People are always struggling and resisting oppression -- it’s a constant in history. Yet much of the time we don’t know about such resistance, because those in power, and the media aligned with them, don’t see fit to report on it. KPFA and its sister Pacifica stations have been the exception. We play highlights from some of the many struggles t ...…

A look at the ideas, adventures, and life trajectories of cultural icons Timothy Leary and Ram Dass.

More than a century ago, the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies, called for the four-hour workday. Should we be considering something similar now? Kathi Weeks explores why radicals should envision a world where work is not central to our existence. She also discusses cutting the work week, without a cut in pay, and a basic guaranteed ...…

Happiness seems elusive in our society, despite the many industries attempting to sell it through a multitude of products and services. What's missing, according to feminist Lynne Segal, is the sense that our happiness is intertwined with the happiness of others. She calls for reclaiming radical joy, through collective life and activism. Resour ...…

Immigration discourse in the U.S. often revolves around the advisability of “securing” the physical border, of addressing the flow of people across the U.S.-Mexico border. But, as Elliott Young [1] asserts, overseas mechanisms of screening and exclusion have been far more effective at keeping would-be immigrants out. Young discusses the history ...…

It’s self-evident that unequal societies like ours are bad for the poor. However, as epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson argues, they’re also bad for everyone else, including the affluent, not only because inequality affects schools and healthcare, but because it also makes us anxious and unhappy. Wilkinson reflects on our psychological well-being ...…

Nearly every society in the world is either a former colony or a former imperial power. How, then, should we regard and understand processes of imperialism and colonialism? According to Julian Go [1], a body of thought called postcolonial theory has offered many insights into the workings and legacies of empire and colonialism. Many of those le ...…

In recent years, the desirability of locking up millions of Americans in prison has been seriously questioned both on the left and right. It would seem, however, that domestic violence is very different than the non-violent drug offenses highlighted by critics of mass incarceration. On the face it, shouldn’t this be where police intervention an ...…

What drove the Industrial Revolution? According to conventional wisdom, it was individual innovation and unfettered private enterprise. According to Priya Satia [1], it was war-making, the production of firearms, and massive state intervention. The central figure in her new book [2] is a Quaker gunmaker immersed in the rapidly transforming econ ...…

Given the disparities between the lifespans of whites, African Americans, Native Americans and other groups, it might seem to be sensible to gear medicine along racial lines. But sociologist Leslie Hinkson argues that it represents a dangerous turn in science and healthcare. She discusses race, biology, and debt. (Encore presentation.) Resource ...…

Langston Hughes wore many hats: writer, poet, world traveler, racial justice advocate, and central figure of the Harlem Renaissance. He spoke at U.C. Berkeley about his life and ideas, and some of his letters were published in a book co-edited by MaryLouise Patterson [1]. Patterson’s leftist parents, Louise Thompson Patterson and William (“Pat” ...…

Are we facing a new Cold War with Russia? Does that country represent a serious threat to the United States? Tony Wood separates myths from facts about Russia's domestic and foreign policy -- and whether Putin represents a return to the authoritarian Soviet past. Resources: Tony Wood, Russia Without Putin: Money, Power and the Myths of the New ...…

In the two decades following the end of the bracero program in 1964, the number of Mexicans who migrated to the U.S. without papers rose dramatically. Who were these people, why did they cross the border, and who did they leave behind in Mexico? Did migrants tend to stay permanently in the U.S., or did what’s called circular migration take plac ...…

What’s America’s largest public healthcare system? It’s not Medicare, which isn't a provider of healthcare, just a payer. It’s the Veterans Health Administration, which looks after nine million ex-service members. Healthcare journalist Suzanne Gordon discusses why we should care about the Veterans Health Administration – and the push to privati ...…

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [1] spoke about race, segregation, poverty, militarism, and nonviolent resistance in two talks that he gave in Hollywood, in March 1968, and in London, in December 1964. Pacifica Radio Archives [2][1] http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-dr-king[2] http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/…