KPFA - Letters and Politics cover image

KPFA - Letters and Politics

Latest episodes

undefined
Jun 5, 2023 • 60min

A History of Affirmative Action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRIbOoJzPjg Guest: Geoffrey R. Stone is the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.  He is the author and co-author of several books including his latest A Legacy of Discrimination: The Essential Constitutionality of Affirmative Action co-authored with Lee C. Bollinger The post A History of Affirmative Action appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
Jun 1, 2023 • 37min

The Pornography Wars

Guest: Kelsy Burke is an award-winning sociologist of religion, gender, sexuality, and politics in the United States.  Her research has examined a wide range of topics, including debates over pornography, religious freedom laws and LGBT rights, evangelical women’s ministries, and the Christian sex advice industry.  She is the author of Christians Under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet, which won the  American Sociological Association Section on Religion 2017 Distinguished Book Award.  Her latest book is The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession.  She is an Associate Professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The post The Pornography Wars appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 31, 2023 • 60min

Michio Kaku on The Future of Quantum Computers

Guest: Michio Kaku is a professor of physics at the City University of New York, cofounder of string field theory, and the author of several widely acclaimed science books, including Hyperspace, Beyond Einstein, Physics of the Impossible, Physics of the Future, and his latest, Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything.   The post Michio Kaku on The Future of Quantum Computers appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 30, 2023 • 60min

The Debt Ceiling Deal & The Rediscovery of America

Part 1. The Debt Ceiling Deal  Guest: John Nichols is the national affairs correspondent for The Nation Magazine. He is the author of the book Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers:  Accountability for those who Caused the Crisis.  His latest piece in The Nation is The Revolutionary Fight to “Begin the World Over Again” Did Not End in 1776. Part 2. The Rediscovery of America  Guest: Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) is the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University, where he is the faculty coordinator for the Yale Group for the Study of Native America. He is the author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West and his latest, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History. The post The Debt Ceiling Deal & The Rediscovery of America appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 29, 2023 • 34min

Jim Thorpe: From Boarding School to Champion

Guest: David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times.  Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, and Vince Lombardi, Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, They Marched into Sunlight (winner of the J. Anthony Lucas Prize and Pulitzer Finalist in History), and his latest, Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe. The post Jim Thorpe: From Boarding School to Champion appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 25, 2023 • 60min

KPFA Special – How Big Business Linked Capitalism to Democracy

Guest: Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. She is the co-author of The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us To Loathe Government and Love The Free Market. The post KPFA Special – How Big Business Linked Capitalism to Democracy appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 24, 2023 • 33min

KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part III)

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura (1863—1919)–scholar, well-known art critic, and curator of the Chinese and Japanese art collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts–devoted his life to the preservation and reawakening of traditional Japanese culture. Tea was first used as a medicine and an alchemical elixir by the ancient Chinese Taoists, who praised its spiritual powers. Buddhist monks made drinking tea part of a tradition honoring the founder of Zen; this ritual was later refined in the performance of the Japanese tea ceremony as a meditative practice. The Book of Tea describes the rich aesthetic of Asian culture through the history, philosophy, and practice of brewing and drinking tea. The post KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part III) appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 23, 2023 • 60min

KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part II)

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura (1863—1919)–scholar, well-known art critic, and curator of the Chinese and Japanese art collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts–devoted his life to the preservation and reawakening of traditional Japanese culture. Tea was first used as a medicine and an alchemical elixir by the ancient Chinese Taoists, who praised its spiritual powers. Buddhist monks made drinking tea part of a tradition honoring the founder of Zen; this ritual was later refined in the performance of the Japanese tea ceremony as a meditative practice. The Book of Tea describes the rich aesthetic of Asian culture through the history, philosophy, and practice of brewing and drinking tea. The post KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part II) appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 22, 2023 • 60min

KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part I)

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura (1863—1919)–scholar, well-known art critic, and curator of the Chinese and Japanese art collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts–devoted his life to the preservation and reawakening of traditional Japanese culture. Tea was first used as a medicine and an alchemical elixir by the ancient Chinese Taoists, who praised its spiritual powers. Buddhist monks made drinking tea part of a tradition honoring the founder of Zen; this ritual was later refined in the performance of the Japanese tea ceremony as a meditative practice. The Book of Tea describes the rich aesthetic of Asian culture through the history, philosophy, and practice of brewing and drinking tea.   The post KPFA Special – The Book of Tea, Multiculturalism, and a Response to the Western Military Domination of Asia (Part I) appeared first on KPFA.
undefined
May 18, 2023 • 60min

KPFA Special – The Map of Knowledge

Guest: Violet Moller  is a historian and writer who specializes in intellectual history.  She is the author of the book The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found. The post KPFA Special – The Map of Knowledge appeared first on KPFA.

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app