The historian Kevin A. Young, author of “Abolishing Fossil Fuels,” on why the fight for the climate isn’t over.

The post Fund Drive Special: Fighting for the Climate appeared first on KPFA.

Schools are underfunded. Parents often struggle with long working hours and too little social support. But corporations and tech companies, awash in money and power, promise to entertain and teach children with a near infinite array of devices, apps, and products. Psychologist Susan Linn discusses how those who least care for children have so much influence over their lives: marketing to kids through an avalanche of advertisements, collecting data about their private lives, and replacing their teachers in the classroom.

Resources:

Susan Linn, Who’s Raising the Kids? Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children New Press, 2023

Fairplay

The post The Monetization of American Childhood appeared first on KPFA.

What if Earth were furious with humanity? What if revolutionaries took their cues from an unruly planet? Anne Stewart examines depictions of terrestrial upheaval and grassroots rebellion in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead, and other works. (Encore presentation.)

Anne Stewart, Angry Planet: Decolonial Fiction and the American Third World University of Minnesota Press, 2022

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How did a Scottish moral philosopher of the Enlightenment become an apostle of the libertarian right in this country? Political theorist Glory Liu traces the uses of the complex ideas Adam Smith in the United States — from the establishment of the U.S. state, through debates about slavery and inequality, to justifying the ostensible retreat of the state in our era. (Encore presentation.)

Resources:

Glory M. Liu, Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism Princeton University Press, 2022

Image: Nicole Marie Photography

The post Claiming Adam Smith appeared first on KPFA.

A brilliant theoretical physicist best known for his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein was also a socialist. John Bellamy Foster describes Einstein’s radical political commitments, including his efforts in relation to the founding of Brandeis University, his role in the Henry Wallace campaign, and his seminal essay “Why Socialism?” Foster also talks about his new book. (Encore presentation.)

John Bellamy Foster, “Einstein’s ‘Why Socialism?’ and ‘Monthly Review’: A Historical Introduction” Monthly Review

John Bellamy Foster, The Dialectics of Ecology Monthly Review Press, 2024

The post Einstein’s Socialism appeared first on KPFA.

How should we understand the relationship between capitalists, big and small, and the Republican and Democratic parties — especially in the wake of Trump’s return to power? Stephen Maher discusses the sectors of capital that support and oppose him. He traces the rise of the MAGA Right to forces set in motion by the global economic crisis. And he discusses under what circumstances big business, much of which currently is wary of Trump, might throw its support behind authoritarian rule.

Resources:

Scott Aquanno and Stephen Maher, The Fall and Rise of American Finance: From J.P. Morgan to Blackrock Verso, 2024

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

The post Capital, the State, and Trump appeared first on KPFA.

When the system is stacked against you, when mainstream society sidelines you (or worse), where do you look for liberatory possibilities? Eve Dunbar describes how Ann Petry, author of the 1946 novel “The Street” as well as YA novels about Harriet Tubman and Tituba, insisted on satisfaction and not merely survival. Dunbar also talks about the value of what she calls monstrous work.

Eve Dunbar, Monstrous Work and Radical Satisfaction: Black Women Writing under Segregation University of Minnesota Press, 2024

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Why is it that so many schools fail at teaching their students critical thinking skills that could help them understand the world? Political scientist Agustina Paglayan argues that mass primary education from its origins was set up not to raise children’s prospects — but rather to teach them to obey. She locates the Right’s recent attacks on schooling in the context of the social upheavals of our times.

Resources:

Agustina Paglayan, Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education Princeton University Press, 2024

The post Obedience and Mass Education appeared first on KPFA.

What role did Irish Catholics play within the U.S. left? Were Irish radicals more interested in freedom from British rule or in anticapitalism? And what effect did religious beliefs have on Irish Americans’ inclinations to break with the mainstream? David Emmons highlights Irish Americans’ contributions to dissidence, progressivism, and radicalism in the United States.

David Emmons, History’s Erratics: Irish Catholic Dissidents and the Transformation of American Capitalism, 1870-1930 University of Illinois Press, 2024

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Few things are more necessary than a roof over one’s head, and yet few things feel as precarious as housing. Rents have skyrocketed across the country, far outstripping wages, and homelessness has risen to an historic high. Fellow tenant organizers Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis argue that this is the latest chapter in a century-long assault on tenants, but that we can draw powerful lessons from housing struggles to fight for a world without landlords.

Resources:

Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis, Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis Haymarket Books, 2024

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