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

May 1, 2025 • 60min
The Life & Times of Lucy Parsons
Guest: Jacqueline Jones is the Ellen C. Temple Chair in Women’s History and the Mastin Gentry White Professorship in Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the winner of the Bancroft Prize for Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow. Her latest book is Goddess of Anarchy: The Life and Times of Lucy Parsons, American Radical.
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Apr 30, 2025 • 60min
When Workers Shot Back
Guest: Robert Ovetz is a lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration at San José State University. He writes about the politics of the labor movement, work, and the crisis of capitalism at the turn of the 20th century. He is the author of the book When Workers Shot Back: Class Conflict from 1877 to 1921.
The post When Workers Shot Back appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 29, 2025 • 60min
Hitler’s First 100 Days
Guest: Peter Fritzsche, professor of history at the University of Illinois and author of the book Hitler’s First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich.
The post Hitler’s First 100 Days appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 28, 2025 • 13sec
America: What’s In A Name?
Guest: Greg Grandin is a Professor of History at Yale University and Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, author of many books including The End of the Myth; The Empire of Necessity; Fordlandia; and his latest, América, América: A New History of the New World.
The post America: What’s In A Name? appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 24, 2025 • 60min
Women In The Ancient World
Guest: Daisy Dunn is an award-winning classicist and the author of The Missing Thread: A Women’s History of the Ancient World. Her website is www.daisydunn.co.uk.
The post Women In The Ancient World appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 23, 2025 • 60min
What Monsters Tell Us About Us
Guest: Natalie Lawrence, author of Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meaning.
The post What Monsters Tell Us About Us appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 22, 2025 • 2min
A Constitutional Look at Trump and the Courts
Guest: Geoffrey R. Stone is the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He is the author or co-author of many books on constitutional law, including Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime; A Legacy of Discrimination: The Essential Constitutionality of Affirmative Action; and The Free Speech Century.
The post A Constitutional Look at Trump and the Courts appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 21, 2025 • 24min
The Legacy of Pope Francis and the Future of the Catholic Church
Guest: Mary Jo McConahay is a journalist who has covered the Church for many years. She is the author of the book Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and The Far Right.
Featured photo: Wikimedia
The post The Legacy of Pope Francis and the Future of the Catholic Church appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 17, 2025 • 60min
Letters and Politics – April 17, 2025
A look at burning political issues and debates and their historical context within the US and worldwide, hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
The post Letters and Politics – April 17, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Apr 16, 2025 • 60min
The Banality of Evil & the Dangers of Mindless Complicity
Guest: Elizabeth Minnich is Distinguished Fellow at the American Association of Colleges & Universities. She was Hannah Arendt’s Teaching Assistant at The Graduate Faculty of The New School University in New York. She is the author of The Evil of Banality: On The Life and Death Importance of Thinking.
The post The Banality of Evil & the Dangers of Mindless Complicity appeared first on KPFA.