KPFA - Against the Grain

There’s not a person on earth who does not have PFAS, or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in their blood. Mariah Blake reflects on the how these chemicals came to pollute the world and the remarkable grassroots movement — much of it coming from working class communities in red states — that has arisen to ban them.
Mariah Blake, They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals Crown, 2025
Photo by Maria Baranova on Unsplash
The post Exposing Forever Chemicals appeared first on KPFA.

Our era is marked both by mass protest and the increasing criminalization of protest — driven by private interests, as well as states and the federal government. Annie Leonard, longtime activist, discusses the rich tradition of protest in this country and why we need to defend it, in the face of SLAPP suits, anti-protest bills, and diktats from the Trump administration.
Annie Leonard and Andre Carothers, Protest: Respect It Defend It Use It Patagonia, 2026
Photo credit: Angus McIntyre
The post Criminalizing Protest appeared first on KPFA.

We live in a time, says Brazilian political philosopher Rodrigo Nunes, where it feels like things cannot go on as they are — while at the same time, we can’t imagine anything else. Nunes discusses how such sentiments have fueled the ascendancy of the far right around the world and in Brazil, where the authoritarianism may return to power.
Rodrigo Nunes, Anatomy of Disintegration: What Brazil Reveals About the Global Far Right Haymarket, 2026
Photo by Tutz Dias on Unsplash
The post Brazil and the Global Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

Elites, especially in tech, in recent years have overtly espoused the repugnant idea that extreme social inequality is not only inevitable but desirable. Acclaimed historian Kim Phillips-Fein argues that there is a long US tradition promoting wealth inequality that has once again moved from the shadows into the mainstream. And historian Steve Fraser reflects on the class war of the Gilded Age. (Full-length presentation.)
Kim Phillips-Fein, Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight against Equality in America W. W. Norton, 2026
The post The Long Struggle Against Equality appeared first on KPFA.

How should we organize while the planet is burning and authoritarianism is intensifying? Chris Dixon reflects on lessons for the present, drawn from decades of activism on the left – for a moment where interest in left politics has grown significantly, yet while the organizational infrastructures of the left are greatly diminished.
Chris Dixon, For the Long Haul: How to Stay in the Fight for a Better World AK Press, 2026
Photo credit: Lori Shaull
The post Organizing in a Time of Emergency appeared first on KPFA.