Against the Grain – August 14, 2006
SEIU unionist Jim Straub talks about organizing low-wage service workers in Las Vegas and around the US, with host Sasha Lilley.

12:00 PM Pacific Time: Mondays - Wednesdays
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 co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.
SEIU unionist Jim Straub talks about organizing low-wage service workers in Las Vegas and around the US, with host Sasha Lilley.
How should the left view Hezbollah? Is it a terrorist organization as the US government claims? Is it the face of anti-imperialism in the Middle East? Or is it more complex than that? Lebanese Marxist Gilbert Achcar and cultural anthropologist Lara Deeb discuss Hezbollah’s rise at the expense of the left and the prospects for … Continued
Anthony Platt’s book "Bloodlines," which begins with the Huntington Library announcing its ownership of an original copy of the Nuremberg Laws, explores anti-Semitism, German and US eugenics, and the responsibilities of cultural institutions.
Does the mainstream media present accurate and unbiased information about race and racism? If not, what can progressives do about it? Hunter Cutting and Makani Themba-Nixon discuss their book "Talking the Walk: A Communications Guide for Racial Justice."
Nathaniel Tripp discusses his book "Confluence: A River, The Environment, Politics, and The Fate of All Humanity."
Before Tom DeLay was indicted, he almost singlehandedly reshaped the US Congress, and thereby national policy, by rewriting the political map of Texas. The amazing and calamitous story is told in the film "The Big Buy: Tom DeLay’s Stolen Congress."
Eugene Jarecki’s award-winning film "Why We Fight" examines the military-industrial complex and how it affects this nation’s willingness to wage war.
Gareth Jenkins has written a new book about the life and death of JFK. In "The John F. Kennedy Handbook," Jenkins looks behind the myths to examine where Kennedy really stood on civil rights, Cuba, the arms race, and much more.
Social critic Curtis White discusses the impoverishment of the American imagination, which he writes about in "The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don’t Think for Themselves."