KPFA - Against the Grain

Jessica Mitford revived muckraking journalism in the United States, shaping generations of investigative writers who followed her. She also lived a committed life on the left, despite her ultra-reactionary English upper class origins. Carla Kaplan argues that Mitford is woman for our times.
Carla Kaplan, Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford Harper, 2025
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Big Tech’s owners see themselves as visionaries — as singularly capable of understanding and shaping the future — in contrast to the rest of us. Adrian Daub explores the worldview of Silicon Valley’s owners.
Adrian Daub, What Tech Calls Governing Stanford University Press, 2026
Photo by Igor Shalyminov on Unsplash
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After a century of drug prohibition, during which the use of many illicit drugs increased, states and countries are moving to decriminalize the usage of certain psychoactive substances. As corporations rush to profit, legal scholar Kojo Koram argues for the legalization of drugs without commercial gain.
Kojo Koram, The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs Verso, 2026
Photo by Freestocks on Unsplash
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Recessions, trade wars, labor unrest — in moments of societal crisis in the United States, Asian-Americans have been perennially targeted, from the destruction of Chinatowns by white mobs, to the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, to attacks against Asians during Covid. Historian Scott Kurashige reflects on more than 175 years of anti-Asian violence and its connection to U.S. empire abroad and a divided working class at home. (Encore presentation.)
Scott Kurashige, American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism UC Press, 2026
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
The post U.S. Capitalism, Empire, and Anti-Asian Violence appeared first on KPFA.

Capitalism has transformed the world like no other force, which historian Sven Beckert calls a fundamental break in human history. Beckert traces the emergence and expansion of capitalism, arguing that we can best understand the present by coming to terms with its past. (Full-length presentation.)
Sven Beckert, Capitalism: A Global History Penguin Press, 2025
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