It’s widely recognized that vast amounts of wealth are now concentrated in the hands of the very few. But less well understood, scholar Ray Madoff argues, is how the U.S. tax code played a key role in that process. She delineates how progressive taxation and the estate tax — designed to tax the inherited wealth of the rich — have been eviscerated. And she also argues that philanthropy, perversely, has increased the wealth of the 1%.

Ray D. Madoff, The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy University of Chicago Press, 2025

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

The post (Not) Taxing the Rich appeared first on KPFA.

Trump has not only threatened Iran’s civilian infrastructure, but the U.S. and Israel have systematically targeted it since the start of their attack. Historian Golnar Nikpour reflects on the human costs of the war.  And she discusses the Iranian state and prison system since the early 20th century and places recent mass protests — the largest in Iranian history — in the context of cycles of protest and repression in modern Iran.

Golnar Nikpour, The Incarcerated Modern: Prisons and Public Life in Iran Stanford University Press, 2024

Photo credit: Saeed Karimi

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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.

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.

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

The post Consuming the Future appeared first on KPFA.

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

The post Trump and the Powers of the U.S. Presidency appeared first on KPFA.

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

The post United Farm Worker Rank and File 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.

Adam Hanieh, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Verso, 2025

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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

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