KPFA - Letters and Politics
1,116 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 232 ratingsLetters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
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Episodes
The Fate of Rojava, the Autonomous, Majority Kurdish Region of Syria
October 17, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: Andrej Grubacic, former teacher at the University of Rojava and is the founding Chair of Anthropology and Social Change at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Andrej talks with Mitch about Rojava the autonomous, mostly Kurdish region of Northeastern Syria. From Dissent magazine: “Turkey’s invasion of Rojava is not only a source of deep shame and disgust to many Americans, particularly those in the military, but a terrible defeat for the international left. The revolutionary...
The Life of Henry David Thoreau.
October 16, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBGuest: Laura Dassow Walls, an English literature professor, currently Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame and author of the book Henry David Thoreau, A Life. The post The Life of Henry David Thoreau. appeared first on KPFA.
Remembering History: The Legacy of Settler Colonialism Part II
October 15, 2019 10:00 - 6 seconds - 128 KBAn Oral History Project. Guest: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a scholar of Indigenous History, radical writer and author of the book An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. The post Remembering History: The Legacy of Settler Colonialism Part II appeared first on KPFA.
Remembering History: The Legacy of Settler Colonialism Part I
October 14, 2019 10:00 - 15 minutes - 18 MBAn Oral History Project. Guest: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a scholar of Indigenous History, radical writer and author of the book An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. The post Remembering History: The Legacy of Settler Colonialism Part I appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part VII.
October 10, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBImpeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868. Guest: Alan Hirsch, lecturer in Humanities, Chair of Justice and Law Studies at Williams College and author of the book Impeaching the President: Past, Present and Future. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part VII. appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part VI
October 09, 2019 10:00 - 3 minutes - 4.38 MBPolitical Violence in the 1850’s. Guest: Joanne B. Freeman, professor of history and American studies at Yale University, leading authority on early national politics and political culture and author of The Field of the Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part VI appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part V
October 08, 2019 10:00 - 26 minutes - 30.1 MBThe Colored Convention and the Creation of the Citizen. Guest: Martha S. Jones, professor of history at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part V appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part IV
October 07, 2019 10:00 - 5 minutes - 6 MBHow Pauli Murray Made the Civil War Matter Today. Guest: Rosalind Rosenberg, author of Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part IV appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part III
October 03, 2019 10:00 - 10 minutes - 12.3 MBThe Reconstruction Amendments and How They’ve Created Our Political World Today. Guest: Eric Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. His book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part III appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part II
October 02, 2019 10:00 - 35 minutes - 40.3 MBAbraham Lincoln, the Radical Republicans & Andrew Johnson. Guest: Eric Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. His book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is called The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part II appeared first on KPFA.
Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part I
October 01, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBPart I: The 1850s. Guest: Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. His book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the Pulitzer. His latest book is called The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. The post Volatile Times: The Political History of the Civil War Part I appeared first on KPFA.
In Conversation with Naomi Klein
September 30, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: Naomi Klein, journalist and author of the book On Fire, The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal The post In Conversation with Naomi Klein appeared first on KPFA.
The Impeachment Proceedings Against Richard Nixon and the Assasination of Julius Caesar
September 26, 2019 10:00 - 13 minutes - 15.3 MBGuest: Michael Koncewicz, historian and author of the book They Said No to Nixon Guest: Arthur Eckstein, historian of Ancient Rome and author of the book Bad Moon Rising: How the Weather Underground Beat the FBI and Lost the Revolution The post The Impeachment Proceedings Against Richard Nixon and the Assasination of Julius Caesar appeared first on KPFA.
How would impeachment work?
September 25, 2019 10:00 - 7 minutes - 9 MBGuest: Alan Hirsch, Lecturer in Humanities, Chair of Justice and Law Studies at Williams College and author of the book Impeaching the President: Past Present and Future Guest: Timothy Faust, author of Health Justice Now: Single Payer and What Comes Next The post How would impeachment work? appeared first on KPFA.
Former CIA Whistleblower on the Ukrainian Whistleblowing Controversy
September 24, 2019 10:00 - 10 minutes - 12.3 MBGuest: Mel Goodman, former CIA Analyst at the CIA and author of American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump The post Former CIA Whistleblower on the Ukrainian Whistleblowing Controversy appeared first on KPFA.
The Trump/Biden Ukrainian Scandal & the Climate Strike
September 23, 2019 10:00 - 4 minutes - 5.38 MBGuest: John Nichols, The Nation Magazine Documentary from Brian Edwards-Tiekert on the Climate Strike in NYC. The post The Trump/Biden Ukrainian Scandal & the Climate Strike appeared first on KPFA.
The East India Company & Corporate Colonialism
September 19, 2019 10:00 - 27 minutes - 31.3 MBGuest: William Dalrymple, author of The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire The post The East India Company & Corporate Colonialism appeared first on KPFA.
A Primer on Israel’s Election and the Process of Choosing the Prime Minister
September 18, 2019 10:00 - 18 minutes - 21.4 MBGuest: Dr. Marsha B. Cohen, analyst of Israeli politics who writes for Lobelog.com The post A Primer on Israel’s Election and the Process of Choosing the Prime Minister appeared first on KPFA.
The Green New Deal and the Transformation of Global Economies
September 17, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: Jeremy Rifkin, economic advisor to China, Germany and the European Union and author of the book The Green New Deal: Why The Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse, and The Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth. The post The Green New Deal and the Transformation of Global Economies appeared first on KPFA.
Conversation on Climate Change, Bengali Folktales and Literature
September 16, 2019 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.88 MBGuest: Amitav Ghosh, author of Gun Island The post Conversation on Climate Change, Bengali Folktales and Literature appeared first on KPFA.
How Earth Geological Forces Have Shape Human History Including Our Politics
September 12, 2019 10:00 - 16 minutes - 19.4 MBGuest: Lewis Dartnell, Professor of Science Communication at the University of Westminster and author of Origins: How Earth’s History Shaped Human History. The post How Earth Geological Forces Have Shape Human History Including Our Politics appeared first on KPFA.
The Legacy of Social Justice Fighter Leon Wofsy and the History of American Communism
September 11, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.7 MBGuest: Max Elbaum is a historian, author, and social activist. He has written extensively about the New Left, Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement. He is the author of of Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che. The post The Legacy of Social Justice Fighter Leon Wofsy and the History of American Communism appeared first on KPFA.
The Rise of Radical Politics in the UK
September 09, 2019 10:00 - 19 minutes - 22.5 MBGuest: Richard Seymour is a writer, a broadcaster, and an activist. He is the author of book Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics. His writings can be found at Patreon.com The post The Rise of Radical Politics in the UK appeared first on KPFA.
A History of U.S. Political Crisis
September 05, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: Jay Sexton is the Kinder Institute Chair in Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri and emeritus fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University. Author of A Nation Forged by Crisis: A New American History. The post A History of U.S. Political Crisis appeared first on KPFA.
Jack Kerouac: The Man, The Myth, And The Controversy Over His Estate
September 04, 2019 10:00 - 49 minutes - 56.6 MBGuest: Gerald Nicosia, journalist, and author of several books including Memory Babe and his latest Kerouac: The Last Quarter Century. The post Jack Kerouac: The Man, The Myth, And The Controversy Over His Estate appeared first on KPFA.
The Migrations That Formed Europe and Its Backlash
September 03, 2019 10:00 - 21 minutes - 25.1 MBGuest: Peter Gatrell is a renowned historian of modern migration and a professor of economic history at the University of Manchester. He is the author of the book The Unsettling of Europe: How Migration Reshaped a Continent. The post The Migrations That Formed Europe and Its Backlash appeared first on KPFA.
Letters and Politics – September 2, 2019
September 02, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBA 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 – September 2, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.
The Nature of Free Speech
August 29, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: P. E. Moskowitz is a journalist and the author of the book How to Kill a City and his latest The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent. The post The Nature of Free Speech appeared first on KPFA.
The Prospects of a Recession & The Origins of the Welfare Queen
August 28, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGuest: Dean Baker, Visiting Professor at the University of Utah and Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Guest: Josh Levin, national editor at Slate and the host of the sports podcast Hang Up and Listen. He is the author of the book The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. The post The Prospects of a Recession & The Origins of the Welfare Queen appeared first on KPFA.
The Case for Public Options
August 27, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBGanesh Sitaraman is a long time policy adviser to Senator Elizabeth Warren and professor of law at Vanderbilt University. He is arguing for the creation of more public options even beyond healthcare in order to fill the gaps left by market base solutions. He is the co-author, with Harvard Professor Anne Alstott, of the book The Public Option: How to Expand Freedom, Increase Opportunity, and Promote Equality. Guest: Ganesh Sitaraman is Chancellor Faculty Fellow, Professor of Law, and Director...
The Rise of Meaningless, Unfulfilling Jobs, and their Consequences
August 26, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBRenowned and radical anthropologist David Graeber joins us for a conversation about time and how the concept of time has evolved to be used in order to control people through hourly paid jobs. Now many of those jobs are not even necessary for a functioning society. David Graeber, well known for his role in jump-starting the Occupy Wall St movement in 2011, is a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and the author of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. The post The Rise of Meaning...
Understanding the Flores Agreement & White Supremacy’s Connection to Classical History
August 22, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBToday we dive into what’s known as the Flores Settlement Agreement that governs how the U.S. detains children who come into the country without proper authorization. The Trump administration is proposing major changes that could include indefinite detention of children and denying them education while being detained. We speak to Raquel E. Aldana, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity and a Professor of Law at UC Davis. Then, in the second half of today’s program, we talk about West...
The Alt-Right, the Ethnostate, and History
August 21, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBAlexandra Minna Stern is a historian of the eugenics movement that took root in the United States in the early 1900s and would go on to influence the murderous policies of Nazi Germany. Of late Alexandra Minna Stern has turned her attention to the alt-right movement’s connection to eugenics and its history. She has written a book about her findings called Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination and she joins us via skype to talk about it. Al...
George Orwell’s 1984 and The Ministry of Truth
August 20, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBThis year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of Orwell’s iconic book 1984. Seven decades later this book still influences how we think about politics, power, truth, lies, surveillance, and totalitarianism. It could be argue that this is the most significant book of the Twentieth Century. Today we are in conversation about the history of Orwell’s 1984 and how it came to be in 1949 and it’s influence throughout the years. Guest: Dorian Lynskey is a British writer and journalist who ...
Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed
August 19, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBA conversation with Lisa Duggan on how twenty century writer Ayn Rand, who wrote such books as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, has on politics today. Guest: Lisa Duggan is a journalist, historian, activist and Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. She is a journalist, historian, activist and Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. She is the author of the new book Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed The post Mean Girl: Ayn ...
A Memoir of a Journalist Held Hostage in Tehran
August 15, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBWe talk to journalist Jason Rezaian about his experience during the time he was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for eighteen months accused of spying for America. His release became a part of the Iran nuclear deal. Guest: Jason Rezaian is the author of the book Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison―Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out. The post A Memoir of a Journalist Held Hostage in Tehran...
The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II
August 14, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.7 MBA conversation with award-winning reporter Mary Jo McConahay about the fight to control not just the hearts and minds but also the resources of Latin America during WWII. We talk also about the massive flight of criminals of the century, fascists with blood on their hands who escaped to the Americas. Guest: Mary Jo McConahay is an award-winning reporter who covered the wars in Central America and economics in the Middle East. She is the author of The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, M...
How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us
August 13, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBToday, we are in conversation with Dr. Lucy Jones about the effects humans have on the climate and natural disasters, and what we can do now that we’ve caused them. Guest: Dr. Lucy Jones is a seismologist and public voice for earthquake science and earthquake safety in California. She has been with the US Geological Survey and a Visiting Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech since 1983. She is also the author of The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and W...
New Rules to Punish Legal Immigrants on Public Assistance. Plus, The Ideologies Behind White Nationalist Terrorism
August 12, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBToday the Trump administration finalized new rules that will punish immigrants who receive public assistance. This comes days after the largest immigration raids -since 2008 took place late last week at several Mississippi food-processing plants. We dive into immigration policy analysis with guest Cathi Tactaquin. She is the Executive Director and co-founder of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Then, Understanding the Ideology of White Nationalist Terrorism with U.S. Hist...
A Radical Perspective on Mental Health
August 08, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBA conversation on mental health with two mental health activists and writers. L.D. Green and Kelechi Ubozoh are the editors of the book We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health -Stories and Research Challenging the Biomedical Model. Guests: L. D. Green is a queer writer, performer, educator, and mental health advocate. She is an assistant professor of English at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California. Kelechi Ubozoh is a Nigerian-American writer, mental health advocate,...
How the Gun Industry Used Marketing to Change a Culture
August 07, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBToday, we are in conversation with Pamela Haag about American gun culture and its influence on policy and gun market. Guest: Pamela Haag is an award-winning nonfiction writer, essayist, cultural commentator, and historian. She has written several books such as Marriage Confidential: Love in the Post-Romantic Age, Consent: Sexual Rights and the Transformation of American Liberalism, and her latest, The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture. The post How the Gun In...
Fund Drive Special – Map of Knowledge
August 06, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBAs the conclusion of our Fund Drive, we have a special conversation with Violet Moller on the ancient world. Today, together we take a look at the Caliphates of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries in Baghdad and Cordoba. Guest: Violet Moller is a historian and writer who specializes in intellectual history. She is the author of the book The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found. Support your Radio station. Click here to pledge online BOOK:...
Fund Drive Special – How Fascism Works
August 05, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBFascist politics are running rampant in America today and spreading around the world. As part of our Fund Drive, we address this in a conversation with Yale professor Jason Stanley. He explains the ten pillars of fascist politics, and the history of how it rises. Guest: Jason Stanley is an American philosopher, currently Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University in New Haven, CT. He is best known for his contributions to philosophy of language and epistemology. He is the author...
Fund Drive Special – A Biographical Life of Socrates
August 01, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.7 MBSocrates was a scholar, teacher, and philosopher born in ancient Greece. His Socratic method laid the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy. When the political climate of Greece turned against him, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in 399 B.C. He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile. His life is chronicled through very few sources: the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon and the plays of Aristophanes. Today as part of our fund drive, we are in ...
Fund Drive Special – Matriarchal History and Women’s Changing Influence in Society (Part Two)
July 31, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBToday we bring you the second part of our conversation on women throughout history with Max Dashu. She focuses on the appearances of women and their depictions throughout different mythology, focusing on the nordic legends. These women are often demonized, but their characters have power and can control the fate of man, giving women power. Dashu also delves into more of the history of matriarchal societies and the ways civilizations have quashed the influence given to women in these societies...
Fund Drive Special – Matriarchal History and Women’s Changing Influence in Society
July 30, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBApproximately 1.5 million years ago, women were revered as priestesses and honored for their ability to bear children. Archaeological evidence, such as ancient Venus statues, seems to support this. But by the late reign of the Roman Empire, there were movements to push women out and lessen their influence. When the Christian church rose to power, they adopted much of the Roman way and women’s role in society was greatly diminished, and their history of power purposefully forgotten. Thus began...
Fund Drive Special – 19th Century Luddites and Capitalism’s Effect on the Industrial Revolution
July 29, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBThe original Luddites were British weavers and textile workers who objected to the mechanical advancements of the Industrial Revolution. When the economic pressures of the Napoleonic Wars made the cheap competition of early textile factories particularly threatening to the artisans, a few desperate weavers began breaking into factories and smashing textile machines. They called themselves “Luddites” after Ned Ludd, a young apprentice who is said to have wrecked a textile apparatus in 1779. In...
Fund Drive Special – How Did I Learn About Marxism? (Part Two)
July 25, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 68.7 MBAs part of an ongoing oral history project Letters & Politics is undertaking, today we bring you the second part of our conversation with Richard Wolff. He explains Marx’s comments on the promises of capitalism. We talk about Marx’s criticisms, praise, and thoughts on the analyses of early economists, as well as the downturns of capitalism. Wolff also talks about the effect technical progress has on the development of capitalism and the losses of the workers versus the benefits of the employe...
Fund Drive Special – How Did I Learn About Marxism?
July 23, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBAs part of an ongoing oral history project Letters & Politics is undertaking, today we bring you the first part of a conversation with Richard Wolff. He explains how he became interested and learned about Marxism. We talk about the history of his family and how it formed him and how central this theory came to be a main framework for him to understand how our society functions and/or malfunctions. Guest: Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst ...
The Discourse on Race in American Life Today
July 22, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBAfter saying he didn’t like the chant of “send her back” at his event in North Carolina last week, President Trump doubled down on the four congresswomen, also known as the Squad. In a tweet he said “I don’t believe the four congresswomen are capable of loving our country. They should apologize to America and Israel for the horrible hateful things that they have said. They are destroying the democratic party. But weak and insecure people can never destroy our great nation.” That does not sou...