KPFA - Against the Grain

For as long as we’ve known, humans have revered ancient trees. We’ve also destroyed them, especially since the advent of colonialism and fossil fuel capitalism. Environmental historian Jared Farmer reflects on what trees illuminate about our past and potential future. And forest activist and writer Greg King discusses the decimation of the California redwoods and the fight to preserve them.
Jared Farmer, Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees Basic Books, 2022
Greg King, The Ghost Forest: Racists, Radicals, and Real Estate in the California Redwoods Public Affairs, 2023
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash
The post Ancient Trees and Fossil Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

We all know that we need money to survive, but most of us don’t spend much time considering its form and uses. Debt, interest, GDP, and capital just seem to follow almost natural laws. But J.W. Mason argues that we misunderstand money, and its power over our lives, at our peril.
J. W. Mason and Arjun Jayadev, Against Money University of Chicago Press, 2026
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
The post What’s Money For? appeared first on KPFA.

What can the weird tell us about our world of computer vision and so-called Artificial Intelligence? Artist and geographer Trevor Paglen discusses the function of the image now, when the majority of images are made by computers for other computers, with the goal of manipulating our perceptions.
Trevor Paglen, How to See Like a Machine: Images After AI Verso, 2026
Photo by Goost Eight on Unsplash
The post Images, UFOs, and Artificial Intelligence appeared first on KPFA.

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.