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KPFA - Against the Grain

KPFA - Against the Grain

By: KPFA
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Acclaimed program of ideas, in-depth analysis, and commentary on a variety of matters—political, economic, social, and cultural—important to progressive and radical thinking and activism. Against the Grain is produced and hosted by Sasha Lilley.2026KPFA 312700 Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • AI, the Media, and the Billionaire Class

    AI, the Media, and the Billionaire Class
    Jun 9 2026
    The Trump administration has exposed the enormous power, as well as astounding wealth, of the billionaire class. And the power of that class partially emanates from their ownership of much of our media system, with significant political consequences. Economist Rob Larson returns to discuss the 1%, AI and the massive build out of data centers, and the decline of press freedom in the U.S. (Full-length broadcast.) World Inequality Database Rob Larson, Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More Haymarket Books, 2024 Photo by Jingming Pan on Unsplash The post AI, the Media, and the Billionaire Class appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr
  • Fighting Surveillance

    Fighting Surveillance
    Jun 8 2026
    The revelations of widespread surveillance by the National Security Agency after 9/11 brought to light one aspect of how the government has capitalized on digital technology to amass power – and such dangers have only multiplied. Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has been involved in numerous groundbreaking legal battles with the U.S. government over surveillance and privacy, including establishing encryption as protected speech. She discusses the battles over government spying from the rise of the internet to the present. Cindy Cohn, Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance MIT Press, 2026 Electronic Frontier Foundation: Surveillance Self-Defense Section 702 Spying Photo by Chris Yang on Unsplash The post Fighting Surveillance appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr
  • Triumph of the Yuppie

    Triumph of the Yuppie
    Jun 3 2026
    In the 1980s, yuppies were celebrated in the media and reviled by many others. Working in finance or as management consultants or lawyers, they quickly put their stamp on cities around the country, displacing working class people in places like New York, and remaking the Democratic Party. Historian Dylan Gottleib examines whether they were drivers of financialization and growing social inequality — or crucial cogs in the machine. Dylan Gottlieb, Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York Harvard University Press, 2026 Photo: Charles Hutchins The post Triumph of the Yuppie appeared first on KPFA.
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    48 mins
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