Conflict: The Root Causes of the Occupation and the US Involvement
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.”
Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash
The post The Palestine / Israel Conflict: The Root Causes of the Occupation and the US Involvement appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 10, 2023 • 60min
The Palestine/Israel Conflict: Processing the Tragedy and Finding Justice
Guest: Dr. Penny Rosenwasser is a white queer Ashkenazi Jewish educator and activist. She is the author most recently of the award-winning book “Hope into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears.”
She co-teaches a class on Antisemitism / Anti-Arabism with a Palestinian colleague at City College of San Francisco.
She is a founding board member of Jewish Voice for Peace and helps lead racial justice work at Kehilla Community Synagogue in Oakland. She is also former KPFA radio host and producer!
The post The Palestine/Israel Conflict: Processing the Tragedy and Finding Justice appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 9, 2023 • 60min
The Palestine / Israeli Conflict: A History of Settler Colonialism & Resistance
Guest: Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies. He is author of several books including his most recent, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917- 2017.
Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash
The post The Palestine / Israeli Conflict: A History of Settler Colonialism & Resistance appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 5, 2023 • 60min
KPFA Special – Heather Cox Richardson on the State of Democracy in America
Guest: Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and an expert on American political and economic history. She is the author of several books, including the award-winning How the South Won the Civil War and her latest, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.
She is also the author of the widely read newsletter Letters from an American which addresses history and current politics.
The post KPFA Special – Heather Cox Richardson on the State of Democracy in America appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 4, 2023 • 60min
KPFA Special – Live with Bart D. Ehrman on the Biblical Apocalypse
Guest: Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. He is a Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of several books including, Misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, The Triumph of Christianity, Heaven and Hell, and his latest, Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End.
The post KPFA Special – Live with Bart D. Ehrman on the Biblical Apocalypse appeared first on KPFA.

Oct 2, 2023 • 60min
KPFA Special – The Legacy of Dianne Feinstein
Guest: Tim Redmond is a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years now. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder and editor of the independent news and culture website 48hills.
Photo credit: Dianne Feinstein in November 2014 – Wikimedia Commons
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