KPFA - Against the Grain

Many in our society are struggling to provide care for their families or communities. Often they don’t have time to do it and can’t afford to pay for it. The right realizes this and has tried to woo women with a glorified vision of domestic life. Economist Nancy Folbre discusses the early fight for the recognition of unpaid care work as real work, while the economics profession has mainly ignored it, despite its crucial importance for capitalism. (Encore presentation.)
Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First UC Press, 2026
Photo by Jill Brand on Unsplash
The post Counting Care Work appeared first on KPFA.

Workers want and deserve decent, dignified, and democratic workplaces. But better wages and working conditions can be elusive in the face of management inertia and intransigence. Veteran organizer and Labor Notes board chair Ellen David Friedman talks about how to win workplace demands while building workers’ collective power.
Ellen David Friedman, Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It’s Hard (PM Press / Labor Notes)
The post Organizing to Win appeared first on KPFA.

The Trump administration has been unabashed in its intention to criminalize dissent, labeling protestors “domestic terrorists.” A recent verdict against anti-ICE protestors in Texas promises to be consequential in that effort.  Scholar Thomas Zeitzoff reflects on the administration’s widespread attempts to quash opposition, from targeting fundraising by liberal nonprofits, knocking on the doors of former activists, or charging people with conspiracy for communicating on Signal about protests. (Encore presentation.)
Thomas Zeitzoff, No Option But Sabotage: The Radical Environmental Movement and the Climate Crisis Oxford University Press, 2026
The post Criminalizing Dissent appeared first on KPFA.

The ramifications of the US attack on Iran have been a harsh reminder of the centrality of oil to the global economy – and not just for fuel and transport. Political economist Adam Hanieh reflects on the rise of crude oil in the 20th century. He argues that the blockage in the Gulf threatens to set off a more serious global crisis than seen in the 1970s. (Encore presentation.)
Adam Hanieh, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Verso, 2025
The post Oil and Global Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

Food affects all of us — but while it’s a necessity for our survival, it’s also a vast, sprawling industry spanning the globe, which generates enormous profits as well as significant damage to public health and the environment. Nutritionist and molecular biologist Marion Nestle sheds light on the choices we all must navigate when we enter the grocery store. (Encore presentation.)
Marion Nestle, What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters North Point Press, 2025
The post Marion Nestle on Food Choices and Food Politics appeared first on KPFA.