KPFA - Letters and Politics

Guest:  Edward J. Watts holds the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Endowed Chair and is professor of history at the University of California, San Diego.  He is the author and editor of several prize-winning books, including Mortal Republic and his latest, The Romans: A 2,000-Year History. The post Citizenship in the Ancient Roman Empire appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Scot Danforth is the Jack H. and Paula A. Hassinger Chair in Education and Professor of Disability Studies at Chapman University.  He is the author of several books including his latest, An Independent Man: Ed Roberts and the Fight for Disability Rights. The post Ed Roberts and the Fight for Disability Rights appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Mary Annette Pember is a citizen of the Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe. She is currently national correspondent for ICT News, formerly Indian Country Today.  She is the recipient of several awards for her journalism and is the author of Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools. The post A History of Indian Boarding Schools in America appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Ilan Pappé is a professor of history at the University of Exeter in the UK and the director of the university’s European Centre for Palestine Studies. His books include The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ten Myths About Israel, A History of Modern Palestine, and his latest, Israel on the Brink: And the Eight Revolutions that Could Lead to Decolonization and Coexistence. The post Ilan Pappe on the Future of Israel and Palestine appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Deborah G. Plant is an African American and Africana Studies Independent Scholar, Writer, and Literary Critic specializing in the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston.  She is editor of Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston and the author of Alice Walker: A Woman for Our Times, a philosophical biography. The post Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: John Nichols is the executive editor of The Nation magazine. He previously served as the magazine’s national affairs correspondent and Washington correspondent. He has written, co-written, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, co-written with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism. The post Analysis of the Current Political Landscape with John Nichols appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Adrienne Mayor is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University. She is the author of many books, including The Poison King (a finalist for the National Book Award), The Amazons, and her latest, Mythopedia: A Brief Compendium of Natural History Lore. The book is illustrated by Michele M. Angel, an award-winning watercolorist, illustrator, and graphic designer. The post Geomythology, Folklore, & the Environment appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Laura Dassow Walls is the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Henry David Thoreau: A Life, and her latest, The Daily Henry David Thoreau: A Year of Quotes from the Man Who Lived in Season.   The post David Henry Thoreau: the Man Who Lived in Season appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Jeff Chang is an award-winning journalist and author who has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts and music.  He is the author of the books Who We Be: The Colorization of America.  We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation;  Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation; and his latest, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. The post The Legendary Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the New School University in New York City.  Richard Wolff is the founder of Democracy at Work and host of the weekly national syndicated television and radio program Economic Update that airs weekly on KPFA.  Professor Wolff is the author of several books including Understanding Capitalism. Photo: Wikimedia The post Richard Wolff on What the Government Shutdown Means appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.  He has served in three presidential administrations, Republican and Democrat, as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton. He is the author of several books including his latest Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America. The post Robert Reich: His Life and Political Journey appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: George Monbiot is an author, journalist, and environmental campaigner. His books include Feral, Heat, Regenesis, and his latest,  Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism co-authored with Peter Hutchison. George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison also co-produced the film Invisible Doctrine.   The post The Secret History of Neoliberalism appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series.  She is the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.   The post Empire of AI with Karen Hao appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Matthew D. Hockenos is the Harriet Johnson Toadvine ’56 Professor in 20th- Century History at Skidmore College.  He is the author of A Church Divided: German Protestants Confront the Nazi Past, and his latest, Then They Came For Me: Martin Niemöller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis. The post Martin Niemöller: Then They Came For Me appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Mark Bray is a historian of Modern Europe History and human rights at Rutgers University.  He is the author of several books including his national best-seller Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. The post A History of Fascism and the Fightback appeared first on KPFA.

I. First Amendment in Question, Censorship and the Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension.  Guest: Craig Aaron is the president and co-CEO of Free Press and Free Press Action.   II. UC Berkeley Shares Students and faculty Information with Federal Government Accused of Anti-Semitism.     Guest: Dr. Hatem Baziam is a professor of Islamic law and theology at Zaytuna College. He is also a lecturer in the departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  He is the author of several books, including his latest, Erasing The Human: Collapse of The Postcolonial World and Refugee Immigration Crisis. Photo credit: Wikimedia The post FCC Censorship and Free Speech at UC Berkeley appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Ben Burgis is a philosophy professor at Rutgers University, a columnist for Jacobin magazine, the host of the YouTube show and podcast Give Them An Argument, and the author of several books, most recently Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters.   Photo credit: Wikimedia The post The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Crackdown on the Left appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Jeff Chang is an award-winning journalist and author who has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts and music.  He is the author of the books Who We Be: The Colorization of America.  We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation;  Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation; and his latest, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. Photo credit: Wikimedia The post Jeff Chang on the Legendary Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. appeared first on KPFA.

Guest:  Hilary Holladay is a biographer, novelist, poet, and scholar of modern and contemporary American literature. She is a former director of the Jack and Stella Kerouac Center for American Studies and professor of English at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.  Holladay is the author of several books, her most recent is The Power of Adrienne Rich: A Biography. The post The Power of Adrienne Rich appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Natalie Lawrence, author of Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meaning. The post What Monsters Tell Us About Us appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Caroline Fraser is the author of Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heartland Prize, and the Plutarch Award for best biography of the year.  She is also the author of God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church, and her latest Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers. The post Serial Killers & Toxins: The Correlation appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Benjamin Balthaser is associate professor of multi-ethnic US literature at Indiana University, South Bend.  He is the author of Anti-Imperialism Modernism: Race and Transnational Radical Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War and his latest Citizens of the Whole World: The American Jewish Left and Cultures of Anti-Zionism. The post A History of the American Jewish Left and Cultures of Anti-Zionism appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Zinga A. Fraser is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College and Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism. She is the author of Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings. Photo credit: Wikimedia The post Shirley Chisholm, A Revolutionary Thinker appeared first on KPFA.

Guest: Clarence Lusane is an author, activist, scholar, and journalist. He is a Professor of Political Science at Howard University and is the author of many books including his latest Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy.   Photo credit: Airmen from the D.C. National Guard were deployed in response to protests and riots after the death of George Floyd. (U.S. Army photo by Kevin Valentine) The post Federal Takeover of D.C. appeared first on KPFA.