KPFA - Against the Grain

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
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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
The post Beckert on Global Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

The Trump administration has justified the mass incarceration and deportation of immigrants by asserting that it’s going after the most violent offenders. Scholars of law and punishment, Keramet Reiter and Joshua Page, delve into the designation of the worst of the worse — from Three Strikes laws to longterm solitary confinement to mass detention under inhumane conditions and the transfer of immigrants to foreign prisons like CECOT in El Salvador.
Joshua Page and Keramet Reiter, The Uses and Abuses of the “Worst of the Worst” Dissent July 8, 2026
The post Immigrant Detention and the “Worst of the Worst” appeared first on KPFA.

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
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