KPFA - Against the Grain

Capitalism has generated vast amounts of wealth by spreading around the world. But as Timothy Mitchell argues, profits are made not just across space but also time, by stealing from future generations, including through military spending. The political theorist and historian of the Middle East reflects on the ways that capitalism consumes the future.

Timothy Mitchell, The Alibi of Capital: How We Broke the Earth to Steal the Future on the Promise of a Better Tomorrow Verso, 2026

Photo by Curioso Photography on Unsplash

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What has the far right learned from the Frankfurt School? And what can we learn from Frankfurt School thinkers like Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse to understand the appeal of the right? Paul Fleming sheds light on the fixation of conservatives like Christopher Rufo — who has set about remaking higher education — with cultural Marxism. He also discusses Adorno’s insights into the attraction of authoritarian leaders.

Theodore Adorno, “Anti-Semitism and Fascist Propaganda”

New German Critique

The post The Frankfurt School, Authoritarianism, and the U.S. Right appeared first on KPFA.

The powers of the president of the United States have grown since the Cold War, expanding under both Republicans and Democrats. And many of these presidential powers – such as those laid out in the presidential emergency action documents — are unknown to the US public. Journalist Andrew Cockburn reflects on the imperial presidency, the domestic motivations of US foreign policy, and the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as the role of money in the politics of the Democratic Party.

Andrew Cockburn, Washington Is Burning: Corruption and Lies in the Age of Trump Verso, 2025

Photo by Ana Lanza on Unsplash

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Revelations that the much-lionized United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez raped women and young girls has rightly horrified many. But Chavez has long been a controversial figure and the union that he headed was deeply divided. Radical writer and former farm worker Frank Bardacke discusses the two souls of the UFW, between the union staff and the militant rank and file.

Frank Bardacke, Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers Verso, 2011

“The United Farm Workers Was More Than Cesar Chavez: Sasha Lilley Interviews Frank Bardacke,” Jacobin September 29, 2021

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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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.

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.

As global warming accelerates, what would it take to reclaim our future? Malcolm Harris describes the obstacles to moving beyond fossil fuels — not just from elites, but also from below. He lays out three interlocking paths out of the climate crisis.

Malcolm Harris, What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis Little, Brown and Company, 2025

The post Fighting for the Future 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.

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.

It’s often observed that Democratic Party paved the way for Trump’s rise. Historian Lily Geismer discusses how we got here, examining the remaking of liberalism and the Democratic Party, populated by a professionally-trained, technocratic elite who did what technocrats do: tweaking the system, not fundamentally changing it.

Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer (eds), Mastery and Drift: Professional-Class Liberals since the 1960s University of Chicago Press, 2025

The post The Shaping of Professional Class Liberalism appeared first on KPFA.

“Smart” devices like TVs, speakers, and thermostats. Our cars. DNA tests we might take to learn about our ancestry. Our searches online. Along with Flock cameras and other forms of big data policing contracted by local governments, we’re unwittingly surveilling ourselves at every turn. Legal scholar Andrew Guthrie Ferguson describes how sensor-driven digital technology tracks our daily lives — whether we’re seeking an abortion or protesting our government — and are only, at best, a warrant away from being used against us.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance NYU Press, 2026

Photo credit: r.nial.bradshaw

The post Surveilling Ourselves appeared first on KPFA.

In 2024 the world, for a year, exceeded 1.5C – the line in the sand we weren’t supposed to cross or risk runaway global warming. We’re now in an era of overshoot, in which elites are depending upon untested technologies for managing the heating which they refused to halt. Political ecologist Wim Carton contends that there is no substitute for slashing carbon emissions and shutting down the fossil fuel industry. He discusses the perils of continuing to emit carbon dioxide with the plan of capturing it later or eventually harnessing geoengineering to cool the planet by spraying aerosols to block the sun.

Wim Carton and Andreas Malm, The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late Verso, 2025

The post Emit Now, Reverse Global Warming Later? appeared first on KPFA.