KPFA - Letters and Politics

The Roots of American Conservatism: Robert Welch & the John Birch Society

Guest: Edward H. Miller is associate teaching professor at Northeastern University.  He is the author of Nut Country: Right-Wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy (2015), and his latest,  A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism (2022).   The post The Roots of American Conservatism: Robert Welch & the John Birch Society appeared first on KPFA.

The Historic Relationship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Buddhist and The Christian: When Thich Nhat Hanh Met Martin Luther King Jr.

Guest: Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus is the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Prior to his election as Bishop of California, Rev. Andrus served as Bishop Suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.  His leadership has focused on key issues related to peace and justice, including immigration reform, civil rights for LBGTQ+ persons, health care, and climate change.  He is the author of Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther ...

Katrina Vanden Heuvel on the Ukrainian/Russia/NATO Crisis

Guest: Katrina Vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of The Nation and a columnist for The Washington Post.  She is the author of several books, including The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama, and co-author (with Stephen F. Cohen) of Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev’s Reformers.  Her latest piece in the Nation is The Exit From the Ukraine Crisis That’s Hiding in Plain Sight: A 2015 agreement between Russia and Ukraine can provide the bes...

Project Censored’s State of the Free Press

Guest: Mickey Huff is the director of Project Censored, founded in 1976, and the president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation.  Since 2009, he has coedited the annual volume of the Censored book series. His most recent books include United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (and what we can do about it), co-authored with Nolan Higdon (2019) and Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2021, co-edited with Andy Lee Roth (2020).  He is also the host of KPFA...

Omicron: Subvariant BA.2 & CORBEVAX

Guest: Maureen Ferran is Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Viral Researcher at Rochester Institute of Technology. New York State.  Her latest article, CORBEVAX, a new patent-free COVID-19 vaccine, could be a pandemic game changer globally can be found in the Conversation. Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash The post Omicron: Subvariant BA.2 & CORBEVAX appeared first on KPFA.

Russia-Ukraine Crisis and the West & The Politics of Justice Breyer’s Retirement

Russia-Ukraine, NATO and the U.S. & The Politics of Justice Breyer’s Retirement

Part I.  The Russia-Ukraine Crisis and the West  Guest: Mel Goodman is a national security and intelligence expert.  He is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, and an adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University.   Part II. The Politics of Justice Breyer’s Retirement Guest: Ruth Conniff is Editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Examiner and Editor-at-Large of the Progressive Magazine.   Photo by Israel Palacio on Unsplash The post Rus...

The Anglo-Saxons & The Making of England

Guest: Marc Morris is a historian and broadcaster specializing in the Middle Ages. He is the author of A Great and Terrible King, King John, The Norman Conquest, and his latest, The Anglo-Saxons: The Making of England: 410-1066. The post The Anglo-Saxons & The Making of England appeared first on KPFA.

The Neanderthal: Love, Art & Culture

Guest: Rebecca Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist, author and Honorary Fellow in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool.  Her new book, KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art  won the 2021 PEN Hessell-Tiltman prize for history; awarded Book of the Year by Current Archaeology; selected as one of 2021’s 100 Notable Books by The New York Times.  She is co-founder of the influential TrowelBlazers project, highlighting women in archaeology and the e...

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

Letters and Politics – January 25, 2022

Omicron: What We Know and Don’t Know

Guest: Maureen Ferran is Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Viral Researcher at Rochester Institute of Technology. New York State.  Her latest article, CORBEVAX, a new patent-free COVID-19 vaccine, could be a pandemic game changer globally can be found in the Conversation.   Photo by Steven Cornfield on Unsplash The post Omicron: What We Know and Don’t Know appeared first on KPFA.

The Omicron Variant, What we Know About It

Letters and Politics – January 20, 2022

A Deep History of Ukraine

Guest: William Jay Risch is a professor of history at Georgia College. He specializes on Eastern Europe and is the author of the book The Ukrainian West: Culture and the Fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv. The post A Deep History of Ukraine appeared first on KPFA.

Tenskwatawa & Tecumseh: The Brothers Who Almost Stopped American Expansion

Guest: Peter Cozzens is a historian and the author and/or editor of sixteen books on the American Civil War and the Indian Wars of the American West, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Lincoln Prize. His latest book is Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Heroic Struggle for America’s Heartland. The post Tenskwatawa & Tecumseh: The Brothers Who Almost Stopped American Expansion appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – January 19, 2022

Letters and Politics – January 18, 2022

Voting Rights and The Political Propaganda War

Guest: Steven Rosenfeld is a senior writing fellow and the editor and chief correspondent of  Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He is a national political reporter focusing on democracy issues.   Image: Wikipedia (GPA Photo Archive, https://flic.kr/p/BrRNcA; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) The post Voting Rights and The Political Propaganda War appeared first on KPFA.

On MLK Day: Colia Lafayette Clark, Civil Rights activist of the 1960s

Guest: Activist and politician Colia Lafayette Clark is a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power movement, and Pan-African movement. She was a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and played a key role establishing equal voting rights in Selma, Alabama.   Photo by History in HD on Unsplash The post On MLK Day: Colia Lafayette Clark, Civil Rights activist of the 1960s appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – January 17, 2022

Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption

Guest Host Max Pringle talks to Mitchell Schwarzer about His new book is Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption.  Professor Schwarzer teaches Architectural and Urban History at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. The post Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – January 11, 2022

ACT UP NY: A History 1987-1993

  Guest: Sarah Schulman is a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at College of Staten Island, a Fellow at the New York Institute of Humanities. She is also the cofounder of the MIX New York LGBT Experimental Film and Video Festival, and the co-director of the groundbreaking ACT UP Oral History Project. Professor Schulman is the author of more than twenty books including her latest, Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993.  She is a longtime activist for queer...

The One-Year Anniversary of the January 6 Riot & A History of The Silk Road

Today, host Max Pringle is filling in for Mitch Jeserich. Part I – The January 6 Attack and the Fracture of Democracy Guest: Talia Lavin author of Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy Part II – A History of The Silk Road Guest: Valerie Hansen is Stanley Woodward Professor of History at Yale University.  She is the author of the book The Silk Road: A New History. The post The One-Year Anniversary of the January 6 Riot & A History of The Silk Road appeared first on ...

John C. Calhoun: Defender of Racial Slavery & White Democracy

Guest: Robert Elder, professor of history at Baylor University. Author of the book Calhoun: American Heretic. The post John C. Calhoun: Defender of Racial Slavery & White Democracy appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – January 3, 2022

A look at burning political issues and debates and their historical context within the US and worldwide, hosted by Mitch Jeserich. The post Letters and Politics – January 3, 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

The 7 Day Week: A History

Guest: David M. Henkin is the Margaret Byrne Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are. The post The 7 Day Week: A History appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – December 30, 2021

Letters and Politics – December 29, 2021

The Politics Behind the Wounded Knee Massacre

Guest: Heather Cox Richardson is Professor of History at Boston College and author of Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre The post The Politics Behind the Wounded Knee Massacre appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – December 28, 2021

The Real King George III

Guest: Andrew Roberts, author of The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III. The post The Real King George III appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – December 27, 2021

The Legacy of Desmond Tutu & South African Apartheid

Gerald Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. The post The Legacy of Desmond Tutu & South African Apartheid appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – December 23, 2021

How Disease Shaped the Modern World [Rebroadcast]

Guest: Kyle Harper is professor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (Princeton); From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity, and his latest, Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History (Princeton).  The post How Disease Shaped the Modern World [Rebroadcast] appeared first on KPFA.

Build Back Better Update & The Future of Climate Change Policy

Guest: Tyson Slocum is the director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. For the last 25 years Tyson has been promoting an equitable energy transition that provides distributed renewable energy generation and sustainable transportation solutions for working families.   Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash The post Build Back Better Update & The Future of Climate Change Policy appeared first on KPFA.

Letters and Politics – December 21, 2021

A History of US Imperialism & Expansion

Guest: Greg Grandin is professor of history at Yale University. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Non-Fiction in 2020 for his book The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. He has also republished his book from 2006 Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic.  Professor Grandin served on the United Nations Truth Commission investigating the Guatemalan Civil War. The post A History of US Imperialism & Expansio...

The Death of Build Back Better & Struggle In The Democratic Party

Guest: John Nichols is the National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation magazine. His latest book is The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics. The post The Death of Build Back Better & Struggle In The Democratic Party appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA Special: The Odyssey, Why It Still Matters Today

Guest: Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania.  She is the first woman who translated the ancient Greek epic story, the Odyssey by Homer, into English language. The post KPFA Special: The Odyssey, Why It Still Matters Today appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA Special: The Politics of Jesus During the Roman Occupation of Palestine

Guest:  Reza Aslan, Iranian-American writer, scholar of religions, and a tenured Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.  He is the author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.  The book relates the life of Jesus Christ, who according to Aslan, he was not only a spiritual leader but also a revolutionary at the time of Roman occupation of Palestine.  Reza Aslan’s latest book is God: A Human History.   The post KPFA Special: The Politics of Jesus ...

KPFA Special – The Politics of Jesus During the Roman Occupation of Palestine

Letters and Politics – December 15, 2021

KPFA Special: Demystifying Inflation with Richard Wolff

Guest:  Richard Wolff is professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York City. His latest book is The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself. The post KPFA Special: Demystifying Inflation with Richard Wolff appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA Special: Slavery in California By Any Other Name: A History of the Indigenous People of California

Guest: William Bauer is professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he is the Director of American Indian & Indigenous Studies. He is also a citizen of the Round Valley Reservation in northern California. He is the co-author of the book We Are the Land: A History of Native California. The post KPFA Special: Slavery in California By Any Other Name: A History of the Indigenous People of California appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA Special – Slavery in California By Any Other Name: A History of the Indigenous People of California

KPFA Special: The Legacy of Henrietta Wood and her Case for Reparations

Guest: Caleb McDaniel is professor of history at Rice University in Houston and the author of Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America. The post KPFA Special: The Legacy of Henrietta Wood and her Case for Reparations appeared first on KPFA.