KPFA - Against the Grain

When we think of potentially dangerous and addictive drugs, most of us think about illegal substances like heroine or cocaine. And yet widely-prescribed drugs like Xanax, Ritalin, Adderall, and Vicodin are also addictive, but legal in the United States. Historian David Herzberg discusses the artificial distinction that has been created between addictive drugs and medicines — with the key difference being the class and race of the consumers who use them and the partial protections that one group receives and the other does not. (Encore presentation.) David Herzberg, White Market Drugs: Big Pharma and the Hidden History of Addiction in America University of Chicago Press, 2020 The post Good Patients, Bad Addicts appeared first on KPFA.

“The bosses have two parties,” they said. “We need one of our own.” In 1996, representatives and activists from hundreds of local and international unions came together to launch a workers’ party — long missing from U.S. politics. Labor Party participant and economist Howard Botwinick discusses the organization’s challenges and promise, and the lessons from its rise and fall — including how the failure to build leftwing politics rooted in the working class created a vacuum that was ultimately filled by the right. (Encore presentation.) Labor Party Archive The post Lessons from the U.S. Labor Party appeared first on KPFA.

Entomologist Douglas Tallamy discusses what we can do to stem the extinction crisis — the loss of habitat and plant and animal species — by transforming the places where we live. The post Fund Drive Special: Saving and Restoring Nature in Our Gardens appeared first on KPFA.

Historian Joshua Clark Davis disputes the idea that the Civil Rights movement did not organize against police repression. He discusses the extensive involvement of local police departments in disrupting and repressing the movement. The post Fund Drive Special: Local Police and the Civil Rights Movement appeared first on KPFA.

Economist Rob Larson discusses the cloistered world of the very rich, their power and wealth, and their influence over all our lives. The post Fund Drive Special: The Rule of the Wealthy appeared first on KPFA.